Behind the Scenes of Kintone Connect and the Social Impact Challenge

As we reminisce on all the great moments that 2019 brought us, Kintone Connect really stood out. In this blog, we’ll offer a look back of all that was Kintone Connect, from how it started, to our favorite quotes, photos, and some behind the scenes shots. For anyone who has ever wondered what it’s like to be on the road for five months with your coworkers, you’re about to find out. 

Remind me what Kintone Connect is? 

Kintone Connect 2019 is a technology-oriented culture conference that examines the value of team-focused technology and how companies can use it to improve employee collaboration. Kintone, the team whose mission it is to “Make a Society Brimming with Teamwork,” invited attendees to network and learn about a new generation of teamwork tools and methods. 

This year, we hosted four regional Kintone Connect events in Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco featuring local community leaders and influencers.

Why we had a Kintone Connect and the Social Impact  

Our Kintone Connect roadshow series came to fruition on a cloudy afternoon in San Francisco, when the events team read through all the surveys from attendees of Kintone Connect San Francisco 2018. There was a common theme in the responses we received: attendees wanted a Kintone Connect at a location closer to them (our previous Kintone Connect events were only held in San Francisco). They wanted their team members and friends to be able to attend Kintone Connect without having to fly to San Francisco. 

With that in mind, the Kintone Connect traveling roadshow series was born, but with a twist. We combined Kintone Connect and our Social Impact Challenge series. 

Social Impact Challenge is a community-oriented event where we help communities identify and build technology-oriented solutions for social issues. By taking our Kintone Connect series on the road, we saw an opportunity to reach communities on a more personal level than before. 

For the Social Impact portion, Kintone teamed up with Caravan Studios, a division of TechSoup, and local community leaders, to address one dire issue with our Social Impact Challenge: The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal #2 to End Hunger by 2030. In particular, we focused on urban childhood hunger and the shockingly high rate of children in San Francisco at risk of hunger: 28%.

The Goal 

The goal of Kintone Connect is to bring together members of the community, Kintone users, Kintone evangelists, and anyone who wants to make an impact on their teams and society through teamwork-oriented technology. We achieved this and much more such as meeting new Kintone evangelists, creating an even stronger NPO community, and working with current customers to take Kintone to the next level. 

Favorite Quotes

“At Kintone Connect, I get to meet other people in the field, to learn what everybody else is doing, and I get to take that back and make our organization stronger by it.”  – Shubha Rao – Global G.L.O.W (Girls Leading Our World), 501c3

"If we're going to make teamwork better, we need to focus on team members." – Dave Landa, CEO of Kintone

"Everybody has a social impact - it’s just a matter of what kind. Inactivity is just as impactful as an activity." – Heather Johnson, Compliance Officer at Conrad Industries Inc.

Also read: 10 Quotes on Teamwork and Social Impact from Kintone Connect Boston 

Now that Kintone Connect is over, we are pleased to share our favorite moments and photos.

Kintone Connect Los Angeles: The one where we went to Hollywood 

Kintone Connect Boston: The one where we met Kintone’s new NPO evangelist 

Kintone Connect Chicago: The one with the onstage couch

Kintone Connect San Francisco: The one where we had our grand finale

Behind the scenes of Kintone Connect

Our Events Manager, Brittany Wilkins made sure Kintone Connect Los Angeles ran smoothly, three days before her wedding! The marketing team surprised her with flowers for a job well done. 

“My heart will go on and on”- sang fellow Kintonians at a karaoke bar in Boston as Taisei went on and on answering all of his tones. Oh the struggles of working across different time zones.   

Tim casually mentioned in conversation that he was getting married...tomorrow! We took him out to celebrate by doing what he loves best, singing karaoke, of course. 

Eating pita is so easy even a five year old can do it! Shout out to pita girl for showing us how. The night before Kintone Connect, Kintonians had dinner at Oren’s Hummus (Nim’s favorite) with our visitors from Ascendware, Opro, Musical Empowerment, and Cybozu.  

Thank you to everyone that joined us at Kintone Connect and to all of our supporters, it truly takes a village to put on a series of events like these. Stay tuned for more great events coming at you in 2020.

Recommended post: Year-In- Review: Celebrating 2019 and All It Brought to Us at Kintone