We Hosted a (Self-Proclaimed) U-35 x President Meetup

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Hello! ( º∀º )/

This is Yukachi from the Budget Control Group and the Tech Blog project team. Today, December 24th, is the Arima Kinen! My fave is Sole Oriens🏇 Given that all the horses are at a high level, I look forward to seeing what stories they'll bring to this year! How are you these days?
Back to the topic, today I'd like to write about our (self-proclaimed) U-35 team members’ Meetup with our President.

Until the meetup

I joined the company in December 2020, a full three years ago! I thought that the number of employees was small at that time, so I checked the number and their age ranges.
20s: 5, 30s: 14, total: 58 employees (in the former Development Organization Division of KINTO Co., Ltd. before the establishment of KINTO Technologies Corporation)
! !! ! Too little...! ! And as of now,
20s: 43, 30s: 131, total: 360 employees!
What a growth...! !!
To see the behind-the-scenes of our growth, you can check HOKA's article ☟
Let's Make a Human Resources Group: How the Organization Rapidly Gained 300 Employees in 3 Years | KINTO Tech Blog

When we were less people, we used to have company-wide drinking parties, fostering cross-department connections more often. But with the current large number of people, we are limited to individual group gatherings. The constant influx of new hires makes it challenging to keep track of who is who... However, Chimrin, known for coming up with great ideas, planned this event! She always says, "Let's try this!" and comes up with various ideas. "We don't have the opportunity to interact directly with the president!" "I want more involvement with other divisions!" In response to these voices, "Let's host a exchange event between the president and young people!" This is how we came to host the meetup. We all work together to give it shape.

And so it goes!

This time, President Kotera shared with us various aspects of his life, including his school days, past career, current position, and future vision.

This part lasted one hour, but many people in the survey said they wanted to hear more. Kotera-san is indeed a good storyteller!
Well, I took some good photos for this article so I'm going to create a corner to show you. Hopefully, it will help convey the atmosphere!

Excellent moderator, thank you!

Interaction between different divisions that are not usually involved!

New hires!

Kotera-san was speaking earnestly, so I couldn't turn the camera on him much.

Triple Yuji

People tend to take photos at the photo spot.

Everyone pitches in and cleaned up together cheerfully.

Even after the meetup ended and Kotera-san left, the excitement lingered. A similar gathering was arranged for Manager Ueda, who came to check on his team members as they didn't come back. He began with, "I'm delighted this happened," and spoke passionately.

When I asked the employees in their 20s who didn't make it this time for the reason of absence, they replied, "I thought it would be a more formal meeting."
"I was scared to talk to the president!" As you can see from the pictures, it was a relaxed gathering, and Kotera-san is super friendly and enjoys socializing with different people over a drink!

Selected survey comments!

• I learned that KINTO services are consistently good and emphasize the importance of car subscription. I thought it is difficult to create new services, but I learned the importance of continuing and connecting with people.
• Hearing about the origins of KINTO Technologies directly from Kotera-san, who has been involved in its establishment, helped me to understand it with a sense of reality.
• I felt that I was able to get to know Kotera-san better through his stories, his way of speaking, and his facial expressions.
• I used to work thinking only about the future, but after listening to Kotera-san's way of working, I realized that it is more important to do my best in the present.
• It was an opportunity to get to know Kotera-san's personality as well as to get to know people around my age.
• It was nice to be able to interact with people who I do not have any involvement in my daily work.
• I was able to share similar concerns with people in my age!
  I'm glad to see that the survey results suggest a high level of satisfaction.
  Also Kotera-san mentioned in his closing remarks, "Honestly, it was a lot of fun!" The second event is already scheduled to take place! !

Conclusion

Relations with other divisions tend to be biased and it is difficult to get involved without a chance to do so. I am not an engineer, but I get lots of support from engineers of my age. For example: Chimrin's article, ✏A Story of Simplifying Book Management Methods
Comes from someone saying: "This looks like a lot of work to manage. I wonder if using Jira would reduce the burden on Yukachi." So this is a story of love and inspiration that was created by a group of dedicated volunteers! Let me boast about it here.
As Kotera-san mentioned during this meetup, human connections are vital in the workplace. The more people you know in various departments, the easier you can seek advice and support around when encountering challenges and fostering collaboration to accomplish tasks effectively, which leads to a better work environment.
I think it is good to have as many chances as possible to make peers this way, so I'd like to continue to provide such opportunities together with everyone!
Well, thank you for reading my article all the way to the end! Merry Christmas!