A Liferay Celebration of Global Proportions


Multiple offices, catching up on life and Liferay

Every year, we gather all the ranks of Liferay worker bees from across the universe, via planes, trains, and cars, so we can take part in what is known as our Annual Liferay Retreat.  Support, Events, Legal, GM's, HR, QA, C-levels - you name it - everyone spends a weekend together in Southern California at a retreat site.  During the weekend there are some business panel talks, some team building games, but most of all, some good time to just relax and catch up with one another about both Liferay and life itself.  During that time our company feels less like a global, high-profile, enterprise corporation, but instead we transform into an ethnic village meet-and-greet.  I speak from experience when I say that it's not everyday you get to play a roudy game of spoons with developers from Spanish, Brazilian, and US offices, while being warmed by a fire place and a cup of local San Diegan beer.  I miss it already.



Ryan (core Marketplace dev) figuring out how to fit 380 faces into a photo

And it's amazing to see how the Liferay village has grown.  New offices have sprouted in Japan, Australia, France, and some 2nd offices like in Brazil.  Not everyone could make it out to the retreat (local operations must persist!), but the headcount was nearly 400 - and more than half of that number were flown in from somewhere other than Los Angeles County.  I'm quite sure we've nearly doubled the head count from last year - a blessing considering how difficult the economy has been for many around the world.  The LA Office Facilities Manager had concerns that all the staffing prior to the retreat wouldn't be able to fit in our new building, let alone clear our already tight building permits. Luckily everyone fit just fine.  But hey - there's always next year!



Liferay doing good in New Jersey

But if you've known Liferay for some amount of time, we don't stop at just numbers and small talk - we want to know that our 0's and 1's count for something.  So the retreat is a time for us to hear about how Liferay Foundation and how our profits are helping people in all walks of life.  There's work being done in starting a new Liferay office in a small town in Ohio to help employment.  Groups of company-sponsored Liferay folk went to help rebuild New Orleans and Sendai.  Liferay has donated and setup computer labs for students at a school in Watts, Los Angeles.  Before our retreat was even done, a handful of our guys left early to catch a plane to New Jersey to help people who've been devastated by Hurricane Sandy. That and take some photos at White Castle =)

All in all, it's been amazing year of milestones for Liferay, and of course none of this would've been possible without all the contributions and support from our fans, customers, and users alike - so take this paragraph as a big THANK YOU. There's much to look forward to in 2013, so until then, Happy Holidays!

Love,
Liferay (+ webteam).