Hack The Box’s epic second global retreat (200+ globetrotters & infinite fun!)

An inside look at HTB’s second epic global retreat! Relive our adventures—including blissful hikes, coastal ATV rides, and endless fun in the sun.

Noni,
Nov 16
2023

More than 200 HTBers working from over 20 countries worldwide, including our headquarters in the UK and additional offices in Greece and the US, reunited for four days during October on the Greek island of Poros for our annual Global Retreat.

How did that go? Keep on scrolling to get a glimpse of what our company meet-ups look like.

Disclaimer: The following text contains lots of partying content.

The best part of being at Hack The Box (HTB) is almost hard to nail down. We've got an incredible culture and the opportunity to travel and work with many incredible people. I mean, we are over here in beautiful Greece…

Allison Jones, Federal Account Executive

Day 1: Hugs, handshakes, and reunions 🤗

On Monday October 2nd, five buses departed from our offices in Athens, heading for the island of Poros. During our journey, we made a stop to explore Epidaurus and enjoyed a quick lunch in the vicinity.

Upon reaching the hotel, we had our first taste of the sparkling azure sea with a relaxing evening on the beach.

The night culminated in lively toasts and dancing at the hotel's rooftop. Our very own Lorenzo Faletra, Team Leader at Hack The Box and Director at Parrot Security, took the lead and was crowned the official DJ of our retreat.

Day 2: Honoring our milestones 🚀

At HTB, effective communication within the company is nurtured through various initiatives, including our quarterly all-hands meetings. These essential practices of open communication were integrated into our retreat as well.

That’s why the second day started with exciting breakout sessions for each team.

“We work great as a team. We have great communication with each other, and we work efficiently to resolve everything on time”, mentioned Dimitris Lamprakis, our Senior Content Engineer.

After each team finished reuniting and catching up, we all gathered for our usual All Hands Meetings with an added twist.

Against the sunny and serene backdrop of Poros, Nikos Fountas, our VP of Operations, celebrated our long-standing employees and newer team members—followed by a special recap dedicated to the company's industry-defining achievements from 2017 to the present:

A community of more than 2.2 million platform members worldwide.
A portfolio of more than 1,500 enterprises, government, and university customers.
The fact that we started in 2017 with three co-founders and now we have 250+ employees.

…these milestones earned a big round of applause.

After concluding our meetings, we returned to enjoy more time by the warm blue sea, engaging in activities like paddleboarding at the beach. In the evening, we embarked on a boat ride to Poros' main town, where we had lunch and continued with a lively party.

Global Retreat 2023 partying

“Everyone is happy to see each other, everyone is helpful, and everyone is partying hard,” highlighted Dave Elliott, Senior Content Engineer at Hack The Box.

Day 3: Hiking and ATV thrills 💥

“I have been challenged a lot here. I have opened up my mind to different talk tracks, strategies, product solutions, and people.” stated Isaiah Velez, our Commercial Account Executive, and we could not agree more.

Whether we're contributing to our rapidly growing company or providing weekly challenges on our platform to enhance hands-on learning for our community, the word “challenge” defines us.

On day three, we set business aside and challenged ourselves to strengthen our team bonds (by basically having as much fun as humanly possible!).

To achieve this, we took part in an ATV excursion and hiking, which allowed us to explore the beautiful island of Poros.

Of course, a little action never killed anybody here at Hack The Box. After these activities, we got back to our party rituals.

“I do not know how I am standing! HTB people party so hard.” highlighted Ayush Sahay, our Senior Content Engineer.

Day 4: A company-wide survival challenge 🌴

On the final day, teams were formed with individuals from various functions and departments within the company to take on a new challenge:

The entire hotel was transformed into a "survivor" game. There is no point in revealing which teams won but rather the fact that, once again, different teams collaborated to achieve a great result.

“We prioritize teamwork. It is one of the most important skills to have and for every culture to be honest. Looking back at history, every civilization with a different chance of surviving is good at teamwork. Civilization is having everyone working together. That is what we do at Hack The Box.” said Ayush Sahay.

What followed after the survivor game? We'll let you guess!

These four days concluded with not just a farewell but rather a "see you later" on our next business trip, team gathering, or global retreat while also setting the tone for the future.

We initially began as a platform for upskilling, providing content related to offensive realms. In the last few days, we've successfully expanded into the defensive space, with a strong emphasis on enhancing purple team capabilities. This is particularly exciting because it allows us to upskill people meaningfully

Allison Jones, Federal Account Executive