Last week our engineering and product teams got together in Toledo for the MOST Build Meetup.

It was a bit like our own mini hackathon. An opportunity to build something new or spend time on ideas we normally never get to explore.

Most of the time we are focused on delivering the next airline program, solving issues, or preparing the next release. In that environment it is hard to step back and think outside the box. We all have ideas we would like to try, improvements we want to test, things we think could make the platform better. Too often those ideas get pushed to the next sprint, next month, next year, and they never quite happen.

MOST Build is our way of creating the space to actually do it.

For two days the team worked in small groups, building, testing ideas, and moving things forward. Just as importantly, it gave everyone time to talk, exchange ideas over coffee, and spend time together in a different setting than our usual day to day work.

Toledo was a great venue, the city has a remarkable history where cultures and religions mixed for centuries. During our stay we visited churches, temples, and a mosque, and had the chance to learn more about the city’s past through a guided tour. Walking through those streets, surrounded by centuries of history, is a good reminder that ideas, craftsmanship, and collaboration have always shaped great places.

The only downside was that the internet connection struggled to keep up with our ambitions. But in a way, that probably forced a few more conversations and a few fewer emails, which is not the worst outcome.

We'll definitely repeat this event, each time in a different place, with the same goal to give the team the space to think, build, and spend time together.