Bringing the Team Together: How Langenfest Cultivated Connections

To ensure that we are best representing and serving our customers and clients, our workforce is intentionally structured to span nationwide. While remote work allows our team to tap into top talent nationally, the absence of frequent in-person collaboration for some of our team can serve as a challenge.

With this in mind, we put together a 3-day event called “Langenfest: Work Well” at our headquarters in Mount Prospect, IL. This multi-day event was a national company gathering to unite the sales, marketing, e-commerce, strategic account managers, customer care, support, TouchPoint360 and Datastory teams for collaboration, learning, and fun. After two years of pandemic delays, this year’s Langenfest was particularly momentous.

Setting the Stage

Langenfest kicked off with an inspirational keynote with a theme of “Being Your Best Self” from Erin Coupe, a writer, facilitator, and executive partner. Erin’s uplifting keynote address inspired the group to reflect on how to thrive individually and together as a team. Her presentation focused on self-reflection, prioritizing your wellbeing and working to be the best version of yourself to enhance your livelihood personally and professionally. This often overlooked and under-emphasized message on well-being continued to be a theme throughout the 3-day event. 

Cultivating Wellness

True to Langenfest’s “Work…Well” theme, much of the agenda focused on mental, physical, financial, and nutritional well-being. Expert speakers equipped employees with tips to refuel personally and professionally. Shawn Markes facilitated an engaging discussion around Financial Wellness, Kathleen Horton addressed Mental Health Wellness, and Rachel Morrison emphasized the importance of  Physical & Nutrition Wellness. Breakout sessions expanded the experience with activities like group trail walks.

Taking Wellness a Step Further

Langenfest was the perfect setting to launch the 2023 Walking Challenge, a company-wide fundraising initiative that combined employee wellness and collaboration goals. Raising money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation and Parkinson’s Foundation, employees split off into teams to compete for the highest step count over a 3 month period. This friendly competition encouraged team members to improve their wellness by increasing walking and physical activity. That’s a step in the right direction for working well and giving back!  

Strengthening Connections

With staff traveling in from numerous locations around the United States, Langenfest enabled employees to put faces to names and strengthen connections in ways that can’t be done virtually. Some employees met for the first time in person, and the newly joined Datastory team was welcomed to the Langenfeld family. Networking receptions, team overviews, and social events provided valuable face-to-face time between colleagues who sometimes may collaborate infrequently or only digitally.

Celebrating Achievements

The 3-day event culminated in an awards ceremony and dinner recognizing our top performers chosen by their peers. While we were able to highlight some specific members of the team, ultimately the goal of the week was to celebrate all the individuals who work together to make Langenfeld the company we know it today.