About Spring 2024 Dev Days
DD Development Days (Dev Days) are a part of our company-wide commitment to learning, innovation, and big-picture professional development for our team. Given our distributed workforce, Dev Days are a time for us to come together, in person, to collaborate, create, and celebrate.
The theme for this spring's Dev Days is "BYOB: Bring Your Own Brilliance". A team like this is like lightning in a bottle. And every Giant Slayer brings something unique to the table. (There are no duds in the bunch, after all!) This Dev Days is an exercise in embracing our individual gifts and working together to combine them (in and across teams) to make something extraordinary. Our programming reflects that and highlights the connection between your brilliance and finding fulfillment in your work.
Hotel Accommodations
The Archer Hotel in the Mosaic District
We will be staying at the Archer Hotel in the heart of the Mosaic District. The hotel address is 8296 Glass Alley, Fairfax, Virginia 22031, and the phone number for the hotel is (571) 327-2277.
Get ready for some sweet amenities, like a Nespresso in your room and complimentary bed-time books (need a reference? ask Sam 🙂)
Dev Days HQ
Venture X (DDHQ)
All Dev Day sessions will be held at Venture X Coworking Space and the new DDHQ. Venture X is a 10-minute walk from the hotel. The address is 3060 Williams Drive, Suite 300, Fairfax, VA 22031.
Enter either the front lobby or parking garage elevator lobby (parking is free) and head up to the 3rd floor.
Tuesday Team Happy Hour & Dinner
Open Road Merrifield
Tuesday after we wrap up at DDHQ, we will head over to Open Road Merrifield in Falls Church, Virginia. Open Road features local craft beers on tap, serves quality seasonal food (plus a rotating cocktail list), and boasts an extensive whiskey and bourbon collection. Note: Open Road does have two other locations, but the Merrifield location is a 3-minute drive and an 11-minute walk from the hotel.
Wednesday Happy Hour (All Slayers & Spawn Welcome)
Northside Social, Falls Church
On Wednesday, bring your +1s and kiddos to Northside Social. This spot has a bit of everything: coffee and espresso, a wine bar, beer on draft, a bakery, cocktails, and delicious evening bites for every palate. Northside Social is a 10-minute car ride from the hotel.
Dev Days Schedule
Please arrive at Venture X between 12:30-1 pm on Tuesday and between 8:30-9:00 am on both Wednesday & Thursday.
Want headshots? You'll have opportunities to take them at 8:30 am and during Power Hour on Wednesday. Breakfast will be available at the hotel. Official Dev Day activities will end by 1 pm on Thursday, and everyone will have the day off on Friday to get some rest after their trip home! Check out the schedule here>>
Questions & Communication
Dev Days Slack Channel
Please use the Dev Days Slack Channel for all (non-personal) questions and concerns before and during the event. This will be our primary means of communication so if you haven't downloaded Slack on your phone, please do so before the event.
TravelPerk
View Team Flight Details
We encourage you to coordinate Uber rides from the airport with a buddy (or three!) as much as possible. You can see who is coming in/leaving at a similar time as you by viewing the team's flight details in TravelPerk.
Team Contact Info
Team Contact Info
Need to contact a team member and don't have their phone number? Get your fave Content Strategist, Marketing Technologist, or Exec Team members' digits here.
Frequently Asked Questions
All flight travel costs are paid directly by DD via the Travelperk platform. For any out-of-towners driving instead of flying, DD will reimburse miles driven at $0.40/mile. If you plan on driving, you can request the reimbursement to the Reimbursement Request form. (Note: If your trip mileage is so substantial that it exceeds the standard flight rate for travel from your location, DD will cover up to the estimated equivalent flight cost.)
For hotel costs, you'll have to pay at the counter with your own payment method, which you can get reimbursed by uploading a receipt to the Reimbursement Request Form.
For all other costs, including Uber & Lyft or parking fees, DD will be paying a flat $150 per diem to go towards those expenses which will be added as a reimbursement on everyone's March 15 paychecks.
In order to make the most of your per diems, we encourage you to coordinate travel with the team! You can access everyone's flight info in Travelperk, and we encourage you to use the Dev Days Slack channel to coordinate rides and split fares.
If you have young kiddos that would make being away from home difficult, you’re welcome to bring your kiddo(s) and your significant other to travel with you to Virginia! Note that DD will cover the cost of the hotel accommodations, but not travel costs for significant others and/or kiddos.
Significant others and kids are welcome to tag along Wednesday but we ask that you attend any DD team events on your own to make the most of the time and get to know your teammates better!
Dev Days only come around twice a year and are a great opportunity to collaborate, create, and celebrate with the team. As much as possible, we strive to carve time away from our day-to-day so that we can be fully present for those ~2 days.
That means that we should all be working ahead to clear meetings and eliminate (or at least significantly reduce!) the need to do actual work while we're at the event.