05.17.2012 By Donavon Roberson
Myth Busters: The Truth About Unlimited Paid Time Off
Recently, Dyn added unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO) as a new benefit for its employees. When trying something new, there are always misconceptions and unlimited PTO is no exception. Some may decide that it won’t be successful because employees will simply not show up for work and take advantage of the generosity. Others may be paralyzed by the word “unlimited” and not take enough time off.
No matter where one lands on this issue, there are some myths associated with the policy that should be addressed and answered in order to ensure everyone is on the same page. This is a growing trend among companies, so if you have been thinking about it, this will hopefully be some valuable insight into your planning.
Read More05.16.2012 By Kevin Donahue
Cooking With Kevin: Stories From Dyn’s Corporate Chef
Hello Dyn Nation! I wanted to introduce myself as I’m Dyn’s new corporate chef. I am excited to be a part of the team and to be able to bring a new aspect to our culture with my food and culinary background.
I am sure most of you are wondering how a professional chef comes to a technology company. Really, it is the same reason many of work here or any company: opportunity.
Read More04.30.2012 By Chris Widner
Dyn Culture: When Change Comes, Will You Be Ready?
This quote brings me back to a conversation I had as we were setting up for a DynTini in Las Vegas a few years ago. I was amazed by the growth and change we had at Dyn up to that point so I asked two of our VPs, “Is it normal for things to change so often?”
“Chris, it’s fine. In fact, it’s good. If you’re not growing, you’re dying.”
I had no problem with the changes I was seeing, especially considering the opportunities they had provided me. I found it to be thrilling and it satiated my appetite for new experiences and things to try. However, I had some people around me warning me of impending doom. To them, change was a bad thing.
How can two people view the same change in a completely different manner? Only some people realize the opportunity for growth that change provides. In fact, the harder the change, the more opportunity for growth.
When it comes to change, people find themselves in one of four buckets.
Read More04.16.2012 By Tom Daly
From Swinging A 48 Hour Hammer To A Bad News First Environment
With each phase of growth and especially over the past three years, shifts in Dyn’s tides occurred due to a variety of factors, many times related to the number of people we’ve hired and other times due to the physical geography of our office.
One of the monumental shifts I’ve noticed recently (and likely took too long to reflect upon and realize) is that it has become harder for our teams to relay onward bad news to each other as soon as it is realized. Examples of this kind of bad news: “the schedule is going to slip” or “the scope needs to be reduced” or “we’re not going to win the deal we thought we would”.
When I started at Dyn in 2001, we had just four employees and we all sat at a bunch of desks in one room with all critical business functions occurring within a 100 foot square area. I was helping with customer support and system administration and occasionally dabbling in software development. CEO Jeremy Hitchcock was watching over the finances, writing some code and also keeping an eye on customers. Others were building software and scaling systems.
Read More04.05.2012 By Josh Nason
TechCrunch & TC Cribs: We Want You!
With 6000 square feet of expansion awesomeness set to open in the next few days, it’s time to officially invite one of the most popular tech news websites in the world here to visit as part of their ongoing TC Cribs series.
They’ve visited clients, partners and friends of ours like Etsy, Yelp, Tumblr, LAL and Meebo. But with a startup community that is truly taking shape here in the northeastern United States, we want to extend our e-hand out to TechCrunch to officially visit the Dyn world headquarters in Manchester, NH, and see what our region has to offer.
And since we realize that the written word is sometimes easy to pass over, we made a video for you as part of the cause.
Read More03.14.2012 By Chris Widner
Culture Change Through Storytelling: Give ‘Em Something To Believe In
This is a guest post. Expect to hear some exciting news about Dyn Culture very, very soon!
Change is the new constant.
You might think it takes more than just a good yarn to gain people’s trust and commitment. Yet, storytelling is the key to transforming your culture. People have stopped believing in the same old stories — especially when it comes to inspiring, motivating or mandated change.
Read More03.06.2012 By Isaac Onigman
High Drama With Robots: Team 501′s Weekend At FIRST
The BAE Systems Granite State Regional FIRST Robotics Competition were this past weekend and the Dyn sponsored Team 501 / Power Knights were there in full force.
If you are not familiar with FIRST, it is an international program that promotes engineering and technology to youth through the building of robots, put to the test by means of competition. Along the way, community mentors will teach the critical skills for success needed to power their robots (programming, engineering, design, even how to use a screwdriver) while focusing on the development of key life skills including communication, cooperation, and leadership.
Every year, FIRST presents teams with a new challenge that they will need to rise above to succeed. This year’s challenge — Rebound Rumble — is a fun & fast-paced game that was fantastic to design for and play in.
Read More03.05.2012 By Adam Coughlin
Dyn Sports Update: Soccer Club Upbeat Despite Losing Streak
You can’t win ‘em all.
On Feb. 19, Team Wine & Dyn fell 9-1 to the Player Haters, which revealed that it is acceptable to hate the game and the player. The action in the game was much closer than the final score indicates. In Team Wine & Dyn’s defense (and Dyn Sports is an objective, unbiased chronicler of sport), the game was played at 9:15 PM on a Sunday night, according to the official NHSSC schedule.
Team Wine & Dyn kicked off the season with a win, but have lost their last two games by a combined score of 17-1. Despite the disappointing performances, spirits on the team are still high.
Read More03.05.2012 By Chris Widner
Married With Children: How Family Events Can Bring Your Company Together
Each quarter, Dyn holds a Family Day that brings our employees and their families together away from the office for a few hours. It’s a great opportunity to get to know each other better, meet fellow spouses and children and see relationships develop through these events.
Holding it at places like My Gym like we did this past weekend also gives us the opportunity to wear the kids out on a Saturday, something all parents can appreciate. But in reality, the day represents even more than that. It represents how much Dyn has grown as a company but how we have all grown as individuals as well.
When I first started here almost five years ago, it was common to see a big group of co-workers go out for dinner and have a movie night at the office. (I will never forget Sean Connery’s thumb in The Presidio.) It was a great way to unwind after a long week and created relationships outside of work that are still strong today.
Unfortunately, we no longer have Friday movie nights at Dyn. Why? Both Dyn and our employees grew up.
Read More02.17.2012 By Josh Nason
Gray & Joe’s Excellent San Francisco Adventure
“It started out weird and then, it got crazy.”
That was the quote from Dyn COO Gray Chynoweth following his three day trip to San Francisco this week, accompanied by VP of Finance Joe Raczka. A trip that was built around business was mixed with a lot of pleasure involving a Valentine’s Day dinner, Patron shots, a Mercedes Benz, a house of hackers and a multiple time Super Bowl MVP.
A tale best set for a Ben Mezrich book? Decide for yourself.
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