Twelve years ago, Power Home Remodeling (“POWER”) launched a massive end-of-year celebration in Cancun, Mexico to say thank you and recognize the accomplishments of our employees over the past 365 days.
But through the years, it has evolved into something much more than just a typical year-end party. The event, now called “Quest”, is one part Coachella, one part wellness retreat, one part beach vacation — except instead of bumping elbows with 100,000 spectators, it’s an exclusive viewing party for POWER employees their loved ones on the beaches of Mexico.
Each year, we seek to create our biggest Quest to date in December which included a three-day music festival with an A-list lineup of artists (Usher, Chance the Rapper, and Phoenix just to name a few) interactive art installations, and daily workouts. Room, board, food, swag, and admission to what was one of the hottest festivals of the year are all included in this unique workplace perk. As an added bonus, POWER employees are also able to bring their significant other.
At POWER, we put our people-first philosophy into action — and Quest is a direct reflection of that. Our goal was to architect an immersive, one-of-a-kind experience that truly enriches our employees’ lives, connecting them to new people, or introducing them to new art, music and wellness practices.
Quest is created for POWER employees, by POWER employees. Our in-house event and creative teams intentionally construct every element — from conception to execution. Each year is unique with a new theme and an entire experience built around it. This year’s theme was ‘Paradise Dropped’ - a celebration dedicated to music being the main character and its power to transport attendees in a paradisiacal escape. Quest is anything but the conventional festival — it’s an opportunity for POWER people to escape reality and connect with one another in a sonic paradise.
To maximize the experience of Quest, it was not only important to keep our employees informed, but build hype and excitement leading up to the event to drive attendance. We released the artist lineup with a drop-culture approach on company-wide Town Halls, curated a Spotify playlist to enjoy music of the Quest acts before touching down in Mexico, integrated contests and promos throughout the year where employees could win VIP experiences, and much more.
But this year marked our most challenging Quest to date. With severe weather plaguing Cancun, our People Experience and Production teams had to make a call to move a massive outdoor music festival (including the stage and all of the installations that had already been built on the beach) into an indoor arena. We strategically and methodically came up with a fast, but thoughtful plan based on the resources we had. We devised a clear and consistent communication plan to inform attendees that also kept spirits high. We were able to successfully make this happen in 16 hours where we hosted one of our biggest and best festivals to date with some of most renowned Grammy award-winning acts in music.
To make the event as unique and special as possible for our people, no detail was left unnoticed. We architected an experience that would fully immerse attendees in music, art, and wellness. Installations that let attendees create and build art together, guided yoga and workouts, and a Quest Swag Store where attendees could get decked out ahead of the festival were all a part of the journey. We even designed custom merchandise for attendees to take a piece of the experience home. New this year, we hosted a basketball tournament that teamed up POWER employees with former NBA players Darren Collison, Eddy Curry, Roger Mason Jr., Metta World Peace, Baron Davis, and Keith Bogans for added fun and camaraderie.
It’s also important for us to create an environment at Quest that is inclusive and accommodating of everyone. For those that have a sober lifestyle, we have a program called SWAY (Sober Ways to Advance Yourself), where we offered signature mocktails, dedicated lounge areas, activities, and games throughout for those that wanted a relaxing escape from the big event.
With Quest 2023, POWER sought to create an experience that would make employees feel happy and valued, foster deeper connections, and ultimately provide a more fulfilling place to work.
And we did just that.
This year’s sign-up period amongst more tenured employee sold out in just four minutes — the first year this ever happened! The sign-up period for newer employees, sold out in just six minutes!
We boosted employee sentiment about POWER as a best place to work. A survey found:
Our social media amplification also sparked hype and attention:
But don’t just take our word for it — here’s what one of our employees had to say.
"I don’t know how to sum up how incredible Quest is. Although it’s an insane music festival with top tier performers, it’s more of a family reunion. Throughout the year we get to meet so many amazing people from other territories at summits and conferences, and Quest is a beautiful experience where we can all see each other again and celebrate this years accomplishments.”
