All Hands/2015 Whistler

What is it? -- multiple work weeks, happening in the same city, at the same time + some opportunity to get together as one big group as well as with other teams as it makes sense. Then, on the last day, we have a fun social event for all, Mozilla-style!

Dates, Location and Weather

Monday, June 22 - Friday, June 26, 2015 (travel days are Monday & Saturday*) in Whistler, British Columbia, CANADA (various venues, all within Whistler Village. Feel free to use/edit this OpenStreetMap version)

*For those countries where rest time is required on weekends (vs. work travel), Mozilla will cover a return on the next available work day, if you choose.

Weather

Averages temperatures range from lows of 48 Fahrenheit (9 Celsius) to 70 Fahrenheit (21 Celsius). It can/will rain and will be cool (could even snow of Friday night since the party’s at ~6,000 feet/1,850 metres). Bring layers but a ski jacket isn’t necessary.

Registration

This is an invite only event.

Registration is Complete! You should have received a confirmation email. If you are unsure if you are registered, email mozilla@shworldwide.com.

Booking Travel

All paid staff and Elancers (MoCo only [1], exceptions below [2]) may begin booking their air travel to Vancouver (YVR) through a special “meeting” section of Egencia. The meeting section ensures we can meaningfully balance 1,000 of us to booking our own flights with a need to be mindful of budget. As such, we ask that you only book Whistler travel within this framework (instructions here). Please complete all bookings by 17 April 2015.

• [1] Mozilla Foundation employees - Angela Plohman is your coordinator.
• [2] Employees from our Japan office will use a local agency and Yuka Takagi is your coordinator.

We have secured hotel rooms for everyone (please do not book hotel) - see below for Hotel & Meeting Space information.

Air Travel Guidelines (and tips)

Our standard travel guidelines apply (pre-populated in Egencia and here for reference) when booking for Whistler. Anything booked outside of them will require approval.

Everyone should plan to arrive in Vancouver, BC (YVR) on Monday, June 22. Exceptions are possible for those traveling on long distance flights that require an earlier arrival.

Everyone should plan to depart from Vancouver, BC (YVR) on Saturday, June 27. NOTE: You will need to leave Whistler at least five hours prior to your flight. Please consider this when booking your departure.

If you are traveling from afar, we recommend avoiding a layover in the United States and aiming for one in Canada. This minimizes the number of visas you will need.

Early Arrivals/Late Departures

Provided there is no incremental cost (>$100USD) to your airfare for an earlier arrival or later departure, you are totally welcome to have at it. While we have negotiated rates with some Whistler hotels for the three days prior to and the three days following our work week, they are subject to availability (NOTE: There is a big deal event going on just prior to our work week in Whistler, so it’s going to be tough to get a room no matter what. In Vancouver, matches of the Women's Football (Soccer) World Cup take place before, during and after the workweek.)

Ground Transportation to/from YVR

Ground transfers via bus from Vancouver Int’l Airport to Whistler will be provided on Monday, June 22nd and from Whistler to Vancouver Int’l Airport on Saturday, June 27th. There are no set shuttles times, either way. The shuttles will be booked based upon flight times, so everyone will be covered who arrives on the 22nd and departs on the 27th and times will be assigned to you.

For those of you arriving earlier due to the long overseas flights, we will have accommodations and transportation for you and will get information directly to you as soon as we can.

Vancouver office, MDN Orientation folks and those arriving arriving by trains and boats or earlier (for personal time) and will not be at YVR on Monday, we will have a shuttle from the office, please add your name here so we can track you.

Canadian Visas

Check here to see if you need a visa: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/visas.asp You can request a visa invitation letter during registration. You will need to provide your passport details for the letter.

Some people are not allowed to come to Canada (known as “inadmissible” under Canada’s immigration law), check here to see if you might be "inadmissible" (you'll be turned away at the border if you are, so best to know ahead of time): http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/inadmissibility/index.asp and http://www.ezbordercrossing.com/the-inspection-experience/prior-criminal-offenses/crossing-canadian-border-with-a-dui/#.VThVDRfnfVp

Not paid staff

If you are a vendor (paid by a company other than Mozilla or Elance), contractor, or seasonal staff, your manager must confirm your participation before you will be able to book travel. We have reached out to managers for this confirmation and will let you know when you may book your travel.

Interns -- Participation will be coordinated by Misty Orr and Kyle Poffenroth.

Volunteers -- Participation will be coordinated by Brian King and George Roter. They have reached out already to each team, but if you’re unsure if your team was included, please get in touch with them. Volunteer Invites Criteria

Partners -- Invitations will be considered on a case by case basis. Please send those requests to mdouglass@mozilla.com for review.

New Hires

We have a process to identify new hires each week and will invite them to book travel (and register) on a steady basis. No action necessary from managers other than to let them know about the event.

Arriving at Vancouver International Airport

Documentation for Canadian Customs

We have informed Canadian Customs about the Whistler Work Week.

If you're flying from outside of Canada

You'll be handed a Declaration Card(PDF) on your flight. Fill out this card out before you land:

• the purpose of your travel is "Business",
• declare any gifts, alcohol, or tobacco that you are bringing into the country,
• you do not need to declare personal baggage such as your computer, camera, and clothing as long as you're taking it with you when you leave.

When you arrive at the airport, follow the signs for "Canada Arrivals" to Canada Customs and Immigration. Hand your Declaration Card and Passport to the officer, and explain that you are visiting for a conference in Whistler, BC. If they ask for evidence of your invitation to the conference, produce the Pocket Letter that Mozilla sent you. The officer will mark and return your card and direct you to the baggage claim. Collect your bags and exit the Customs Hall, turning in your marked Declaration Card to the officer at the doors.

If you're flying from within Canada

If you're coming from within Canada, simply proceed to the baggage claim from your gate once you arrive.

Hotel Assignments/Reservations & Meeting Space

We have all hotels rooms covered and we’ll try to get teams in hotels together where possible. The hotels are all close together (closer than in Portland), so even if it the numbers aren’t perfect, it should all work pretty well. Moco has an email with a link to hotel assignments. Confirmation numbers will be added in about 3 weeks. You will also receive a confirmation email with your hotel assignment and dates. If you asked to extend at your own cost, the email will include that information as well.

Everyone will have individual rooms (unless you want to share). Interns will be sharing rooms.

There is complimentary wifi in the hotel rooms and lobby spaces so everyone can work in the evenings or prepare stuff for the next day.

Families and loved ones at work weeks

As a general principle, when organizing our work weeks, we look to design an experience that accommodates a variety of individual situations and requirements while also ensuring we have a productive and focused event.

Because of our size and varied space requirements (we require 3x the breakout space of most corporate meetings), it's cheaper to book our work weeks in holiday locations -- or cities like Portland -- during off-seasons. This approach means we can get the best rates and these cities typically already have great transportation infrastructure, resources for meals and social event, proximity to a major airport, have ample hotels, etc.

As part of planning, we work with hotels to ensure our employees, at their own expense, are able to extend their stay before or after our event, at our negotiated group rates. This makes it easier for anyone wanting to organize a getaway at the work week destination with their family and/or other Mozillians

Specifics

In most cases, group discount rates apply for least three nights before and three night after our events. Reservations for those rooms are based on availability, should be requested as part of registration, and are at your expense. For those who plan getaways, our preference is for those to happen towards the end of the week. That way, when space permits, they can attend our Friday night event (typically only for adults).

Before you decide to invite your partner or family (thinking kids or parents, not cousins or uncles) to join you for the full week, make sure they know what is expect of you. That for the majority of the time, your attention, focus and presence will need to be on your team and on Mozilla. Meals and any full-company social events, other than the Friday party (which we will open as broadly as our space permits in most cases), will be at your expense too.

Mother’s Room Requests

If you need one during the week, please go here and add your needs.

Food & Drink

All meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) will be provided and paid for centrally. It is all local, fresh and delicious. Any other food or drink expenses (including room service and in-room minibar charges) will be the responsibility of the attendee.

• Allergies: We will ensure that all food/environmental allergies are taken into consideration and will always have gluten-free and vegan options (and gfv options). If you have severe allergies that we need to know about; you can indicate in registration, or email mozilla@shworldwide.com

• Menus: We'll post the menus here once we have them, so you know what to look forward to.

Out of Pocket Expenses

For the most part, the intention of our work weeks are to centrally organize a structure within which teams can come together to work on deliverables and plans, to socialize, to meet and share with other teams, and generally come together as one Mozilla family, two times each year. The central organization includes meals (three/day + snacks), transportation, accommodations, and some number of social events.

Because of that, we’d expect a very limited number, if any, of work week-related expenses for food or social events (this includes team events, room service, mini-bar charges, and food/drink costs above the vouched amounts). Any social events that are not part of our central plan will generally be self-organized and funded by participants. If you have questions about any of this, please reach out to bmark@mozilla.com

Volunteer Reimbursement via Reps

Volunteers attending this event may submit for visa and U.S. travel/health insurance- related costs (and other incidentals) via Mozilla Reps:

Mozilla Reps attending this event may submit for reimbursement through the standard process. Mozillians who are not Mozilla Reps should contact a local Rep and the Rep will help them get reimbursed. The process is as follows:

Step 1: contact a Rep in your country*

Step 2: once the Rep has accepted to process your reimbursement, give them an estimate of what your costs will be. If you need the funds beforehand, be sure to say that

Step 3: after the event, send him/her all your scanned receipts and bank details/paypal account

Step 4: inform the Rep once you have successfully received the funds

Schedule Blocks

Here is a high-level schedule for Whistler (some things may shift but the event start and end times are firm enough to book travel).

Scheduling Tool

For Whistler, we’re going to try using Sched as our online scheduling tool. This replaces the giant spreadsheet we had last year and is where you go when you need to know where to be and when.

Desktop: https://juneworkweekwhistler2015.sched.org/ Mobile: https://juneworkweekwhistler2015.sched.org/mobile-site

You can create a profile or not, totally up to you. If you opt to, you can subscribe to the calendar (ICal, Google, Outlook) and receive push updates once per day. You can also download from the site and upload into your own calendar (no push updates).

FAQ

Anything not covered here, please add to this document and we'll answer

Extra Curriculars

If you have one to propose, add it here with a sign up link. Note that these things are self-organized and self-funded.

Moz Jam Band: Getting Mozillians together to make music + perform a set at the end of the week (Show your interest here)

Workweek Gaming - was popular after-hours activity at Portland

• Magic: The Gathering
• One-shot RPG

Whistler Bike Park 3-lap sampler - for the cycling inclined

Full List of Whistler/Blackcomb Activities - Peak2Peak, Ziptrek, Rafting, Alpine Tours, many more

Overnight hike - Hike and camp at Russet Lake and summit Overlord Mountain. Fri-Sat or Sat-Sun weekend after work week.

Day hike - Non-overnight hiking trip, either on Monday or on Saturday. If interested, please indicate your preference on the etherpad!

Paraglide Pemberton valley - 1/2 day, 20min drive from Whistler

Skydive Pemberton valley - 1/2 day, 20min drive from Whistler

Zumba with Rowe! - Please sign up for Wednesday at 7:45 am or Thursday at 4:30 pm. Maximum 20 spots each class.

Squash - There are two courts at "Meadow Park Sports Center" nearby Whistler village (10-min bus transportation). Please sign up.

Rust/Servo Hacking! - On evenings without events, the Rust and Servo teams will be holding hacking session to either fix your first Servo bug or learn how to Rust-in-Gecko!

Rock climbing - Let's go rock climbing together! In the Whistler Core Climbing and Fitness Centre!

Vancouver before and after

If you are in Vancouver before or after the Work Week, the Vancouver office are running some events. These are all self funded and organized. If you would like to come, please add yourself to the google doc here. Currently we've got the following:

• Brewery crawl Sunday 21st

• Visit Capilano Salmon Hatchery (date undecided)

• Hiking to Bowen Lookout Saturday 27th

• Kayaking in Deep Cove Sunday 21st

• Mountain Biking at Squamish or the North Shore (date undecided)

• Photowalk around Vancouver (date undecided)

• Canada Day party July 1st. When else?

Whistler Activities - Discount Link

We’ve also negotiated some the discounted rates on some fun things to do in and around Whistler and that list is here