In the working world, colleagues need to connect with one another over things beyond the office. Start a conversation with a coworker, and you might find yourself engaged in discussions about anything from music to food, current events to travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in Northern California and Toronto, the usual small talk has been eclipsed lately by one of the most enthralling NBA finals in recent memory. The Toronto Raptors have already made history by reaching the finals for the first time. Meanwhile, a victory for the Golden State Warriors would be their third-straight title and firmly establish them as one of the most dominant NBA teams ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
WeWork employees in the Northern California and Toronto regions are stoking the competitive fire. It started during a recent community meeting, when talk turned to the finals, says Northern California community director Adam Weinke. \u201cIt was on all of our minds,\u201d he says Weinke. That\u2019s when a group of Golden State Warriors fans\u2014including fellow North Cal community directors Daisy Chaffee and Greg Rosso and general manager Elton Kwok\u2014suggested reaching out to the Toronto team to propose a friendly competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSports are most fun when fans feel personally and collectively invested with other fans\u2026 especially when you\u2019re rooting against people you know,\u201d says Weinke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Toronto community director Jared Paperman, the contest was a no-brainer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe pride we have in this Raptors team is special. It\u2019s brought us all closer together. Taking on one of the greatest teams of all time in the finals is unprecedented, so we\u2019re just having fun building on that excitement,\u201d says Paperman, an avid Raptors fan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each side agreed to a multifaceted challenge that involves basic physical exercises (and, ultimately, wearing the opposing teams\u2019 jerseys as punishment), as well as constant chatter and real-time analysis in a Slack channel of employees from both regions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the competition, the regions agreed that fans of each game\u2019s losing team has to complete a physical challenge: pushups for Game 1; forearm plank for Game 2; the dreaded burpee for Game 3; sit-ups for Game 4; jumping jacks for Game 5; air squats for Game 6; and lunges for Game 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the last two weeks, as this dazzling series has unfolded, employees have been embroiled in a Slack battle, which serves as the platform for banter, officiating complaints, GIFS, and videos from the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s competitive,\u201d says Paperman. \u201cBut at the end of the day, it\u2019s the passion we all have for the game that brings us closer to one another, regardless of which team. That\u2019s the reason we value this initiative above anything else.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That said, his side has grown stronger, as WeWork teams across Canada have joined the competition, proud to see the Raptors holding strong. \u201cAt first it was just our Toronto team facing off against all of WeWork North Cal,\u201d Paperman says. \u201cBut as the Raptors built momentum, word of the transnational competition spread, and soon there was a unified contingent of WeWork employees from Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal, all united in our Raptors\u2019 championship dream.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some individuals have even upped the ante. Paperman has doubled down against Jarrod Silva, a senior community manager in San Francisco. For each physical challenge, each has agreed to do twice<\/em> the number of exercises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To add final insult to injury, the general manager of the losing region must wear the winning team\u2019s jersey for a day, and fellow employees must wear the winning team\u2019s colors\u2014and send pics to the \u201cwinning\u201d region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDoing push-ups is one thing,\u201d says Weinke. \u201cWearing Raptors colors after surrendering the NBA title to a newcomer would be unimaginable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Almost 3,000 miles apart, employees of two regions are raising the stakes on an already-heated NBA Finals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1688,"featured_media":48507,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43903,43912],"tags":[503],"class_list":["post-48497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-stories","category-employee-spotlight","tag-culture"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n