Fitbit hands out smoothies in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA

Fitbit - Boston smoothie giveway

Kendall Square, 

One Broadway, Cambridge, MA

Thursday, October 8th, 2015  11:00 am - 2:00 pm

One of my favorite things about working at Fitbit is their many outreach programs in the tech community, and that all employees are welcome to participate. I can get so focused on designing automated tests for our eCommerce platform. Volunteering gives me an opportunity to get away from my desk, away from the office, and out into the world where people are using our products.

So far, I've had fun back in June working the booth at Boston TechJam and handed out free ice cream at One Kendall Square. I hadn't done anything like that in a while, so it was nice to help out our team!

11:07 am: Setting up the B. Good truck:

Whenever I am at a software development Meetup, and I mention that I am a Sr. QA Engineer, people get a puzzled look on their face. Isn't Fitbit in San Francisco? 

To get the word out that they have an office here in Massachusetts, Fitbit Boston partnered with the burger joint, B. Good, and rented out their ice cream truck, "Harvey Milkshake", so they could hand out smoothies. Two flavors: kale crush, and strawberry banana. 

11:13 am: Our recruiting team gets down to business

Fitbit-Boston's recruiting team is also sponsoring a raffle for a free Fitbit Charge HR!

Looking for a new developer job? Come meet our recruiting team! Free smoothies from B. Good! @FitbitBoston. pic.twitter.com/ueaBHfKjPT

— T.J. Maher (@tjmaher1) October 8, 2015

11:24 am: Drumming up Business

To drum up business, I started tweeting at the companies nearby, such as the Cambridge Innovation Center we were parked outside:

Hello, @cicnow! Thirsty? Come meet the @FitbitBoston team to get a free smoothie from B. Good.

— T.J. Maher (@tjmaher1) October 8, 2015

12:04 pm: The Lunch Rush Begins

For the first hour, it was kind of quiet. But at noon, employees from tech companies like Akamai and the Microsoft NERD (New England Research and Development) center break for lunch.

Are you thirsty, @W3C? Free Smoothies from @FitbitBoston here at One Broadway in Kendall Square 11-2! Raffling off a Charge HR.

— T.J. Maher (@tjmaher1) October 8, 2015

12:23 pm: Our trusty guides!

John, a software developer, and Katy, one of our internal recruiters, wait in the plaza across the street, helping to herd people to our event.

1:30 pm: Back to the office!

After the Hipchat instant messaging app on my iPhone told me that a few of my hourly continuous integration tests were failing, I decided to head back to the office, a little bit sunburnt, but happy.