Earlier this month in Los Angeles, Kontera participated in the annual ThinkLA! Interactive Golf Romp. In true LA fashion the Interactive Golf Romp is more about socializing with friends, colleagues and associates, and less about golf.

This year the Interactive Golf Romp was held at the Executive Course of the Manhattan Beach Marriot. Eighteen foursomes enjoyed a 4pm shotgun start and embarked on 9 holes of the worst golf ever played.

At the Kontera sponsored 4^th hole, golfers were treated to fabulous Kontera swag like water bottles and the extremely popular bottle openers.

Our fearless server Manny kept the party lively by drenching each and every golfer with mass quantities of Bud and Bud Light.

The Interactive Golf Romp concluded with a heavily attended mixer where schmoozing was at an all time high. Attended by a wide range on industry types from partners at RPA, to planners at OMD, to brand managers at Sketchers, the Interactive Golf Romp was a great way for Kontera to mix, mingle, and spread the good in-text word in LA.

While we might not have dominated the Golf Links, Kontera still tops the In-Text leaderboard, and a fun afternoon was had by all; conversing with our Ad Agency and Marketing friends about the virtues of In-Text, against the most scenic of backdrops.

At the beginning of the summer, as we were looking for an opportunity to bring together our rapidly growing San Francisco office and to have some team fun, the idea of a community service initiative emerged quite naturally. Many Kontera employees have a strong personal involvement in various non-profits, and were therefore thrilled to partner with their work colleagues to do some good and contribute to the community.

Everyone had a chance to submit a proposal for a project, and to vote for their favorite partner organization. After some passionate debates, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy was selected as the lucky winner for our first “Kontera Serve” initiative.

On the afternoon of August 11^th, 34 of our San Francisco employees headed to Ocean Beach, the largest urban beach in California, for a clean-up expedition.

The weather forecast proved once again that it’s not an exact science, and just because it’s August, doesn’t mean we should expect it to be warm and sunny (supporting Mark Twain, who once asserted: “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco”). Yet, our fearless crew was up for the challenge!

Armed with gloves, jackets, hats, tongs and a contagious positive energy, we thoroughly combed about a mile of the beach – as far as the eye could see, and collected more than 30 bags of trash!

After three hours, we gathered for a well deserved break, accompanied with food and drinks – a great opportunity to hang out with some old friends, and to bond with more recently hired colleagues. We all enjoyed the opportunity to come together as a team, and the rewarding feeling of having accomplished something positive!

Check out the video below to see us in action.

A special congratulation to the winners of our trash collection contest: Cory, MariCate and Brian for the largest amount of trash collected, and Lauren, Aliza and Ammiel for the most unexpected piece of trash found (if you’re wondering: an old Russian VHS tape, of “Fire in the Snow”).

In the face of an impending “heatpocalypse” and record breaking temperatures, Kontera’s New York office rode out the heat wave with some sprinkles and ice cream cones.

In four separate events taking place in downtown New York City, Konterans stirred up summertime nostalgia with free Mr. Softee’s ice cream, served straight from the iconic truck.

Undaunted by humidity and the crowds, employees at NY Ad Agencies, such as Mediacom, Mindshare, Maxus, Mediavest, and Mediaedge, thronged the sidewalks in search of a scoop. Konterans mingled with the crowds as the queue wove around city blocks, giving us a chance to catch up with old contacts and greet new faces. As an extra cherry on top of generous helpings of vanilla and chocolate soft serve, agency employees had the chance to win an American Express gift card in the Kontera sponsored raffle.

After a great afternoon “meet and eat”, there was no doubt Kontera had found the right way to beat the heat.

Back in the air-conditioned office, Kontera employees got busy once again setting up Topically-Targeted Campaigns with our sophisticated new Synapse Engine, to deliver our advertisers what they REALLY want (besides a cone of Mr. Softee)… Great Results!

Kontera Israel office has been expanding rapidly of late, with more and more people joining the company.  Last Sunday, everyone at our Israeli office came together for a company field trip – for some long overdue R&R, and a welcome chance to bond with our more recent hires.

We set out to the Sea of Galilee in Northern Israel, the lowest fresh water lake in the world, (and also where it is said that Jesus had walked on water). For one day, we left our air conditioned bubble to commute with nature and chill out with our colleagues.

A splendid time was had by all, as we broke bread at a rustic horse ranch, hiked through a waist deep stream, and took some down time relaxing on the shores of the Galilee, before finally experiencing a crash course in yoga, where we pulled muscles we never even knew we had.

However, the highlight of the trip had to be dividing into 4 groups, each building a raft out of rope and bamboo, which we fastened to metal barrels before testing it’s buoyancy in the sea. All four rafts successfully floated, as apparently Kontera’s engineering brilliance extends to the tactile world as well.

The entire Kontera Israel team is now rejuvenated, and our focus is again full steam ahead on delivering innovation and performance to our partners on the Kontera Network. Yes, it might be a while before our next field trip, but we’ll always have the memories, and of course, the Facebook photo album.

Getting ready for a stroll down the stream

Chilling out

Building a raft

It’s harder than it looks…

Pumped up – Getting ready to sail

Taking it for a spin..

Oh My God! It floats!!!

Racing to the Finish line

The team that (thinks they) won – Jury still out..

Hot on the heels of the New York office relocating, Kontera Israel is our latest branch to upgrade their facilities.

All 75 employees in Israel packed up their belongings and made the massive track yesterday to an office building just across the street from our previous location. Okay, while the move might not have been a big one geographically speaking, the luxurious new digs are a sight to behold for everyone present.

Most of Kontera’s employees in the Israeli office are part of our R&D organization. Those brilliant developers are responsible for bringing to life our vision and cutting edge technology.

Our R&D organization prides itself on working in Agile methodologies, within a SCRUM framework. Agile is a work method that emphasizes teamwork, self-organization, and accountability. With that in mind, the layout and working environment of the new Israeli office were designed to reflect those Agile values of collaboration, transparency and team-work. The sprawling 1,200 square meter office is spacious but interconnected, as multiple doors and glass walls at every turn make each room seem equally accessible, increasing communication and productivity.

Decked out in Kontera’s familiar white and lime color scheme, the new office also features almost entirely new furnishings, including flat screen TVs, a recreational area, spacious kitchenettes, multiple conference rooms, custom chairs, new desks, lime trim cabinets that look suspiciously like a mini fridge, and many more niceties. When you are ready for lunch, the scenic hallway bridge overlooks the finest local eateries.

The Israeli office, as does Kontera worldwide, continues to expand, and the new office even has furnished rooms and work stations for new employees that will be joining us soon.

To see more pictures of our exciting new home, visit our Facebook photo album.