Corporate Culture and Collaboration in Community

Written by: Tanya Hilleary

a child holds a globe, computer generated image, mapping image from NASA

It is amazing how much one can learn in a month after being immersed in an environment. I’ve learned  that while our SVP of Business Development can salsa, it’s the Bhangra music and rhythms that get my new colleagues on the dance floor at a company party. I’ve learned that, true to its name, if I drink the Midnight Magic coffee after lunch I can’t fall asleep before 1:00 a.m.  I’ve learned that when you get smart people and good technology in a room together, you can play a part to help a poor island nation racked by catastrophe. My role here at MetroStar Systems is, ultimately, to tell our story. While there is a certain “drinking from a firehose” aspect to the transition of a new executive into a fast growing company – average of 272% in the last three years and 420% growth in the last year – in true MetroStar fashion, I’ve tried to do a lot of listening and observing since arriving earlier this month. So here’s what I’ve observed: We are Skywalker Ranch meets the United Nations. Our modern offices are situated on a beautiful pre-Civil War era campus in the heart of what is now bustling, modern, high tech Reston, Virginia. But this exquisite facility is only the shell – the real beauty lies within. At the time of this writing, we have nearly 100 employees with more than 30 different nationalities represented. Walking around the office and meeting my new colleagues has been the absolute highlight of my transition so far. The cultural diversity is a huge strength for a company immersed in using technology in new and innovative ways.  We come from different places with different backgrounds and different ideas. When a customer presents a problem, we can offer several unique perspectives and share among our team to create the ideal solution. Innovative collaboration is at the very heart of MetroStar Systems.

We are a company that uses technology to bridge collaboration between people. Sometimes those people are Marines sharing data around the globe; other times we’re leveraging the best social media technology on a global scale in the interest of the State Department’s public diplomacy campaigns. By doing what we do, we effect change in the world.

MetroStar Systems offers a unique ability to collaborate.  Indeed, we are true to our tagline – we “Advance Technology Daily“. But we also…

Avance la tecnología cada día 每天先进技术 Zaawansowanej technologii na co dzień پیشرفت تکنولوژی روزانه передовой технологии с каждым днем Avançando a tecnologia diariamente تقدم التكنولوجيا اليومية अग्रिम प्रौद्योगिकी हर दिन Progresser les technologies de tous les jours предварително технология всеки ден Kuendeleza teknolojia ya kila siku הטכנולוגיה מראש כל יום công nghệ tiên tiến mỗi ngày 사전 기술 매일 teknologi maju setiap hari Teknoloji avanse chak jou

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/noticelj/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Posted on February 2nd, 2010 in Community, Our Culture.