Bronto Reunion … Oh, What a Night!

Last Thursday, after selling Bronto four years ago, we hosted a reunion at the Unscripted Hotel in Downtown Durham. Participation was amazing and it was like zipping back to the Golden Age of Bronto for just one more night. The enthusiasm at the event was a true testament to the strength of the Bronto culture and a true honor to be apart of it.
Thanks to Carolyn Sparano, Chaz Felix, Starr Stephenson and Susan Wall for help organizing the event. These things don’t just magically happen.
Bronto alum Cathy Traugot wrote a nice recap of the event below. You can also see fun pictures on Instagram.
Until next time!
Joe

 
“I miss you guys.’’
When Co-founder Chaz Felix spoke those lines at the recent Bronto Software reunion it summed up what many of us were thinking.
More than 150 of us turned out at the Unscripted Hotel in downtown Durham this past Thursday to reminisce, laugh and hug. It was like a high school reunion with no mean girls.
Current Brontos mingled with colleagues who have moved on. The ubiquitous green and white wheel from monthly lunches made an appearance along with the megaphone (or close facsimiles). There were silly prizes (a ride in co-founder Joe Colopy’s Tesla) and serious discussion. The drinks flowed. The guacamole was fresh. The t-shirts were a timeline of Bronto’s 17 years in existence.
The initial concept for the reunion was the brainchild of Starr Stephenson, a former Bronto events coordinator who now works for Instana. She had pulled together an impromptu, word-of-mouth reunion at the Pour House last fall. The event was a crazy success that made Joe and Chaz realize they wanted to expand on the idea.

“After leaving Bronto, I hosted the first reunion because I wasn’t finding that feeling of being completely at ease and accepted at my new company. And people showed up. Like they were missing it too.”
“Being at Bronto made me feel like I was part of something bigger than a job. It was social, creative, and philanthropic.”
— Starr Stephenson

Bronto was that kind of place. It brought out the best in people, engendered fierce loyalty and a sense of team spirit that was contagious. You wanted to go to work each day because every day was different. From the monthly lunches with new staffers doing their Stupid Human Trick (I sang the preamble to the Constitution) to a Business Leadership Tribe committed to transparency.
“I’ve worked for the government, giant corporations and a couple of startups. In my experience, you can’t define the culture based on the size of the company. Culture is more about the visions and practices of the leadership. At Bronto, our leadership was always very purposeful about creating a family,’’ said Waynette Tubbs, the former senior manager of content at Bronto who now directs communications for Devada.
One of the first to arrive at the reunion was Andy Feller. He joined Bronto in 2005 as the third software developer after the legendary Ed Dawley and Justin Sanders. He came back in 2010 for several years and now works for Bandwidth.
“Joining Bronto gave me an opportunity to come to this area. I’m from Baton Rouge, Louisiana,’’ said Feller. He said he loved the opportunity to learn so much. “We really matured how we did business internally and made a better product for our customers. It was a profitable and very rewarding experience professionally.’’
Colopy was full hijinks at the reunion. He auctioned off the recently retired Bronto general manager’s parking spot. It might not have been a legitimate prize, but it was classic Joe. He also honored attendees with legit prizes – like a barbecue in his backyard, a trip on organizer Stephenson’s boat and Ed Dawley’s Belgian waffles and strawberries served for breakfast in the winner’s bed (we aren’t sure how that last one is going to work, but we want pictures).
The co-founders’ delightful sense of humor and the crazy antics were a ton of fun when I worked there. But it really was the culture they helped create that was the reason so many of us returned on Thursday.
I had worked for myself for years before getting hired by Bronto in 2015. To say the least, I did not have the kind of resume that a more buttoned up company would jump at. When I got to Bronto I realized that I wasn’t alone. So many of my co-workers had diverse, interesting – and sometimes surprising – backgrounds. And it seemed everyone had a great side passion (chicken farming, gourmet caramels, leather tooling, rock bands).  
It made for an eclectic mix that this former newspaper reporter and freelance writer felt so comfortable with. I took on the role of interviewing Bronto customers – capturing the joy they had in working with my wonderful teammates to make their businesses work.
When people wondered at my decision to trade in working from home for a 35-minute commute to downtown Durham, I just told them, “It’s worth it.’’ It changed the trajectory of my career, and I’m so grateful.
Last Thursday reminded me of that.
Cathy Traugot worked for Bronto from 2015 to 2018. She is now the Content Marketing Manager at Devada.