What’s summer camp without sending postcards back home, right?
That’s what we thought. So we asked the campers at Camp CoLo to share their postcards back home to their teams.
Just a reminder, Camp CoLo, which is short for co-location, was an idea of the Culture Team.
Folks from very different parts of the company have spent the week doing their regular jobs but doing it side by side with someone from elsewhere at National Life.
The goal has been to break down some walls and introduce ourselves to one another and other parts of our operation.
The first team of campers have been camped out in a fifth floor conference room on the Vermont campus.
In addition to doing their regular work, they’ve spent time together grabbing coffee or lunch, volunteering or just chatting about what they do at National Life.
And writing postcards! We asked them to write back to their home teams. And we also asked if we could share the notes with you. Here’s what we got.
From Donna Heney, Commercial Real Estate, Sentinel
Hello Muddah! Hello Fuddah!
Greetings from Camp CoLo! The food is great, the activities are fun and there are no spiders in our cabin. Our Camp Counselors Mallorie and Bennett are really nice. We took a “field trip” to The Wayside, and tomorrow we’re volunteering at the Wood Art Gallery. We’ve also been invited to the cricket tournament Friday afternoon.
The other campers, Christie, Kate, Elizabeth and Ed, are terrific. They are intelligent, articulate and dedicated. We’ve shared a bit of what’s going on in our departments around NLG. The Business Innovation Group is doing some really fascinating work with AI. And I learned that Compliance completes background checks on potential new agents that sound similar to our Borrower background checks.
I am also fascinated by everyone’s personal and professional journey to their current positions at National Life. Several of us started as NLG interns, while others jumped right in as employees.
I’m getting excited to return home to my Sentinel family Friday afternoon. See you soon!
Love,
Donna 
From Kate Shore, Strategy & Business Development
Dear team,
Greetings from Camp CoLo! I’ve had a busy week of connections, stories around the campfire, laughs, and learning. The other campers and counselors were wonderful. They’ve shared about themselves, their work, their journeys through National Life, and what our culture means to them. Hopefully I’ve been able to help them understand what the Strategy & Business Development team does and how we could work together in the future. We also had many visitors stop by and say hi, so I’ve really expanded who I know at NLG. My favorite parts of the week were being in nature, the endless supply of trail mix, and our diverse lunch conversations.
I’m eager to catch up with you all and tell you about my week. Hopefully Camp CoLo becomes a regular thing and I get to come back as a counselor!
See ya soon!
~Kate
Christie Keene, Market Conduct & Compliance
Ed Hakey, Quality Assurance – Strategic Delivery, IT
Greetings from Camp CoLo,
My week here at Camp CoLo has flown by! I’ve been lucky enough to make new connections with each one of the campers and counselors. Getting the opportunity to work, dine, and chat with coworkers who I do not normally see on a daily basis has opened my eyes to some of the work going on behind the scenes that a lot of people may not be aware of. There is no better way to learn about the unique functions of a growing organization than to see it in action. As you learn more about the daily tasks of other individuals, you become better equipped to handle your own day to day challenges. I can’t wait to leverage the new connections I have made on both a personal and professional level. Not to mention, everything is better with s’mores!
Send candy!
Ed
Elizabeth Waring, Business Project Manager, Enterprise Solution Delivery Office
Hello from Camp CoLo.
On the first day, there was an awkward moment when nobody knew if they could talk or not. No one knew what to expect. The cabin was nicely decorated, with a fireplace, pine cones, a clothesline with much too short shorts! There were many sweet treats that were hard to resist.
The four campers including myself were eager and excited to learn about each other. Our first special guest was from IT, our super hero to save us from technology glitches. Bennett, who does not go by Ben, told us many campfire stories and we even to earn about each other’s horror family history stories.
No one seemed to be homesick, but we knew we were not too far from home. We are told we are going to go out for ice cream and will have an opportunity to go paint at a local art house.
Camp has been so much fun and I can’t wait til tomorrow.
Elizabeth