Bringing Writers Together: The Power of the Wix Writers’ Guild
I must start by letting you in on a little secret; this blog is being written in real time. What on earth do I mean? Well, I’m currently sitting at a Wix Writers’ Guild workshop, a bi-monthly meetup of all the writers who work at Wix Headquarters, and I’m going to write about how we spend these team enrichment days.
At Wix, we’re an eclectic bunch. Looking around the room I can see marketing writers (mostly chatting), UX writers (looking analytical), knowledge base writers (typing frenetically) and localization writers (the epitome of suave).
With all this talent at Wix’s disposal, how does the Writers’ Guild keep us at the top of our writing game, and help us continually refine and improve? Given the diverse nature of the assembled crowd, and the vastness of the writing portfolio at Wix, it’s difficult to sum it up concisely. I’ve picked a few examples of recent guild days to provide an insight into how we fill these convivial, brilliantly catered and often intense gatherings.
1. Professional Development
Professional development (a dry phrase, I know) is at the heart of the Wix Writers’ Guild. Many of our meetups are augmented by a presentation, often by a colleague from a different part of the Wix family, such as a developer or member of senior management. This is a great way for all of us to stay up-to-date with company developments, and to gain valuable insights into aspects of Wix that we wouldn’t otherwise encounter.
2. Combined Brain Power
Uh-oh it’s blitz time. Periodically, we rock up to a guild day expecting to be fed and ready to spend the next 4-6 hours listening and learning–then we find out it’s a blitz day. These days can take many forms, but the essence is that we are all given a collective task, such as rewriting knowledge base articles, and we work on it intensively.
Although these days can be exhausting, tasks such as these ensure that Wix content remains fresh and relevant while pushing us writers out of our comfort zone and into a whole other field of writing. It’s great for the Guild as a whole because we put all of our metaphorical shoulders to the wheel towards a common goal, and we get to flex writing muscles we may not use in our day-to-day roles.
3. Outside Influences
We’ve had some fascinating guest speakers from outside of Wix as well. The session that sticks in my mind was on managing conflict. The facilitator, Mr. Moti Crystal, was infinitely qualified, having spent a large chunk of his career as a Middle East peace negotiator. (While things can, on occasion, get a little tense at Wix, I don’t think we’ve reached that stage yet.) These workshops let us explore different aspects of our working lives, and share our thoughts with each other, helping not only to bring problems to the surface but also to strengthen the bonds of camaraderie between us writers.
4. Fun Time
Then we have the more freewheelin’ kind of guild days. Once I led a pub-style trivia quiz and there are plans for a number of improv sessions in the coming months. Again, these days allow us to mingle with our fellow writers, share good and bad experiences, and basically get to know one another a little better.
So that’s a quick glimpse of how Wix keeps its writers informed, entertained, fed and inspired.
Andrew Hughes, UX Writer at Wix
