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What If Your Work Gives You $1,000 Just to Have Fun?

Key Takeaways

To celebrate crossing a major milestone — surpassing $1 million in annual recurring revenue — we decided to do something a little different at North Shore Digital.

Instead of a typical bonus or team dinner, we launched a company-wide contest with a simple, powerful question:

“What if your company gave you $1,000 CAD… just to go have fun?”

No strings. No guilt. Just pure adventure, laughter, and memories — across four countries and cultures.

Watch on to see how the 4 team members spent the money… Which adventure would you prefer?

3 min read

🎥 Watch the Video or read about it below:

🚀 The Global Experience Challenge

RWe surprised four of our amazing team members with a $1,000 CAD Experience Fund, and challenged them to create the most unforgettable adventure possible.

The catch?
They had to stretch that money for fun in four very different places:

  • 🇨🇦 Marina in Toronto, Canada
  • 🇵🇦 Sam in the Pearl Islands, Panama
  • 🇹🇷 Kaan in Istanbul, Turkey
  • 🇮🇳 Archit in the Himalayan Mountains, India

Each person got the same amount. What they did with it? That’s where it gets interesting.

🧳 Adventures Across Continents

We asked each team member to:

  • Track how they used the $1,000 CAD (receipts and all)
  • Document their experience
  • Submit a short video to tell their story

Then we brought it all together for a fun Zoom presentation, voted on our favourites, and handed out personalized awards.

🏆 The Award Winners

Each experience was unique, so rather than naming one overall winner, we celebrated each for what made them stand out:

  • MarinaMost Entertaining Video & Experience (hilarious, heartfelt, and high-energy + Jeff Goldblum)
  • KaanAdventure at Home Award (proof that fun doesn’t require flights)
  • SamMost Popular Adventure with the Team (team favourite — that beach looks very enticing as we approach winter in BC)
  • ArchitBest Value-for-Money Adventure (seriously, that trip looked 5x the budget!)

💬 Why We Did It

Sure, we could’ve handed out gift cards or done a team retreat (and we still might). But the Global Experience Challenge captured something more meaningful:

✅ It reflected our values as a remote-first team
✅ It gave people autonomy and ownership
✅ It made everyone feel seen, valued, and celebrated

Plus… it was just a whole lot of fun.

💡 Want to Build a Team Like This?

If you’re a digital agency, founder, or team leader looking to build culture in a remote world — start with trust, generosity, and shared wins.

We’re proud to work with amazing clients across Canada — and we’re equally proud of the team behind the work.

👉 Learn more about how we operate on our culture pages.

📸 Highlights Coming Soon…

Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, or YouTube to catch:

  • The 30s teaser video
  • Behind-the-scenes clips from each team member
  • Future editions (maybe we’ll do an 8FA challenge next? 😉)

WORK WITH US let’s get started

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What If Your Work Gives You $1,000 Just to Have Fun?

North Shore Digital is an award-winning digital marketing agency based out of North Vancouver, BC. We are experts in lead generation, Google Ads, SEO, and ROI analytics for landscapers, home services, construction, health practices and private schools.

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