MARCH 9, 2020, was always going to be a big day for Slack. The Monday after the start of daylight saving time in the United States brings the U.S. and Europe an hour closer together, and the extra hour of workday overlap between the two continents has traditionally resulted in a jump in simultaneous users on the digital messaging platform.
But that Monday, something unexpected happened.
Concerns about the coronavirus had been taking hold the previous week across the United States. Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google began to tell employees to work from home. Stanford University canceled in-person classes. South by Southwest called off its Austin festival completely. MGM postponed the launch of the 25th James Bond movie from Easter to Thanksgiving. Its title: No Time to Die.
“We expected to see a spike on that Monday morning,” says Cal Henderson, Slack’s CTO. The company has “an internal channel that automatically posts when we set a new record,” and its automated chime went off more than once that day: Slack’s worldwide connected users hit an all-time high. The number of daily messages sent did, too. “We didn’t build Slack for a global pandemic,” says Henderson, just over a week after hitting this benchmark. “But it is hugely applicable to what’s happening in the world.”
This story is from the May - June 2020 edition of Fast Company.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May - June 2020 edition of Fast Company.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies - CAMPUS
FOR CREATING A NATIONAL ONLINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies - SOL DE JANEIRO
FOR DROPPING NEW FRAGRANCES AT AN INTOXICATING PACE
The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies - VANTA
FOR OFFER ING STARTUPS TOOLS TO TRUST BUT VERIFYIN THE AGE OF AI
The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies - PERPLEXITY
FOR LOCATING THE ANSWER TO THE PERENNIAL PROBLEMS OF WEB SEARCH
The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies - THE POWER BROKER
ITS CHIPS SPARKED THE AI REVOLUTION. NOW NVIDIA IS PUTTING THE TECH TO WORK ACROSS INDUSTRIES.
The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies - NATIONAL WOMEN'S SOCCER LEAGUE
FOR RESETTING THE VALUE OF WOMEN'S SPORTS
08 FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
WITH A NEW CEO BEHIND THE COUNTER. TACO BELL IS FOLLOWING A FRESH STRATEGY FOR GLOBAL CULTURAL DOMINATION. ONE TACO TUESDAY AT A TIME.
Reimagining the ways we work and meet
As business leaders rethink their real estate footprint, they're embracing smaller, high-quality, amenity-rich spaces that are more focused on human connection.” In other words, Convene.
10 Trend
From the Most Innovative Companies | Plus 606 Honorees From Advertising to Video
The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies
"The 1920s, water went into a generator, and DC Power came out. Now electrons go into a generator, and intelligence comes out."