Essential Technology for a Team Offsite

I’m in the process of wrapping up a team offsite even though I was ostensibly the lead technologist present, I was not actually prepared in terms of bringing the right technology with me to facilitate the team’s needs. The single worst omission was the lack of an HDMI cable without which, I saw three tech folk (me, other engineer #1, team coordinator) fail to be able to connect a Mac, an iPad and a Windows box to a Chrome Cast equipped TV.

Here is my list of the technical stuff I will never again be without for a team meeting:

• A couple of USB sticks. Even today in the age of Google Drive and DropBox, USB sticks can still be more convenient
• An Anker USB battery just in case
• 2 lightning cables, at least one of which is 6 foot like this Amazon cable
• 1 6’ USB type C cable
• 1 USB 2 cable
• 1 power strip with USB ports
• 1 extension cord with USB ports
• 1 Verizon Mifi Hotspot able to share connectivity if WiFi fails
• 1 ChromeCast
• 1 6’ HDMI Cable
• 1 USB Speaker like a Beats Pill

This is roughly enough technology to support a team offsite of 6 to 8 people (imho).

Note: I use a MacBook 2015 classic so I still have real ports. If you are using newer MacBooks then you likely need dongles as well.