How Granicus Deepened Connection Across a Global, Remote Workforce with Confetti

“Partnering with Confetti has been a way for us to be intentional, to think through how we connect without adding too much additional burden.”

— Nicole Blake Johnson, Director of Employee Communications & Engagement, Granicus

Customer Snapshot

Granicus is a trusted partner for governments on a mission to become more accessible through seamless digital experiences. With approximately 2,200 employees across 10 countries, their remote workforce spans time zones, cultures, and work styles. 

Supporting connection at that scale isn’t simple. It requires infrastructure. It requires creativity. And above all, it requires intention, said Nicole Blake Johnson, Granicus’ Director of Employee Communications and Engagement. 

Nicole stepped into a role that didn’t previously exist and has spent the last four years shaping how Granicus communicates, connects, and engages its global community.

“I saw a need for it and have certainly had an opportunity to grow into this role and shape it,” Nicole shared. “I try to bring a spark and a light wherever I go.”

At the heart of her work is a deceptively simple goal: make sure employees feel connected, supported, and energized…no matter where in the world they log in from.

The Challenge: Connection Without Proximity

Remote work brings flexibility, autonomy, and access to global talent. But it also introduces friction that’s easy to underestimate.

“Being in so many different countries, the time zones come with that,” Nicole explained. “There are some roles that are more shift-based, where all the team members are not on at the same time. How do you foster connection in those ways?”

In an office, connection often happens organically. In a remote environment, it must be designed.

Without intention, gathering defaults to meetings. And meetings don’t always equal connection.

At the same time, not every team at Granicus had the same capacity to cultivate culture. Some teams had strong rhythms and shared ownership. Others were still figuring it out.

“There was just that gap between those who knew the ropes and those who didn’t quite yet,” Nicole noted. “We've had to get creative.”

Nicole needed a solution that could:

• Work across time zones
• Support teams at different maturity levels
• Empower managers
• And avoid turning culture-building into another full-time job

The Solution: Designing Gatherings People Actually Want to Attend

Nicole was introduced to Confetti through a colleague who had already seen success with the platform. But the timing aligned with something deeper.

Granicus was actively rethinking connection at a strategic level.

“One of our strategic priorities became how do we deepen connections and team building across our remote environment, and Confetti was a key platform in helping us to accomplish that goal.”

The vision was clear. The execution needed to be sustainable.

Because as Nicole put it:

“Event planning is a role within itself,” she said. “How do we make a good thing feel good for everyone, including the point person who is helping to spearhead connection?”

That tension of meaningful experiences without burnout is where Confetti stood out.

Instead of asking culture champions to build events from scratch, Confetti provided structured, facilitated experiences that managers could plug into immediately. Creative without chaotic. Flexible without overwhelming.

“It’s been interesting to see what teams book what events,” Nicole shared. “You get to know the persona of your team…considering what resonates with my group and fits what they might enjoy.”

Some teams gravitated toward competitive energy. Others preferred creative sessions or collaborative games. That variety reinforced an important truth: connection isn’t one-size-fits-all.

And for employees already spending hours on video calls, Nicole began reframing what “gathering” really meant.

“A meeting is a gathering, a birthday is a gathering, a Confetti event is a gathering, an All-Hands is a gathering,” Nicole said. “Some gatherings we're happy about, some we’re like…please, don't put me on the invite for this. So, you want to create a space where people want to be there, they're excited about being there. And so just being intentional about that has been something that we feel very passionate about, and it's been nice to have a partner to help us bring that passion to life.”

That shift — from scheduling meetings to designing gatherings — is reframing connection across the organization.

The Impact: Scalable Engagement, Shared Ownership, Real Moments

Since partnering with Confetti, Granicus has booked 246 (and counting) events. But the real impact shows up in behavior change.

What started as a centralized effort quickly evolved into distributed ownership.

“It’s not just my team, but managers,” Nicole explained. “It’s been really cool to extend that power into the hands of managers to say, ‘Hey, you can get credits to plan the types of events that you’re looking for.’”

Managers began taking initiative. Teams began experimenting.

And the results were tangible.

“I remember sitting in one of our manager trainings, and I happened to be in a breakout room with another manager, and he was like, ‘Do you manage the Confetti platform?’ I [said], ‘It's me! You need more credits?’” Nicole said. “But [instead] he was just saying how much Confetti events provided a way for his team members to open up in a way that they hadn't before.”

Nicole sees why that matters.

What looks like a simple activity can become the first thread in a stronger team dynamic.

“I get it, we have team meetings and different opportunities, but some of the creative ways that Confetti designs events … it starts to unravel, right? It's like pulling the yarn,” Nicole said.

A Standout Moment: GranicusCon

If day-to-day connection is about rhythm, GranicusCon was about resonance.

What began as a holiday gathering evolved into something far more ambitious: a two-day, fully virtual, choose-your-own-adventure experience designed to support employees across time zones, energy levels, and engagement styles.

For a global, remote workforce, hosting a single “holiday party” simply wouldn’t cut it. The traditional format assumes everyone can log in at the same time, participate the same way, and engage with the same level of visibility. 

Nicole and her team knew that wasn’t realistic or inclusive. So instead of forcing uniform participation, they designed for flexibility.

GranicusCon featured live music, trivia, bingo, Drink and Draw, virtual volunteering, customer fireside chats, and breakout rooms. Employees could move between sessions, drop in and out, or choose experiences that best matched their energy and personality.

The goal wasn’t to fill every Zoom square. It was to create space.

“I want to normalize [that] it doesn’t mean people aren’t engaged if they’re not in every room with their cameras always on,” Nicole shared. “The fact that someone has taken their time to step into a virtual space you’ve created, I think, says a lot.”

Designing GranicusCon this way required thoughtful coordination. Nicole’s team is small but mighty. Pulling off a two-day experience for a global organization could have easily become overwhelming.

That’s where Confetti played a key role.

Instead of building every activity from scratch, Granicus was able to plug into facilitated, professionally run experiences that carried their own energy. The heavy lift of sourcing hosts, managing logistics, and creating engagement structures didn’t fall solely on Nicole’s team.

It allowed them to focus on experience and design rather than event production. And leadership showed up.

“Our executive leadership team showed up,” Nicole noted. “When people see their manager in a space having a good time, it normalizes it.”

That normalization matters in remote environments. When executives participate in creative sessions, laugh during trivia, or attend breakout conversations, it sends a powerful signal: connection is part of our culture — not a distraction from it.

GranicusCon became more than a celebration. It became reinforcement.

And perhaps, most importantly, it became something employees referenced later.

In engagement surveys and internal feedback channels, Nicole began seeing mentions of GranicusCon and Confetti experiences as meaningful touchpoints. Not as “nice events,” but as moments that stood out in the employee experience.

For a remote organization spanning continents, that’s no small thing.

Partnership in Action: Building the Right Infrastructure

For Nicole, Confetti’s value extends beyond events.

“Building that trust to outsource anything is really hard,” she explained. “You need them to bring the vibes and the energy.”

But what strengthened that trust was the partnership behind the platform. Nicole had direct conversations with Confetti’s CTO and co-founder about reporting needs and platform evolution.

“Anytime you’re asking your organization to invest in something, data and metrics matter,” she said. “Being able to see what the impact is has been great for us in storytelling.”

The dashboard capabilities, usage tracking, and reporting visibility weren’t just nice-to-haves. They were essential for internal buy-in.

And the collaboration felt reciprocal.

“The fact that it's so accessible. So, I really appreciate how we've been able to share what the metrics are we want to see (and seeing that the Confetti team has provided these metrics) has been great. I think that's what a strong partnership can do, right? It felt two-way. It’s just chef’s kiss.”

The Bigger Picture: Humanizing Work in a Remote World

Nicole is clear: connection is not a “nice-to-have.” It’s mission aligned.

“Connecting with people outside of traditional workflows helps you to see them in a different light,” she said. “It really humanized people.”

And that humanization doesn’t detract from serious work. Instead, it strengthens it.

“When we get to know someone and connect with them in a deeper way, that provides us with opportunities to connect on very tough things,” Nicole explained.

Granicus serves governments of all sizes and destination organizations. The work is meaningful. The stakes are high.

And as Nicole sees it, investing in internal connection is part of honoring that responsibility.

“To have a resource [in Confetti] that helps teams connect and humanize each other in that way has been great,” Nicole said. “It’s layered, and anything that can help pull back those layers to the level people feel comfortable connecting is huge.”

When people feel seen beyond their job titles, collaboration changes. Trust deepens. Difficult conversations become possible.

Connection becomes capacity.

And for Nicole and her colleagues, that’s the point.

‍