OUR WEBSITE'S WOD
In CrossFit, there is something called a WOD (Workout of the Day). One WOD, innocently enough called Fran, literally beats the crap out of you. Triggers the panic response so you want to cry, you want your mommy; you feel like you entered the Pain Cave and there’s no way out. But guess what? It’s only few minutes. Then it’s over. And after some quivering on the floor, you breathe and relax. Try it again a few more times, and you are now stronger and ready to kick more ass than ever before.
On April 7th, 2016, U.S. Elite was in the midst of a Fran. It was the day before the replatform. Here’s what the picture was. All hands on deck! Every tiny bit and byte of our souls had to be backed up and carried over to a new system. Every stone had to be turned over and over and over again. Charity was sifting through every click. I was mulling over every picture and every word. Megan was scooping up orders with a furious determination. Alex was annoyed by everyone’s clopping shoes. Steve ate his food with an extra-aggressive chew. Paul, the spearhead of the operation, was sweating and holding back from throwing a Benchmade Griptilian at each and every one of us who came to him and said,
“PAUL WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?”
It wasn’t exactly chaos. More of an organized commotion.
At 6PM, Paul, Charity and Steve began the metamorphosis of U.S. Elite. We had Ema, one brave developer on site with us, but otherwise our development team, DevGurus were on Skype, clicking their hearts out from their offices in Argentina and Spain, along with remote support from our Commercetools platforms in New York City and Germany. It was a globally coordinated operation, performed with fury and might.
And suddenly, there it was! A greenish-blue beauty on our screens. What a sight. After a couple naps, Paul developed a headache that has not since subsided.
First, PayPal broke. Just broke.
Then, about 3,800 of our valued customers received an email thanking them for their order. Their order that they placed weeks, months, years ago. The system transferred all of Megan’s precious orders and called them new and thanked our customers for their purchases. For two days we were flooded with emails, phone calls and SOS. It was humiliating.
Two weeks later, we’re in a recovery phase. Each day we see a little more progress toward perfection. We’re itchy to give you discounts. We’re dying to send you emails. We can’t wait to have the best site the world has ever f*ckin seen!
So that’s the story of our website’s WOD. Our internet Fran has left us with the stamina of a warrior. We know it was worth it, because you can come to our site and enjoy a platinum experience.