I don't know what event planning costs but running an event for ~10k people that includes flights, hotels, food, event space, etc. is expensive I guess.

Describing it as a “party” feels misleading. It was a company-wide offsite for an essentially fully remote organization.

Was it necessary? Probably not. But I found the in-person time valuable, especially with teammates I’d never met face to face.

Source: I was there

Firebase is owned and operated by Google (has been for a while).

Is there a way to find out where the nearest one is?