Is there a word like that that can be used to describe such an action, event? I used to work at a software firm where there were a lot of separate teams and they would sometimes work together for a big project and before that we would meet up to know each other.
2 Answers
You could call this event confluence:
a coming together of people or things; concourse.
From vocabulary.com:
Confluence means a flowing together. In a literal sense, it's about rivers. But it's more often used to talk about the coming together of factors or ideas, or of cultures in a diverse city.
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I have seen "Confluence" mostly in its original, literal meaning: the joining of two rivers. Metaphorically, it is most often used for things that can be thought of as streams or flows. It would seem odd to use it for teams of people, to me. Commented May 3, 2019 at 23:12
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@DavidSiegel I think you're right about this. I see this used a lot in the context of ideas or culture, so I assumed it was fine to ignore the flow connotation. I didn't consider that ideas or culture could be seen as a flow. Commented May 4, 2019 at 22:01
I work in a company not unlike the one you describe, and meetings where groups get together at the start of a project or a period of joint work are often called "kick-off" meetings, because they start the project, whatever it is. (A sports analogy.) Sometimes they are just called "introductory" or "getting-to-know-you" meetings. Not very eloquent terms, but they are pretty clear.
answered May 3, 2019 at 23:16
