“Boys and girls of every age Wouldn’t you like to see something strange? Come with us and you will see This, is our [studio’s celebration] of Halloween!”
Ah, who doesn’t love a good Nightmare Before Christmas reference?!
If you’re thinking, “Uh, what?” I highly recommend that when you get home you plop yourself down on the couch, fire up Netflix, and put that baby on. It’s a fantastic piece of cinema that’s relevant during the holiday season and arguably the entire year. It’s just that damn good.
ANYWAYS. Back to the subject of this blog post: a behind-the-scenes look at how our creative marketing company pulled off a frighteningly fantastic Halloween celebration.
It’s our tradition each year to have a costume contest and a potluck feast on All Hallows’ Eve. Spoiler alert: when you give a bunch of creative professionals free reigne during a holiday party, the chaos of the best kind ensues.
The Costumes of Halloween
When the clock struck noon, everyone in the studio gathered around to decide who had the best costume and give a little friendly side-eye to the few goobers who chose not to dress up. I mean really, boo on them. Pun-intended.
A variety of pop culture was represented:
Ed, the infamous Good Burger cashier
Death of The Sandman series
The Cat in the Hat, Thing Two, and Fish (whose real name, fun fact, is apparently Carlos K. Krinklebein)
Mr. Rogers and his closet (from the Neighborhood)
King Llane from World of Warcraft
Rocko of Rocko’s Modern Life
The Walking Dead’s Negan (hey, I think he did this one last year too!)
Bellatrix Lestrange of Harry Potter (that was me!)
A Sharknado
An Italian-chef-in-training
Kamen Rider
A Jameson and Coca-Cola couple
Jesse from Toy Story
Shaggy from Scooby-Doo
My personal favorite was Sharknado. Marvin, one of our developers, dressed in a shark onesie and then wrapped himself in a blanket with paper sharks safety pinned all over it. I mean, come on. Anyone who can confidently wear a onesie out in public, no matter the occasion, is a winner in my book.
Unfortunately for Marvin and I, he didn’t win anything (except for my eternal adoration). But, those who did show up in costume, did a great job at putting together their look.
Third place (by just a smidge) was awarded to our Chief Operations Officer, Jasmine, and one of our Creative Directors, Adrian, who happen to be married. The two came as Mr. Rogers (Adrian) and his closet (Jas). Yep, you read that right. Jas dressed up as a closet. If that’s not dedication to following a theme, I don’t know what the heck is.
Second place went to our Art Manager, Ricky, who dressed as Kamen Rider. Honestly, I had no idea what Kamen Rider was, so he explained it to me. He’s the main character in a famous Japanese manga and TV series. Supposedly, it’s kind of like Spider-Man. I love me some Peter Parker, so I plan on checking it out.
The coveted First place went to Ricky, one of our Creative Copywriters. Before I reveal what he was, I want to let you know that 24 hours before the contest took place, Ricky didn’t even know what his costume would be. Seriously. As we were leaving work Monday night, I asked him what he was going to be and the man had zero idea. None. So, naturally, he came to work the next day in a full set of armor (okay, fabric armor), complete with a knight’s helmet (that part was metal), and a sword. You know, as one does in a pinch. He called himself a “FreeLANCE copy-Knighter.” He’s not really freelance, but sometimes you gotta make the leap for a good pun.
While the whole point of dressing up is to be something you’re not, costumes are still a manifestation of your creativity and a representation of your imagination. As creative professionals, we dig that and had great fun learning a bit more about everyone’s interests.
The Food
Next came my favorite part of the festivities: the food. When artists do food, we do it right. And by right, I mean we’re really good at embodying a theme. In this case, Halloween.
There was toxic (green) mac and cheese, ghost meringues, swamp monster punch, brain fold spaghetti, jack-o-lantern stuffed peppers, goblin toes, jalapeno-cheese quesadillas, deconstructed cherry pie disaster and Spanish rice with decomposing flesh (sausage). And of course, there were chips, guac, salsa, and “crack dip.” Because let’s be real, a holiday party isn’t a holiday party without chips and dips.
The pièce de résistance, however, was a skull-covered human flesh (prosciutto). Let me tell you, folks, after this potluck, I’m never going to be able to look at ham in the same way. Ever.
The Friendship
The fact is, the entire studio had a ghastly good time, which is especially refreshing because we’re currently in the midst of our busiest time of year. As a marketing company, the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas are all about finalizing campaigns, planning for the New Year and making sure our clients are satisfied with end-of-year deliverables before taking a few days of downtime to enjoy the holidays with our loved ones. That being said, we make it a point to enjoy this time of year in spite of all the chaos that comes along with it.
When the going gets tough, it’s critical to do what you can to keep employee morale high. Even the littlest things matter a random sweet treat in the break room, a holiday party during lunch, a few minutes to recognize your team for their hard work or getting together as a group and laughing at a few articles from The Onion (we suggest this one). It all contributes to the vibe of the office, and good vibes equal great work.
Gio’s advice to all the CEOs out there? “Try not to take everything so seriously. Create a moment with your team, then enjoy it. It’s easy to get caught up in closing sales, meeting deadlines, and keeping clients happy. While all of those things are important, taking time to have fun with your employees is, too. Remember, if you’re in the professional services business, you’re also in the people business. That starts with the people who work for you.”
You gotta, you know, treat them like people.
Basically, when you’re in the office (and honestly, in life), have fun, work hard, share your passions and live in the moment. In our experience, work’s a lot more rewarding that way.
If you want to learn more about us or how we can create killer content for your IT company, give us a shout. Our people would love to learn more about your people, and what they do.