Toward the end of October, we had pumpkins on the brain. In our Chicago office, it's a tradition to wear costumes to the office and take a group picture on the roof or slide. Last year, our New York office planned their All Day Company Meeting for Halloween so they spent the day exploring their wonderful city in costumes.
DMC New York dressed up in their Halloween costumes for their All Day Company Meeting in 2019.
Virtual Carving Contest
This fall, we didn’t want to miss out on the spooky pumpkin fun! Jason Mayes, director of our Houston office, pitched the idea early in the month that we should have a pumpkin carving contest. With plenty of upvotes supporting this idea, the 2020 Pumpkin Carving Contest had begun.
We clarified that we do not need to "carve" a pumpkin to enter the contest, and the submissions began to roll in. We also hosted a virtual carving party where attendees got together on a Teams meeting to chat while creating their masterpieces.
Gourd-eous Creations
We had some family submissions like the Spider and Spooky pumpkins from Jason Mayes's family in Houston. John Sullivan's kids of DMC Denver made impressive cat and 'Angry' jack o' lantern.
We also had Iron Man and Mr. Potatohead join the party compliments of Leslie's family from Chicago.
In a category I'm naming 'just plain fun," Will Todd of DMC Chicago and Frank May of DMC Boston submitted their pumpkins. Will's pumpkins sport adorable ghosts with hats and art that is up for debate on whether it is the Tampa Bay Lightning logo or Gatorade.
Thank you, Frank May, for your ode to a great movie Napoleon Dynamite.
Next is our Traditional Halloween and 2020 category. All masterpieces in my opinion. Carolyn of DMC Chicago showcased the dumpster fire that is 2020 and a great traditional jack-o'-lantern.
Justine of DMC Chicago showcased her amazing painting skills by giving us Hocus Pocus beauty and 2020 realness. Please note the hand sanitizer, toilet paper and Clorox wipes accompanied by the coronavirus polka dots.
Jumping on the "This is fine" train, Ryan of DMC Chicago and friends. Not sure what the story behind the cow is, but I'm here for it.
Virtual Happy Hour
On October 30, we had a virtual Halloween Happy Hour to discuss the pumpkins and show off some costumes. Instead of picking winners or watching a movie together, we just hung out. There were adorable appearances of costumed pups and DMC kids. We learned about families' trick or treat strategies for this year. Overall, it was a nice time to catch up.
Carolyn couldn't handle how cute Pickles looked in her costume.
We also sampled all of the Halloween filters that are now offered on Zoom. Hopefully, everyone remembered to turn off their filter before any client meetings on Monday!
Sharing time with the DMC family is always a fun, energetic experience. With our heavy workload and onsite client visits, sometimes joining a Zoom hang out isn’t possible. Having "events" that involve posting and reacting to pictures is one of the ways we keep our company culture active while working from home. It's a fun way to see what's going on in other's lives and show off our colleagues' creative talents!
As for the best pumpkin photo, I'm crowning Rick Rietz of DMC Chicago the winner!
Learn more about DMC's company culture.