With such harsh winters, Chicagoans make the most of their summers. Between attending free movies in Millennium Park every Tuesday night or food truck festivals on the weekends, there's never a boring day during Summertime-Chi.
So, there were high expectations for DMC Chicago to host its second annual Yearly Office Event (YOE). Each DMC office hosts a YOE every year for visitors from our other offices. It's a great chance to enjoy fun activities together and relax with co-workers who live in other cities.
If I had to pick one word to describe this year's Chicago YOE, it would be BOAT-TASTIC!
Boat-Tastic DMC
Our first out-of-town guests from the New York and Boston offices arrived on Wednesday and the YOE officially began. DMC's president, Frank Riordan, treated a group of us with a ride on his boat.
We cruised out of Belmont Harbor onto Lake Michigan, then headed downtown and onto the Chicago River. Under the shadow of the city's skyscrapers, we docked the boat and had a delicious dinner at the House of Blues. The evening was topped off with a fireworks show over the lake near Navy Pier.
Boat-Tastic Architecture
On Thursday, more out-of-towners from our Houston office joined us. We headed up to DMC's rooftop patio when the clock struck 5 to socialize, then showed our remote co-workers just what Chicago deep dish is all about with Pequod's pizza.
"After everyone had their fill of pizza and beer, the group headed downtown to embark on a historical architecture tour along the Chicago River. We took in some of the city’s best sights, and learned a few fun facts that surprised even the Chicago natives." -Lexi Torres of DMC Chicago
Training in a Different City
We were up early Friday to attend DMC's Monthly Company Meeting. Each month, the offices in all six cities meet virtually for a variety of updates on the status of the company. This followed a series of other trainings held throughout the week. A benefit of having remote employees in town is sharing these skills and knowledge in person.
"Getting to be a part of roundtables, user groups, and even weekly status meetings gives a different insight to how different offices operate and how people think and react to different situations." - Phil Schaffer of DMC Boston
The rest of the day passed in giddy excitement, all of us eager for the weekend to begin.
Boat-Tastic Michigan
When the workday ended, we drove to Saugatuck, MI to set up camp at a beautiful house on Silver Lake.
"After exploring the house and the lakeshore, we all pitched in to get dinner started. Adam led the charge cooking salmon on cedar planks topped with goat cheese. We ate dinner on the huge back deck and started discussing what games we wanted to play that night." - Courtney Mitchell of DMC Chicago
Saturday morning was very relaxed. Everyone took their time waking up and eating a delicious breakfast. We hung around the house for the first part of the day playing yard games, fishing, and preparing for our next big boat outing.
That afternoon, we rented a pontoon boat and cruised one of the rivers that feeds into Lake Michigan. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day - the sun was shining, the drinks were flowing and the music was jamming as we sailed along.
We also found a nice cove along the way and anchored our boat so we could jump off, swim, and explore the sand dunes!
"We returned to the house later that evening and continued to fish and play yard games, with the addition of a cheap slip & slide that we impulse bought from Walgreens. We recorded some pretty epic first-person videos of the slide in action!" - Ryan Landwehr of DMC Houston
Saugatuck Exploring
On Sunday morning, we woke up to the smell of baked oatmeal, egg casserole and sizzling bacon made by our very own Jimmy Brady. We ended the weekend by exploring the town of Saugatuck, including the delicious fried fish at Phil's Bar and Grille.
The weekend came to a close, leaving us with happy memories and rosy cheeks. I think it's safe to say we are all counting down the days until we set sail on our next Chicago YOE adventure.
Check out other fun events that are going on at DMC.