A Decade of Ember Gatherings
By: Mindy Wright
Every year, we celebrate our company birthday. And not a 'let's go into the conference room and have cake for 15 minutes' celebration, this is an actual celebration; like the ones we create. We take it VERY seriously. So serious in fact that we close our doors for 24 hours and allow our teammates to gather, bond and rejoice in the year.
The biggest problem we have is out-doing the celebration from last year. However, this year was special. This year marked 10 years of Ember. And through name changes (Formerly C3), growth and new locations, this team stayed true to our core values and pushed through. Something special needed to be done to commemorate.
This year the team traveled to Newport, RI. A stone's throw from our home in Newburyport, and a great change of scenery. Our first stop was to Newport Vineyards where we got a tour of the wine production, did a tasting and stomped some grapes (no production managers were harmed during the grape stomping). We then headed to downtown Newport where we checked in to the icon Viking Hotel. To our dismay, no Vikings actually resided there. Once we checked in, we loaded a trolley and got a tour of the historical sites including The Breakers Mansion - a potential new office for us (kidding, but we can dream). After the trolley tour, the team changed into our best America's Cup outfits to honor the rich history of The America's Cup in Newport. The night progressed with a progressive dinner jumping (see what we did there?) from one location to the next and keeping ourselves very hydrated along the way. Hydration is important.
But wait, that's not all: The next morning 'The Captain' had us up early for a cliff walk along the gorgeous Rhode Island shore, breakfast and a finally a team kite flying activity. Yes, we said kite. Although many of us don't remember how to fly a kite, it was just like riding a bike.
So, what did we gather from this 24-hour excursion? Cake in conference rooms is for the birds. Ringing in 10 years should be celebrated the same way we take on work - with a bang.