It’s been a week since our annual Thanksmas (Thanksgiving + Christmas, or what we affectionately call our end-of-year holiday party) celebration, and I’m finally caught up on lost sleep and neglected work and have the drink refrigerator restocked (that poor thing took a big hit during the final days of Thanksmas prep!!) Whew!
Each Thanksmas is different, and it’s also a secret. Aside from Tim Martin, no one in the building knows anything about what’s in the works for our big end-of-year bash. One of my favorite parts of Thanksmas is listening to people cast their bets and guesses as to what each year’s event will entail. So far, no one has guessed correctly. They always think they know what they’re in for… but they never do! I take joy in creating events that are different than the prior year’s, fun, and hopefully memorable enough to be reminisced about fondly for years to come.
I knew I wanted to go big for Thanksmas this year. When I started brainstorming this past summer (yes–in the summer! Thanksmas planning starts early!), the first word that came to my mind was ‘extravagance’ and that remained my goal through to the very end. And oh boy, did we have an extravagant party!
This year’s event was carnival themed. I rented a whole slew of carnival games including two inflatable SkeeBall courts, inflatable Quarterback Blitz game, High Striker, Pop-A-Shot basketball game, Knock Down Cans, Bean Bag Toss, Smash Cans, Giant Connect Four and a Dunk Tank. We had hand-spun cotton candy, freshly popped popcorn and some amazing food catered in (thanks, Dream Events & Catering!!) All of this was set up under a makeshift Big Top tent we installed inside our office. I wasn’t sure that it was going to turn out, but it did and it completely transformed our space into a carnival and pulled the entire event together.
It seemed to me like everyone had a great time. There was lots of laughter and good cheer and no one went home empty handed. It was the perfect culmination of a successful year at Rustici and a great way to wrap up 2017.
To see the full gallery of Thanksmas photos, click here. From all of us at Rustici Software to you and yours, happy holidays and a happy New Year!
