At 1 PM, on the Wednesday before Christmas, several departments gathered together in the conference room for a potluck: Marketing, Admin, Accounting, and Creative Media were all united in the pursuit of delicious food cooked by our dear friends and coworkers. From deviled eggs and chicken salad to sausage dip and fried chicken, there was a little bit of everything!
We all ate our fill, and while the food coma began to set in, some of us filtered back out to our offices. That is to say, Marketing and Creative Media stayed behind to participate in (or just to witness) the annual "Anderson Auction," a process that changes yearly and was, in fact, actually a raffle.
You could feel the tension in the air as everyone, still a little on edge from their hardworking D2R days, tried to settle into a relaxed rhythm, but sure enough, relax they did. Soon, everyone was cheering and laughing.
"It's better than a trophy, right?" asked Michael LiCalsi, hefting a Roku TV up onto the podium to show it off to the room.
This prize was reserved for the top producer, Sharon G., who was FaceTimed into the event during her day off. She surpassed $300k in sales, averaging one sale per day since the day after Thanksgiving.
The rest of the prize distribution was separated into three tiers based on everyone's productivity and attendance. Each tier had their tickets drawn randomly and each winner was allowed a chance to grab one of the prizes that had been donated by Quality First. (Rumor has it that Linda put her bonus into ordering some of them, as well. Thank you so much for everything you do for the team!)
There was a Voyager Hover Beam scooter, an air fryer, and even a set of Nesquik chocolate milk – which Eric S. grabbed, then telling the room a story about how his mother had once put the powder in after the milk. "I lost my—" He paused. "And that's where it all began."
The QC Leads were not to be forgotten, getting their own round at the end before the last two prizes, some fragrance warmers, went to extra-lucky winners Anette and TJ.
All in all, it was a leisurely afternoon to celebrate the end of December to Remember and reward everyone for their hard work. Linda stressed the importance of breaking bread together and acknowledging and thanking each other in the wake of it all, and honestly, we can't agree more!
If you made it to the potluck and/or the raffle, we had fun seeing you!
Congratulations on your prizes and on overcoming another December, friends! 😊
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And congratulations to all the winners and their prizes!