In most other circumstances, the end of a year marked both by global challenges and landmark achievements for HTEC would have been a cause to get together and celebrate our accomplishments and the beginning of a new, hopefully brighter cycle — the way we always do, only bigger and much greater in numbers.
With the circumstances being what they are, the best we could do was celebrate from the safety of our homes, and celebrate we did! With respect to everyone’s safety and well being, we did our best to send the year off in style. HTEC’s end-of-the-year bash may have been virtual, but it brought us all together to celebrate our successes, share what we have learned, and have fun in the company of the people that inhabit and enrich our professional worlds.
Bringing the party home
In the absence of a full-blown party, we tried to bring the party to all of our team members. For that purpose, we have devised a number of online events addressing a number of things that we love: technology, comedy, general geekiness, and our team. We have even sent out some (wink-wink) party essentials to all our team members.
We were joined in the celebrations by our leadership, which provided their perspectives on a remarkable year at HTEC and the road ahead, acknowledging the great efforts we’ve all invested into our exceptional growth.
We were also treated to a bonanza of expertise from a number of our team members who were kind enough to share their knowledge and their experiences in a variety of technological areas. As we’ve all spent the larger part of the year working from home and many of our new colleagues haven’t even set foot in any of our offices, this was a great opportunity to get to know some of them and share our passion for technology. We wish to thank all of our team members who have taken the time to share a piece of what makes them so awesome.
Peer leisure
Our end-of-the-year festivities continued with a very special stand-up comedy performance, followed by a charitable trivia quiz competition that saw close to two hundred of our team members match wits in the area of unnecessary information we all carry around our heads. And after the competition was over, team members carried the festive spirit into virtual team chat rooms, whether to lick their wounds from the competition, but more likely to simply leisurely enjoy the company of their teammates.
Here’s to a great 2021!
The 2020 professional experience has probably been the strangest time of our work lives. All of us were rooted out of our known environments and forced to adapt to the new normal. It has also made us rethink and reinforce the things that bring us all together and make us a team. As we continue with our remote mode of operations, we can only hope that the year ahead of us will allow us to once again collaborate and grow together in a more immediate setting.
While we would all prefer to celebrate the year of great challenges and even greater success in that immediate setting, even in this remote format it was rewarding and inspiring to get together and see how far we have come and how much we have grown. It was also a whole lot of fun.
With one final send-off to the rollercoaster of 2020, we wish that 2021 brings us closer together. Here’s to a glorious year ahead!
