Well, it’s Monday morning after a long weekend of fun and sun at The DAVIS Companies’ Summer outing, dubbed Summerfest. This year, the entire staff at Davis, with their families, spouses, and significant others were invited to enjoy a company retreat in the mountains of New Hampshire. What a great way to relax, unwind, and interact with people from other offices, and meet their families!
Summerfest included water sports and activities, boating, BBQ’s, and a hilarious 80s themed costume party. There were activities designed for people with small kids and families, as well as single adults and couples. Everyone got along really well, and a great time was had by all.
So why did we have Summerfest? What’s the value in holding a large-scale three-day weekend event like this?
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Davis Companies founding. What better way to celebrate such a huge milestone than to host a weekend retreat to give back to the employees who have helped create our success?!
An event like Summerfest leaves a lasting impression on our employees. It creates memories that will persist far beyond any cash bonus or small office party would. It gave our remote office employees a fun and exciting getaway from the office, in which they could not only spend time with their counterparts from other locations, but also spend that same valuable time with their families and loved ones. The retreat also created an awesome weekend away to our local employees, without having to travel all that far.
In addition, Summerfest provided an opportunity for some of our employees to expand their event-planning skills and join the committee that planned and executed every last detail. On top of that, a lucky few were able to help create a stellar video commemorating the last 30 years of our business, while paying homage to the funny idiosyncrasies of our Senior Leadership team. The retreat gave everyone a strong sense of camaraderie and gave us the chance to let our hair down and have some good clean fun with our coworkers.
Now of course, there are risks inherent in hosting an event like this. With water sports come potential injuries. With a sunny beach day comes sunburns (guilty! I missed some critical spots of sunscreen). With alcoholic beverages free-flowing lies the potential for overindulgence. With a campfire and s’mores, there’s always the risk of getting burned. You should always weigh out the risks versus the benefits of an event like this before you plan it.
But thankfully, everyone survived and made it back to work this morning, albeit tired and sunburned. The fun stories from the weekend are already circulating throughout the office, and the memories will last for the next 30 years.
What does your company do to celebrate organizational milestones?
