Kitware Celebrates the Holidays
It is at this time of year more than any other that the growth of Kitware truly makes an impression. I don’t believe there are any photos of the 1998 or 1999 Holiday Parties (not that we were even really calling it that back then), but you can see here a picture of the 2000 get-together (complete with real “crackle” effects since I scanned the picture we’ve had hanging in the Kitware kitchen for maybe a decade…)
In 2000 we had 19 people in attendance, with nine of those being employees and four being children. Organizing the “party” was a matter of making a dinner reservation someplace big enough to fit us all in a private room (yes, we thought we were getting big back then!)
This year was quite a bit different, as you can see below. We started with our celebration in North Carolina on December 3rd, with 42 people in attendance, then wrapped up with our New York party on December 10th with 181 people in attendance. Admittedly 7 people are double-counted in those numbers as some folks from NY (and their families) traveled down to North Carolina to celebrate twice – but still, that is 216 unique party-goers. Although we did not manage a group shot at our North Carolina event, we did all try to squeeze into one photo in New York (with the waiter standing on a chair out the door of the room trying to fit us all in since no one thought to bring a wide-angle lens!)
Planning two parties of this magnitude takes just about a year of preparation – and we all must thank Kitware’s exceptional office management team, Donna, Deb, and Tami, who pulled this off. In addition to reserving the venues and negotiating the menus, they also had to arrange for sitters to keep an eye on the kids, balloon artists and magicians to entertain the kids, AV equipment for the movies and presentations, and of course all the gifts and goodies that go along with a Kitware event.
Below are a few pictures from the New York event that capture a bit of the fun we all had. All of us here at Kitware hope that you enjoyed your holiday season as much as we did, and we look forward to working with you in 2012!
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Those of us responsible for the party gifts would like to think that the wonderful expressions shown in this picture were caused by the awesome Kitware espresso mugs with mini blue and green chocolates. |
One of the best parts of these company events is getting a chance to see your co-workers’ families. |
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Can you name this mystery Kitware employee? |
We may need to hire an additional balloon artist next year as his creations were popular with more than just the children! Those are some mighty big ears you’ve got there Brian! |
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Rick and Will covered our accomplishments for the past year, and entertained us with pictures taken at various events and company outings. |
Will had the honor this year of announcing two more employees reaching the ten years of employment milestone – congratulations Sébastien and Luis! |
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Another mystery employee – who knew it was a masquerade party? |
Dave claims all those balloons are for his children. |
