Slowing Down to Celebrate Viget’s 14th Birthday
Twice a year, the entire staff at Viget gets together to take a break from the crazy-day-to-day and to step back, slow down, and focus on the big picture. One of those days also doubles as a celebration of Viget’s birthday.
Viget was incorporated on December 27, 1999 but it wasn’t until the spring of 2000 that Andy and I quit our jobs and dove in full-time. For the first nine years the celebration was a fancy dinner, but for our 10th year we started a tradition of doing an overnight stay. Since our 66 person team is now spread between DC, Durham, and Boulder (plus a few remote team members), Viget's birthday is a rare chance for us all to be in one place, and it’s easily one of my favorite events of the year.
This year, the amazing Khanh found yet another gem of a location. The Meadow Event Park in Doswell, Virginia was an inspiring venue last Friday.
Everyone knows we love our garage doors.
The day was filled with presentations, group discussions, and focused breakout sessions. The event was inspired by our mantra of perpetual progress, and it provided a chance to step away from the day-to-day work and think big picture about how to make Viget better.
After the day of work, the evening started with old friends reconnecting.
A nice dinner is still part of the tradition.
As are heartfelt toasts from anyone inclined to make one.
We also have a review of some of our favorite projects from the year. Here's the four minute work-in-review video we watched:
We love celebrating longevity at Viget, and this year we honored four people who are in their 5th year at Viget in 2014: Trevor, Anjali, Blair, and our project management director, Kelly.
A personal highlight of the night was when the staff unveiled surprise gifts for Andy and me: custom oil paintings inspired by George Washington.
I was thrilled.
The night continued with some inside-joke filled games that you really have to work here to understand.
Anyone can understand a good talent show, though, and we have lots of talent here at Viget, whether it’s guitar ...
…or stand-up comedy…
…or reciting the Gettysburg Address from memory, complete with an impromptu appearance by a Lincoln-look-alike-co-worker:
These days, what staff party is complete without a super slow-mo video booth?
As if all of that wasn’t exhausting enough, we spent the next day at Kings Dominion.
How can we top that for our big 15th birthday coming up next year? Plans are already in the works, but you’ll have to wait (or join us) to find out.
