A glimpse of the PT seasonal celebration crowd

We took this group photo at the party.  It's not everyone who was at the party--participation is entirely voluntary--and not all of our staff was able to make the party.  Each employee may bring one guest to the party, so it does include some guests.

Blow it up and go widescreen to be able to see it well.

If you can find me, you may notice that, with the encouragement of Mary, I am indeed doing the sorority squat.  Yes, I already knew how to do it.

No need to ask why.

Tux time again

Once a year, I don a tuxedo to attend my company's annual dinner and party, the Seasonal Celebration.  We held it earlier tonight, so I broke out my tux, complete with blue vest and blue bow tie, put on my John Lobbs, and attended in style. 

The event is a high point for me each year, because it's when the company gathers to look back at the year and to share the profits.  At PT, we really are all in it together, and everybody wins, or nobody wins. 

After sleeping not at all last night, however, I am past ready for bed.  I hope to grab at least eight hours tonight.

What a luxury that would be!

Don't even ask

Earlier tonight, our company hosted its annual holiday party, the Seasonal Celebration.  I've talked about this event in past posts, so I won't go into detail about it here.  Each year for some time now, during this party we've played a video to sum the year.  As our studio team has become more and more superb, this annual video has become more and more...interesting, particularly for Bill and me, because each year's video typically has a little fun with us.

In this photo, I'm holding one of the stars of tonight's video.  Instead of the shirt he wore in the video, though, he's dressed up for the event.

Click on the image to see a larger version.

Nope, I won't answer.  Don't even ask.

The Seasonal Celebration

A while back, I mentioned a fancy party and promised to talk a little bit more about it. I forgot, but some readers didn't, so at their urging, here's some additional information on it.

On Saturday, December 11, we held PT's annual end-of-year/holiday party, which we call the Seasonal Celebration (SC). We've been using that term for longer than PT has existed; it dates back to our days at Ziff-Davis. We chose it because it offends no religion; everyone can celebrate any season. Most of the attendees dress up--way up, think gowns and fancy dresses and suits and, for Bill and me, our tuxes. Each employee can bring a guest, and most do. We have an open-bar reception for an hour, then a fancy sit-down meal at a great local place.

After dinner, we thank all the folks who work at PT for their dedication and great efforts, and we thank their friends and family for putting up with all that the company requires of them. We also show them a presentation about how the past year went; this time, it was a wonderful animated show that for confidentiality reasons I can't put here.

Finally, we thank people in concrete ways: with some gifts, which until then are secret, and with profit-sharing checks (assuming, of course, that the company was profitable that year).

I'm always proud to be part of the PT team and humbled by the chance to get to help lead such a fine group. The SC is a high point for us each year, and I know some folks are already looking forward to 2011's.