Welcome To Company Events

I went to my first company gathering (I'm not really sure what else to call it). I have been to trainings and have met a lot of people from various functions, but this was the first time I was able to see everyone in one place. It was pretty cool. I met a ton of people and was able to put a lot of faces to names. I got to find out what other people in my area do.

Going to this event was a bit nerve racking. I was always worried I would say the wrong thing or offend someone (or just make a fool of myself in general). There was alcohol served at the evening activities, so I made a point of setting limits for myself. I also made sure to drink plenty of water and eat a lot of food first. I can honestly say I very much appreciate the tutorials from college about drinking and socializing.

I was also sure that I got plenty of sleep I between socializing and getting work done (life doesn't stop for work events). Sleep is also important, otherwise it is difficult to follow along with what speakers are saying. I recommend not having an alcohol induced slumber, it causes terrible hangovers (observation from my coworkers).

The hotel I stayed in was cool. It was old and was a major part of Washington DC culture (at least according to the displays it was). It was close to the zoo. I had a great view of the Adams Morgan neighborhood from my baloney that was covered in four inches of snow. It was a huge room that I probably could have done gymnastics routines in. It was also supposedly haunted. One of the people at my conference even experienced one and had to change rooms. So I can cross off stay at haunted hotel off my list of things I need to do. It's unlikely I will ever do it again (one can only hope).

Overall I think the conference was cool (though the lighting was annoying). I enjoyed the events and don't think I embarrassed myself (too much, I still fall pray to standards of embarrassment). Here are a few things one should consider for their companies events especially their first one:

Do: Dress to impress - you never know who might see you and be careful of wardrobe malfunctions. They happen to everyone, but most people know which outfits are the safest to wear in good company.

Do: Socialize - it is important to talk to people and not lock yourself away. Yeah work is important and so is sleep, but if you are only going to see these people once a year you need to get to know them and find out what they do. You also never know what crazy stories you might hear or good pieces of advice you might learn. Also these can lead to some of the best friendships (or so I'm told).

Do: Pay attention - nothing will make you look more foolish than not paying attention and people will notice. Speakers can see the entire room and know when someone is really playing Angry Birds on their phone. Think you old college professor who would call on you after you zoned out for twenty minutes.

Do: Ask questions - you might not get another chance to. I like learning things and I find that asking questions leads to even better questions and learning experiences. Don't worry about looking stupid, most already know your new to the company anyway.

Do: Get some sleep - you'll look an feel like hell otherwise.

Don't: Overdo it - you'll regret it in the morning or six months later when that embarrassing photo who's up during a training session.

I hope someone found these pieces of advice helpful. I am now going to get ready to watch Sherlock. Please leave a comment if you think there is anything I missed.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please share it with your friends, family, or your worst enemy. I also love to hear back from my readers. I would especially like to thank Cupcake for all of her helpful advice and inspiring posts, Aunt Barb for making me smile, Mr. Bill for his words of wisdom, Abbesi for always being awesome, and to all my annonomous readers and commenters. I thought it was time I thanked you guys. Have a good week and until next Sunday.

Welcome To New People

          Happy fall equinox everyone! It is officially my favorite season with all my favorite flavors. Pumpkin spice lattes here I come. Now hopefully I don’t go broke after I run out of my Starbucks gift cards. Now for the movie specials to start again, I miss the Disney Channel Original Fall Movies. They were usually a little on the cheesy side, but still better than anything they have been producing in the last five or so years (heck more like ten years). Also pumpkin beer is awesome.

A lot of things happened this week. The guy who lived above me, I mentally called him Mysterious Footstep Man because I could hear him walking around, moved out. I never did get to make him brownies. Maybe I will meet the next person or people who live there. I discovered the show Sleepy Hollow. It looks pretty cool, it has me interested. I also went on a picnic date (major blush).

                The date was awesome, but since this is cyberspace I will not be giving too many details. Anyway, we went to a park not too far away and found a picnic area. All of the food was great and the weather held out (though we were under a covered pavilion). Not too long after we started eating, another couple sat down to picnic at the table next to ours. We started talking and eventually it lead to us sharing food.

                They thought we were sweet and offered for us to try some of their crabs and shrimp. We accepted and offered for them to try our barbeque. For the record we had a ton of barbeque that there was just no way we were going to finish along with several other side dishes, so we offered for them to try some. It was all delicious. We then started comparing notes on the best barbeque and seafood. We all agreed that there is nothing like crabs from Maryland, other states just do not know how to do it.

                They then asked us about how long we had been dating. We told them about a month and they told us the story of how they met. Apparently the husband had had a roommate dating his wife’s sister. He showed up one day to pick up the sister for his roommate and met his future wife. Her initial reaction to him (asking for her sister): “why would you want to talk to her?”  It was pretty funny. They had been living near where I live now and eventually had come back to the area.

                It is interesting how small a world it was for us to meet them. They were fun to talk to. They had been married for twenty six years and had only dated for three months before they tied the knot. That was the only part that was a little awkward. We were both blushing by the end of the conversation. I hope we run into them again.