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Prom Night, it is not just a horror movie anymore. These days it is also not just for teenagers with raging hormones. Adults enjoy their own versions of it as well. Whether you came in a full tuxedo (Donovan), a normal button up with slacks, or a zoot suit (I looked pretty), the Plattform Prom Night/Christmas Party was about looking good and having a great time.

At the beginning of the night I was surprised to see such a wonderful setup. Walking down the hall towards the ballroom you find yourself walking headlong towards two buffet tables with a nice list of food to pick from. In the middle of the hall we found ourselves facing two chefs serving several kinds of roast beast that would make the mouth water. After seeing the feast brought forth to us by the food gods I then turned into the large ballroom. To my surprise I found fancy table settings, a wonderful open bar in every corner of the room, a ceiling net containing a ton of balloons (for later festivities), a dance floor flanked on three sides by the tables, and finally a full live band.

To say I was a bit surprised is an understatement. I have been to several work Christmas parties before and never have I found such lavish accommodations and treats ready for the party-goers. The night was spent eating and drinking, chatting with good friends, watching a hilarious show put on by Michael Mackie and Dory Winn, and finally dancing the rest of the night away.

Speaking of dancing, I was coaxed into participating in the dance-off competition with a partner I met as I stepped onto the dance floor. She is someone that is new to Plattform, but with plenty of style in her dance form. Though our two individual styles of dance were created for different forms of dancing we managed to inter-mingle them in an entertaining way. The height of which was the performance we gave during the song “The Love Shack” where we boogied down, and using my hat and jacket managed to put on an exciting show.  With stylish use of a hat and a faux-strip show using my jacket (which ended with it being flung off me into some kind of excited dance of faux-intimacy), we managed to gain cheers (and probably at least a few jeers) from the crowd and though we didn’t win first place, we can proudly say we made it to at least the fourth-place spot.

At the end of the night, I was delighted to see my close friends Luke and Nadia Harvey win the dance off competition and become the Prom King and Queen. I have known these two skilled dancers for almost as long as they have known each other and I could think of no one more deserving of this honor then those two.

The rest of the night was spent dancing, socializing, and traveling over to the Fox and The Hound for more socializing and a couple games of pool.All in all, I would have to say that this is by far the best holiday party I have ever been to. I look forward to next year and I plan on giving Luke and Nadia a run for their money on the dance floor.

Merry Christmas Everybody!
-Patrick Thurmond

Well it looks like I am the new guy here at Plattform. Or at least I was three weeks ago when I started. Since then they have hired several others. Seems you are not the new guy long here, this company is just growing and growing. I was asked to explain what it is like to be the “New Guy” at Plattform and to be honest it is an amazing experience. Let me start with my first day…

My first day at Plattform started off fairly a-typical for any company. I filled out paperwork for HR, I was told the rules, details of the programs they offer, and shown around the building a bit. Then I was introduced to the team I would be working on in the Interactive department. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Everyone is close to my age being in either their 20’s or 30’s. The environment is extremely relaxed. Everyone is having a really good time, joking and kidding each other, chatting, yet I noticed something odd about all of this… They were still being very productive.

This is completely counter-intuitive to normal corporate theory of operation, yet they pulled it off. I soon realized that they are not really strict about anything. As long as you can accomplish your goals with it, you can use any tools that you like. There are chess boards and Nerf guns everywhere. People have each of their desks customized to their liking, many with their own hand-drawn cartoons up on a wall nearby. This is truly a unique and fun place to work.

Things don’t stop there though. Because everyone is close with age no one talks down to you. No more being called youngster, kid, son, or tiger by those you work with, just because they are 30 years older than you. It is a wonderful change that I am enjoying very much. It helps relax me and just make me more comfortable to know that I will be treated as an equal here.

As you can probably tell by now, I really like working at Plattform and that is just on my first day. But the day didn’t end there. I was taken to lunch by my co-workers, welcomed with open arms into their community. One of them bought me lunch. Then when we got back I was informed that they were starting flex Fridays that week, which allows us to leave on Friday after we have worked for 4 hours. To make things even better they told me that I get to have my first flex Friday on my first week at Plattform. I have to say, that was a great way to ease me into my new job.

The rest of my first week went really well. I met more people than I am capable of remembering. I found that I like pretty much every person I met at Plattform. I won buzzword bingo. I also got to spend some time chatting with two old friends of mine that just happen to work here too. All-in-all it was a great week. Since then things just keep getting better and better.

I expect that I will continue to be very happy at Plattform for a very long time. For the first time in my life I actually enjoy being the “New Guy” at work.