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Where an adult can be a kid! Last Thursday PlattFormers gathered together in a not-so-faraway place where we were all able to bring out the inner child in ourselves. Our annual all company meeting was held at the huge, hidden, entertainment center gem (as much sense as that makes) of Johnson County, Power Play.

Under one roof you can race go-carts, ride bumper cars, compete in Whirlyball (the world’s only totally mechanized sport!), play some cosmic mini golf, ride carnival rides, and play laser tag. Not to mention there are over 250 arcade games. Shooting games, racing games, dancing games, jump rope games, the list goes on and on. And you can’t forget the redemption games. You know; the ones where you can earn tickets to exchange for ridiculously overpriced novelty prizes? Well let me tell you, I know a little about these.

Walking around Power Play with heaps of ticket in my arms, I happened to be (or at least looked like) a professional arcade game player. Having been swiping my little Power Play card in every machine possible, I came across what seemed to be the tallest arcade game of all time. The object of the game? Punch a button and the claw drops a ball from way up top, to hopefully fall into the jackpot hole, rather than any of the other insignificant holes. Well, me being the professional I am (right?), hit that button just right (seriously there is no way that what I did had anything to do with whether that ball did what it was supposed to do or not), and boom, JACKPOT! Tickets started streaming, and I mean streaming, out of that contraption from two different slots. They just kept coming! Seriously, at the time, I honestly thought maybe the game was malfunctioning.

550 tickets came out of that towering arcade game. Combined with the other tickets I’d accumulated, I was on my way to the shopping spree of a lifetime at the redemption store! 700 tickets were sure to get me something marvelous! OR… NOT. 700 tickets wouldn’t even get me the little Dora the Explorer kickball. Seriously, I walked out of that redemption store with a measly Barbie doll outfit for my boyfriend’s daughter. Un-freakin-believable. I guess it’s all for the fun of the game.

After 2 hours of food (I’ve failed to mention the enormous buffet that provided everything from pizza to taquitos to coke flavored ICEEs) and fun, we all crammed into the Power Hall to get down to business. Well, if you know PlattForm at all, business typically has some silly fun intertwined…

We went over PlattForm’s budget and numbers (we’re doing quite well). The new building and upcoming revised dress code (we don’t have to say bye to the beautiful sound of flip-flops coming down the hall). Each department had a chance to do a presentation of some sort (i.e. – make fun of at least one of their co-workers). Kevin Kuzma read a beautifully written story. And Dave Admire ended it all with a quote that let us know how he really feels. “If you want to create an extraordinary company, you have to fill your company with extraordinary people, and that’s what you all are.”

All in all, I don’t think we could have asked for a better afternoon at “work” . Whoever said you can’t mix business and pleasure definitely never worked for a fantastic company like PlattForm.