Creating Meaningful Culture through Company Events

SADA Says | Cloud Computing Blog

By SADA Says | Cloud Computing Blog

The SADA team at last year's holiday party
The SADA team at last year’s holiday party

Each year as summer comes to a close, the SADA Systems’ Culture Club starts the hunt for a new venue for our annual company holiday party.  We strive to make each year fun and fresh as a way to thank the employees for another year of their dedication and hard work!  In the end, the effort in planning is well worth it, since these are the parties that legends are made of.  

There is always a specialty factor planned for the team at a SADA event. Whether it’s the catering, a themed holiday cocktail or the view – something always makes the party notable.  Lindsey Reich, Sales Operations Manager and longtime Culture Club member, mentions, “It takes time and effort to narrow down all of the possibilities to something that will wow everyone, but we never shy away from a challenge, and I have no doubt that this year will live up to the high standards we’ve set for ourselves!”

The SADA Team at the Holiday Party
SADA 2016 holiday party at our CEO’s home.

Last year, the venue for the festivities was at none other than our very own CEO, Tony Safoian’s house. It was an intimate setting where everyone felt welcomed into Tony’s family home, which resonated with the team throughout the year. Not to mention, no cut off time to the party!

SADA Disneyland Trip

The holiday party was themed around giving back to our employees. Our idea closely mirrored Oprah Winfrey’s give away mentality during the holidays, as we wanted everyone to leave the party a winner.  As each employee checked in, their name was entered into a surprise raffle, for later that evening. The raffle, dubbed “12 Days of SADAmas,” based off of the “12 Days of Christmas,” and even included a customized tune created by our COO, Matt Lawrence.

Following the theme of the song, the raffle started with 12 employees that were called up as winners, for the first set of prizes. As each day counted down, the prize value and the anticipation increased.  Everyone waited as the team sang along,” On the 10th day of SADAmas…” hoping their name would be called.  No one could imagine that the top prizes would include a vacation in Hawaii, a month of paid rent, a car payment, iPads, gift cards to Nobu, massages at Burke Williams and Disneyland tickets! Even those who were not called walked away with a gift at the end of the night.

Hawaii gift giveaway

Deana Cotrone, winner of the grand prize trip to Hawaii said, “When our CEO decided to open up his home for SADA’s annual holiday party, I was ecstatic!  The holiday party had something for everyone; signature cocktails, an amazing array of food and even an acrobatic mermaid!  As if that wasn’t enough, our Executive Management Team surprised us with the 12 days of Christmas giveaways.  I was fortunate enough to win a trip to HAWAII!!  SADA truly goes above and beyond to give back and show appreciation to their employees and that’s just one of the many reasons I love working here!”

A great company holiday party can be an immeasurable value-add to a dynamic culture.  Luckily, here at SADA, we have a company that values its’ employees year-round, and the holiday party is the cherry on top of a great culture sundae. SADA Systems may actually have thrown a party they won’t be able to top, but we’ll see what happens this December…
Check out the SADA Career page for more information on joining the team.

Sakura

Sakura Takeda
People Operations Coordinator

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