Hi, I'm Christa! I’m the Travel and Workplace Events Manager at Appian. In my role, I work to curate an elevated workplace experience through planning internal events and coordinating engagement opportunities for Appian employees, both based in an office or working remotely.
This year, I had the pleasure of leading the planning of 10+ holiday celebrations with teams around the world!
It was a chance to celebrate and recognize employees for their work over the past year; a feeling that lasts much longer than just the day of, or the week after an event. My goal for each of these events was for attendees to leave feeling connected to their coworkers and the greater Appian team.
In addition to hosting events in each city in which Appian has an office, we identified hubs with 20 or more employees in the area and hosted events there, which included 8 cities across North America.
Being a global company, I wanted to ensure that I took into account the cultural nuances of each location. I partnered with regional teams for the EMEA and APAC region events, and I started with a consultation with the local teams as they know their people best. There are also many cultural differences and nuances that make a celebration look very different in different parts of the world, which was so interesting to learn about.
As part of the consultation, I asked things like:
- What would a really fun, celebratory event look like for you?
- How well do people know each other?
- What kinds of activities does your team really enjoy?
If it’s an environment where everyone is already close and sees each other every day, it’s a very different setup than if it’s the first time meeting in-person for many people. When I learned more about what kind of experience they were looking for, I helped with the research and logistics to make it happen. This led to formal dinners, cocktail parties, escape rooms, ping pong, dancing, and so many more events over the past month!
Here were some highlights and our favorite photos from this year’s global celebrations!
North America
We hosted events in Washington DC, New York City, Boston, Raleigh, Atlanta, Denver, San Francisco, and Toronto. These celebrations ranged from dinners and cocktail parties at unique venues, to more interactive events like ping pong and escape rooms, which the Boston and Denver teams enjoyed.
The largest event was a cocktail party held in downtown DC at a boutique hotel with about 1000 guests, complete with food, drinks, and live entertainment including a band that had guests dancing all night.
Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)
Appian employees in London, Spain, Germany, and Italy gathered to celebrate this month. In London and Berlin, we hosted cocktail-style events with live music, food, and drinks. In Spain, the team coordinated a dinner party at a chic Sevillian restaurant.
Asia-Pacific region (APAC)
Our Sydney and Melbourne teams took advantage of the summer weather in Australia and celebrated by getting out on the water for a dinner cruise and boat party!
Feeling connected and all the “warm fuzzies.”
Creating these experiences and incorporating details that surprise and delight attendees are what I find really rewarding about my work. For example, the event hosted in Washington DC for HQ employees featured interactive poets that wrote poems on-demand for guests, and the party in London included caricature artists for guests to have a fun keepsake from the event!
It can be hard to describe, but it’s these opportunities to engage with coworkers through unique experiences and “warm fuzzy” moments that leave people feeling connected.
Planning these events globally was a big team effort! The Workplace Experience and Facilities teams and regional leaders around the world were instrumental in organizing these events, and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to work with such dedicated colleagues.
I love seeing all the moments of connection captured in the event photos and am super excited to carry this momentum into 2023!