2008 in Review

As 2008 comes to a close, I’ve come to reflect on all the great memories we’ve created here at SpeakerBox over the past 12 months. As we’ve described in previous blog posts in the past, the SpeakerBox culture is quite unique. We like to say our team is full of smart, happy people – and while we’re working hard for clients, we always manage to have a little fun along the way. Here is a quick recap, highlighting some of my favorite SpeakerBox memories from 2008:

Social Networking – Social networking isn’t anything new to us, but we did create a Facebook fan page this year, where you can read our latest news, check out our event appearances and sign up for upcoming SpeakerBox seminars. You can also follow us on Twitter for a real-time feed on our blog posts.

Staff Obsessions - One of the great things about SpeakerBox is the variety of personalities within the office. We all have our own interests, many of which make their way into the office culture. Without naming names, a few of this year’s top office ‘obsessions’ included Twilight, Chocolate Rain (and other YouTube obsessions), Fallout 3, and prank phone calls – all of which became regular conversation topics when we were taking a break from the action. While some may be more extreme fanatics than others, we’re always supportive of each other’s interests.

SpeakerBox Day - Who can forget about this annual event when we unleash our competitiveness and fight to the finish: Cougars v. Pirates style? (Yes, those are our team names, and lets just leave it at that.) This year we duked it out at a local bowling alley, realizing quickly that no one could compete with one of our newest team members, Jackie. (Who knew Texans were so good at bowling?)

Iron Chef – As always, we partook in Iron Chef competitions here at the office. Most of us are pretty competitive, especially when it comes to kitchen duels. 2008 brought in a number of cooking challenges, the most notable of which was Crocktoberfest. Another newcomer, Drew, took home first prize in his first SpeakerBox cook-off and the office is still split over whether it was his impressive chili recipe or vintage Crockpot that led him to victory.

Growing Families – Maybe there’s something in the water here, but 2008 featured four staff engagements, one marriage and one baby. Spouses and children of SpeakerBoxers are considered part of our corporate family, and we’re always happy to have these types of exciting milestones to celebrate. Welcome to the SpeakerBox family, Kate, Dave, RJ, Ben, Kristin and Baby Phillip!

Mac Attack – We cleaned house this year, replacing our PCs with MacBooks. After adjusting to our new look and feel, we’re quite satisfied with our tech update. We’re able to take our work with us on the go, allowing ourselves to be more accessible to clients throughout the day. (Of course, iChat, GarageBand and iPhoto are great perks too!)

So as this year ends, we say goodbye to 2008 and welcome 2009 with great anticipation. Here’s to wishing that you and yours have a wonderful holiday and ring in the New Year with fun, laughter and success!

- Mary Evans