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Summer Event 2005
Great Company, Good Prizes & Decent Popcorn

by Chris W. Malins

The FM summer event has always been a great way to network with colleagues, share success stories, and take a break from the rigors of the office. This year’s event was no exception. Sponsored by the EIT and administered by the RQT, well over 100 of us braved the stairs next to the Physics Building to attend this widely anticipated event. Orville Redenbacher would have been proud of the amount of popcorn that was consumed and Edward Deming would have positively beamed at the poster boards summarizing each department’s accomplishments and goals. Which brings us to the prizes. Let’s just say that “Let’s Make a Deal” never had so much good stuff! There was a mini TV, a CD player, a single beverage refrigerator, and a giant yellow bowling pin radio; all for the lucky winners.

All of the excitement happened on the afternoon of September 13th in the Physics Courtyard. A typical visitor would first talk a bit with the EIT member handing out the popcorn, grab a bag of fresh kernels, and pick up a trivia game form. The trivia game was a fun way to test FM knowledge. With the caliber of prizes at the event, there were plenty of folks vying for the good stuff. People scratched their heads and quizzed their FM co-workers with such questions as: “What does FMAT stand for?”, “What 2 teams in Payroll formed a partnership this year?”, and “What was the room number of the SFS Office in Schmitz that was recently remodeled?” Answering the questions wasn’t easy and required networking with co-workers… which was the purpose of the day, after all.

After all the partygoers had headed back to their offices and all of the game forms were turned back in, the winners were announced. Kristen Findley from GCA won a TV, Winnie Cao, from Payables won a mini digital camera, Kelley Johnson from Payables won a desktop refrigerator, and Aris Gempesaw from Financial Services won a car kit. There were also a few smaller door prizes that were given away through random drawings every half hour.

A brief exit survey indicated that the event was an unmitigated success. Although it’s tough to rank this event in the storied universe of past events, anyone who was there on the 13th must feel that they were part of something special. See you next year!