Emmis Interactive Holiday Reunion
Last Thursday, there was a get-together of a lot of old Emmis Interactive folks in the basement of the B&B. Often a scene of a lot of farewells, it was a nice chance for folks to get together to say hello, instead. Everyone got the chance to hang out and catch up a bit, ever since the big changes last October.
I opted not to bring my camera with me (a rare thing, I know). But I wanted to spend more of my time talking with folks, and less time trying to document the evening… so most of these photos are less than stellar, taken from my old iPhone 3GS.
Lots of folks from the Design team! L to R it’s Utopia, Laurence, Paul, and Brian.
A view of the room. There were a TON of folks present, and we pretty much took over the main area of the basement.
Around 8:00 PM, there was a celebratory drink/toast scheduled. I had completely forgotten about this, but someone nudged me and nodded towards the bar. To date, this is the largest sequence of shots I’ve ever seen lined up. Ever.
There were other patrons there, unrelated to us… and a few of them were taking photos of the setup. Craziness.
I wasn’t a part of this, but apparently several old school EI folks got together and pitched in for this. It ended up being two bottles of Patron, and I lost track of how many shots. Needless to say, it was a LOT.
L to R it’s Sabrina, AJ, and Kisha.
Justin, giving the toast and leading everyone in raising a glass to one another.
Group photo, courtesy of Jose. L to R it’s Alexandra, Chris, Jose, TJ, Chris C, Brian, Justin, Laurence, Justin S, Paul
and Mike.
It’s difficult to summarize the evening, but it was absolutely wonderful to see so many kind and caring faces again. Though I spoke to a lot of people, I didn’t get to speak to everyone as much as I wanted to.
I was thinking very much about a moment, nearly seven years ago, when our fledgling company got together for a dinner in 2005. Justin leaned over to me, and said: Look at all these good people. Tonight, I felt overcome in the same way – looking around, seeing so many individuals that I’ve worked with and shared time with, so many talented folks I love and respect. Indeed, so many good people I feel lucky to know and to have been around.
Related:
Interactive Holiday Dinner, 2005
EI Holiday Party 2011: Ski Lodge
Goodbye, Emmis Interactive
God damn it was so good to see everyone in one room again. The friendships forged through Emmis Interactive are the gift that keeps giving. I had WAY too much fun that night, shaking hands and giving hugs and just talking about whatever was going on in everyone’s lives. So much fun that I don’t even remember taking that group photo.
Chris (December 3, 2012 at 1:42 pm)Anymore, I’m a lightweight and was an absolute wreck the next day. By the time Ben showed up, I was already pretty far gone and barely got to say two words to him.
I guess it’s a plus that I’m between jobs atm and didn’t have anywhere to be the following day. Besides the couch, that is.
avoision (December 3, 2012 at 7:07 pm)It was a great night spent with some of the best people I’ve ever met. I only cried twice. And I’m glad it looks like I’m being held up in that last photo even though I wasn’t falling over or drinking.
Brian (December 3, 2012 at 7:47 pm)I so wish I could’ve been there to see everyone – looks like y’all had a blast!
Margaret (December 4, 2012 at 9:02 am)It was great to see so many friends that I had made while at EI. So wish I could have stayed longer. Thanks to Chris for organizing this.
We need to make this an annual event!
Dan (December 5, 2012 at 1:14 pm)i wish i was in town for this, it looks like it was such a great time. i miss you all.
peabe (December 5, 2012 at 1:18 pm)Good lord (aka BEN) that was fun. And Ben was my hero for getting my drunk ass home. Whoever though the shots were the best idea ever was wrong!
But it was so cool to see everyone, awesome times with awesome friends
TJ (December 5, 2012 at 1:27 pm)It was such and awesome night to see everyone! I suggest doing this more often with less time in between meets! :)
Justin W. Siddons (December 5, 2012 at 2:30 pm)I think the non-documented portion of the evening that has been lost to the cloudy ether of time was my favorite part.
Paul (December 5, 2012 at 3:55 pm)