What’s up party people! Christina here. Since I’ve done a bang-up job keeping the blog updated (sarcasm tag), Amy graciously offered to take the reins.  You are in extremely capable hands, and I’ll just be like the googly muppet-eye of Sauron back here.

Why, hello there!

My name is Amy, and I’m your new Atalasoft Office blogger.  I was hired in March, two months before I even graduated from Smith College, as an office administrator (well, the office administrator, as I am the one and only).  I have spent the last few months making the absolute easiest transition from the world of academia to the world of the 40-hour-work-week.  And why?  BECAUSE I WORK IN THE COOLEST OFFICE EVER.

Gee-whiz, Amy, you’re probably thinking, that’s a pretty bold statement to make!  This is true.  But I’m hoping that my blog will give you some idea of why I feel comfortable making that assertion.  I’ll be posting pictures, videos, and little text tidbits of all the latest office going-ons so that you can learn more about Atalasoft and the intelligent, hilarious, passionate, and quirky individuals who make up this company.

And I don’t mess around.  I’m starting out with a doozie.

BACON WEEK, JUNE 2012

As you may or may not know, Atalasoft has a thing for bacon.  And by thing I mean a burning passion of a thousand fiery suns.  Traditionally, we celebrate this love on Bacon Day.  We order some gourmet cuts of bacon and fry them up on the griddle, along with a few side dishes (English muffins fried in bacon grease, scrambled eggs fried in bacon grease, coffee cake/potatoes/sticky buns fried in bacon grease if possible, etc.), and have a big breakfast for everyone in the office.  And then we get back to work with bacon-y goodness in our bellies and a greasy grin on our faces.

Yeah, I made those.  Peanut butter bacon cupcakes.  Mmm.

Part of my job is event planning, and with this being my first encounter with any sort of bacon celebration, I wanted to plan something extra special.  So Christina (Director of Human Resources/Director, Ministry of Culture) and I came up with the idea for BACON WEEK.  Each day, we had volunteers bring in a bacon-y treat for all to share in anticipation of our Big Bacon Breakfast Fiesta on Friday.  I also ordered some novelty bacon items to raffle off as prizes, and we gave away the new company t-shirt (also featuring bacon) to everybody at the end of the week.

The event was a great success!  Christina and I were a little nervous about the timing due to the looming year-end deadlines, but I think the bacon ended up nurturing productivity by keeping spirits high during this time of stress.

Personally, Bacon Week left me feeling inspired.  I don’t mean by the bacon itself (although, being in the presence of the Best Meat Product Known to Mankind can be pretty inspiring…).  Rather, I was inspired by the atmosphere it created – an atmosphere of creativity, excitement, teamwork, and good humor; an atmosphere you can’t wait to be a part of once again the next day, and the next, and the next.  And I am so grateful that I am in a position to help create that sort of environment, because making other people happy is what really tickles my fancy/fuels my fire/floats my boat/rocks my socks/makes me want to speak in clichés.

I can honestly say that I ate more bacon last week than I had for the entire last two years of my life.  And I can’t wait to do it again.

Check out our Bacon Week album here on our facebook page.

And I shall leave you with this:
 

…Jealous yet?