Seattle’s Holiday Game Night Ends in a “Touchdown”

DMC’s Seattle office certainly had much to celebrate this February. Just days after the Seahawks’ stirring Super Bowl victory, the office finally came together to celebrate the holidays (a bit late, but we wanted to prioritize everyone’s attendance). Here are a few activities that we did together as a team at our annual holiday office party.

Team Huddle 

At DMC, we value having fun and sharing information, so it should come as no surprise that we chose a holiday party activity in the most democratic way possible.

Past favorites included a cooking class where everyone learned to make a component of a meal that we all then enjoyed together, and a glassblowing lesson where everyone in the office took home a handblown ornament.

This year, we all agreed to prioritize good food and a fun activity over a sit-down dinner. We narrowed our choices down to curling or an elevated game night, and game night won the coin toss.

Preparing the Field

To select the perfect venue for this event, we balanced a casual vibe with a space that would allow mingling, conversation, and the flexibility to accommodate various forms of gameplay. We ultimately settled on the Alibi Room, a speakeasy-style bar tucked into Seattle’s Gum Wall (if you know, you know) at Pike Place Market. This spot checked all the boxes with brews on tap, classy cocktails, and a selection of elevated comfort food—think Greek-inspired appetizers, Neapolitan-style pizzas, and fancy mac and cheese.

For games, we opted for some office favorites like One Night Werewolf, classics like Taboo, a mini Hook-and-Ring game, and even a Metagame where party guests won points for sneakily completing conversational challenges throughout the evening, like getting someone to show someone else a picture of their pet or having someone define random objects written on cards. Once a player completed a challenge without getting caught, they could enter their card in a raffle for the chance to win a prize. The field was set.

Game Night ≥ Game Day

The evening kicked off with appetizers as guests trickled in. We kept the bartender busy as the appetizers, salads, and mac and cheese made their appearance. The Hook-and-Ring game saw some action while half a dozen DMCers and their plus-ones played Taboo. The rest of us opted to mingle, drink, and nibble until the main course arrived.

Halftime Show

About halfway through the night, Dan Freve, DMC’s Chief Operating Officer and head of the Seattle office, gave a rousing speech reflecting on the growth of the Seattle office from a small team into one of the company’s largest offices outside of Chicago. He was followed by managers Steven Fuches and Phil Schaffer, who thanked the team for their contributions throughout the year. We were also able to show one of our new hires how the Seattle office lives by one of DMC’s core values, Have Fun. The evening wound down with the announcement that Meghana Annamaneni had won the Metagame.

Fourth Quarter

The end of our time at the Alibi Room did not mean the end of the night. Many DMCers kept the party going at a local barcade, Jupiter Bar, for a different sort of game: Killer Queen. This strategy arcade game is a DMC tradition, played by up to 10 people on competing teams of 5.

This capped off the night with a bang, much like the annual DMC office holiday party caps off a productive year and gives us a moment to reflect on and celebrate our team’s outstanding work.

Holiday parties are just one of the things that make DMC a special place to work.