At Brilliance Business Solutions, we have a fun, and unique tradition at our office holiday party. We have a gingerbread house contest! It’s enjoyable and memorable for several reasons.
Showcase our strengths
Our gingerbread house contest enables us to show off our creativity and our engineering, problem-solving mindset.
Drew shared, “It was fun to be able to do something creative with a team member not related to work.” In 2017 and 2018, Drew and Becky teamed up to make some innovative designs. Last year, it was a computer.
This year, they had a display of office cubicles and desks set up to look like part of our office.
Collaboration and Community
We work in teams of two. Our office tends to be quiet and task-oriented much of the time, so this is a great opportunity to engage with each other. In 2017, we also invited people from other businesses in our building to come “judge” our gingerbread houses, creating an opportunity to connect and socialize. While we didn't have judges this year, the teams bartered for candy supplies, extra frosting, and food coloring.
When reflecting on 2017, Dave shared, “Working with Jared was awesome. I enjoyed spending time with him and his enthusiasm for the Streetcar design we came up with. I was so excited when the Milwaukee Streetcar team reposted the picture of our Streetcar Gingerbread house.”
Karleen shared, “One of my favorite memories from last year was between the construction and decorating phases, trying to guess what the other teams were building.”
Karleen and Jared made a bridge over a river this year!
Funny
There is a lot of laughter and humor throughout the process.
“There was a mixture of laughter and ‘Oh no!’ as Clay and I saw our gable roof fall down as we put the last piece into place,” Lori shared. “We decided it was meant to be a flat roof after all.”
Experiencing an even more dramatic fall, this year, Dave and Marcus had their 3-story house tumble down and they ended up recreating it into a puppy/alligator/dragon. (They tell me it is really up to you to decide what the animal is.)
Becky shared, “This meme expresses why I thought it was so funny. I had a mental image in my head of the awesomeness of what we were going to create and then laughed so hard at the completed projects.”
Flex our creativity muscles
Becky also added, “It made me grateful for everyone’s talent when it comes to our key skills in eCommerce development. I’m thankful that our code and our websites do not look like this!”
Last year, Joe and Karleen made an outhouse with their gingerbread house. Now that is some creativity!
Last year, Marcus and Mike won the “Tallest” category. It wasn’t much of a contest.
Angela and Lori won "Most Traditional" last year!
This year, Eric and Mike created Lambeau Field for their Gingerbread House, even though the goalposts weren’t staying up. It is pretty awesome. And definitely brings a smile to our face!
Handmade office decorations
We display the “houses” for the rest of the year, creating a visual reminder that brings a smile to our faces for weeks! Not to mention the office smells of sugar and graham crackers.
Start Your Own Tradition - Our Gift to You
Do you have a fun holiday tradition at your office? Consider having a gingerbread house contest or create your own event.
Here is our gift to you of Seven Ideas for Your Company for the Holidays (PDF).
