How Pickering Labs Celebrates the Holiday Season

Rebecca Smith

The end of the year is always a busy time for Pickering Laboratories.  Not only are we wrapping up all of your orders before the majority of our staff disappear for the holidays, but we also enjoy having a good time around the laboratory.  The two major cornerstones of our December festivities are the formal Holiday Party, held offsite, and the Ugly Sweater and Caffeine Overload party, held right here in the lab!

Our very own Gloria Garcia does an amazing job coordinating these two events every year, among others.  Second in length-of-employment only to Michael Pickering himself, Gloria has a long history of epic event-planning under her belt.  From Cirque du Soleil and Giants baseball games to waterparks (coworkers and swim suits, isn’t that awkward?!) and picnics, we always are prepared for a good time when we get together. 

The formal Holiday Party is our major offsite social event of the year.  Each employee and their spouse/guest come for a night of tinsel and sequins.  We enjoy hosted food and drink, and we are often treated to an overnight hotel stay or a ‘party bus’ drive up to San Francisco and back.  Always pairing safety with revelry, Gloria ensures that a good time is had by all!  (Not to mention, I always find the best way to properly enjoy a DJ and dancefloor is to celebrate with a champagne toast before the music starts.  At least, that’s one way to cope with the lack of anonymity that comes from working for a company of <20 employees!)

This year, we enjoyed excellent food, drink and ambiance provided by the Dolce Hayes Mansion in San Jose.  (https://www.hayesmansion.com/)  There was a raffle for gift cards and other fun stuff, a conga line weaving throughout the dining area, and an after-party at the hotel bar for those of us staying overnight.  Everyone was looking so fabulous in their finery that we thought we’d share a few event pictures!  

On the last day of December before the mass holiday exodus, Gloria arranges our Ugly Sweater and Caffeine Overload party.  Fast becoming a favorite Pickering tradition, the party includes a fancy espresso bar catering service!  (http://www.coffeeconceptsinc.net/)  Rich the barista comes in for several hours in the morning and makes custom lattes, mochas, espressos, and the occasional decaf Americano.  By the time three hours of all-you-can-coffee conclude, the Pickering employees are ready for a white-elephant gift exchange and to vote on the ugliest sweater winner!  

Fueled by caffeine and thoughts of the imminent time-off, our party rapidly deteriorates into joking around and gift-snatching (as you can imagine).  There are a great many tricks played during the white elephant exchange and Gloria’s fantastic treats ensure that the “sugar high” stays strong all day long even as the caffeine wears off.

Our employees work very hard in December to fill your year-end orders and to minimize the stocking issues that will come up while they are on vacation.  It is our great pleasure to provide them with humorous and festive ways to let off a little steam while they’re at it. 

Everyone at Pickering Laboratories hopes that you had a happy and healthy holiday season, and that you’re off to a great start on your New Year!  Thank you for your business.