At the end of every meeting, one DMC office shares an office update video. Everyone gets super excited to see the entertaining video of the month. This tradition started in our very own Boston office a few years ago and has lived on from there. It was only a matter of time before all of the DMC offices were competing to see who could make the funniest office update video.

The Crocodile Hunter holds a special place in the hearts of many of DMC's engineers, so for this update video, Boston brought a little bit of that programme's breathless wonder to the world of DMC – we found our own beasts, serpents, and crocodiles to contend with and marvel at!

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One part of the meeting that we have come to really look forward to are the premiers of monthly office update videos that each DMC office produces. This DMC tradition started in our Boston office (since the summer of 2013!), and now everyone takes turns. The videos are a great chance to get creative, have fun, and share what's been going on lately (or just make people laugh). Anyone can get involved and show off their skills and talents outside of engineering or accounting, etc. 

In this monthly update from the Boston office, the team needs to name conference rooms created in our recent expansion. DMC's East Coast leader and Project Director Jon Carson gets to work brainstorming names for the new rooms with the help from some friends. 

Check it out below or on our YouTube channel along with all of our other office update videos.

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Work Hard, Play Hard. The motto is oft-repeated at DMC, but is it proven in practice? We recently ran an experiment at the DMC Boston office to confirm or disprove this saying. Our thesis held that the phrase had arisen with good cause, and reflected the realities of the professional and social habits of the individuals found in and around DMC environments. Further, we predicted these behaviors to be directly related to our #6 core value, “Have Fun.” It is our pleasure to announce positive evidence was obtained for both hypotheses.

The structure of the experiment was outlined as follows: the members of the DMC Boston office were to host a party in late spring. Their broad objective was to prepare a mad science themed party in a similar vein to past DMC events, such as the annual Oktoberfest or the carnival party held at the DMC Chicago office.

The motivation to work hard extends beyond the innate work ethic at DMC. Thus, the penchant for friendly competition is found even in our party preparation. Given DMC Denver’s recent Opening Day, Opening Day event and Chicago’s own Mad Science party the Boston team was prepared to work hard to make our own event stand out. We would draw our result from the party’s level of fun.

Our secret weapon? The Automatic Bartender. The mad scientists at DMC developed this device to allow our guests to order a drink using their smartphones! Between the Automatic Bartender and our buffet of BBQ catered by Red Bones, our clients, vendors, and friends were enjoying a maximum level of fun. 

Yet our experiment didn’t end there. Guests were invited to engage in hands-on scientific exploration. We pushed the limits of viscosity with Non-Newtonian fluid, flipped the switch on our taste buds with Miracle Berries, and had a hair-raising time with the Van de Graaff generator

Given the experimental results, we declare that we have obtained evidence for a correlation between “Work Hard” and “Play Hard” behaviors amongst individuals at DMC and the clients thereof. However, we recognize that correlation does not imply causation, and that further data points are necessary for full confirmation of the hypotheses set forth in this study. To that end, it is the recommendation of the authors to perform repeated experiments, as well as causative analysis of fun activities. Thanks for participating in DMC Boston’s mad science experiment!

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In order to properly prepare for the occasion, two of our resident brewers, Bill Sowerine and Ryan Landwehr, prepared a beer and a cider, respectively. The beer, which we dubbed Rorschach and labeled appropriately, was strong and sour, giving people an impression of green apples. The cider was sweet and strongly spiced, for all the world an apple pie in liquid form. However, the two shone strongest when combined, making for an excellent, balanced taste that unmistakably resembled a caramel apple – an unintentional triumph!  Rounding out the beverages was a selection of fall bottles and a keg each of porter and Oktoberfest.

And where drink abounds, food must follow: Jacob Wirth’s catered the party with plenty of pretzels, sausage, spaetzle, sauerkraut, potato salad, and potato pancakes. Supplemented by a table of German chocolate cake, Danishes, éclairs, and other snacks and viennoiseries, we were full and happy the whole night through.

Music was a mix of a classic party playlist arranged by our own Ryan Taylor and an assortment of polkas selected by Pandora, both piped through our now-completed office-wide speaker system. We also enjoyed performances by an accordion player we had brought in for the celebration. Decked out in lederhosen and running through a wide repertoire of songs, he gave us an excellent soundtrack to the festivities and our conversations.

And what is a party without a little magic?  A magician dropped by for the night, as well, entertaining us with card tricks, improbably-multiplying balls, un-ringable bells, reassembling ropes, and many other unlikely acts. While we suspected our office’s Elizabeth Rapoport of being a planted magician’s assistant in helping to pull the wool over our eyes, she hasn’t fessed up yet!

Towards the close of the night, all of the DMCers crowded in front of a backdrop set up in the lab for pictures at our photo booth. We took silly snapshots with a system designed by our own Jason Mayes and with a full band’s worth of new props!  Now, we all have a few photos at our desks to help us reminisce over the night.

Thanks to all who were able to celebrate with us. We’re excited to bring a DMC tradition to Boston!

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The DMC Portal is a system of two stations – one in DMC Chicago, the other in DMC Boston – with a computer, television, and webcam apiece. These are connected via internet, and each shows the other’s kitchen, allowing the two offices to interact on a more informal basis and maintain some continuity in that way.

Currently, each is running Skype, with the ability to create a connection to its partner if that computer is on. As of now, starting and stopping these calls is a manual process, but we hope to be able to make startup, connection, and shut-down automatic and timed with our schedules, making the portal an easy way to keep in touch.

Alternatively, we might try using an open-source program so that we can continue adding more unique features over time, perhaps some way of getting Wiskie (the de-facto Chicago office mascot) to come and say "hi."

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That Saturday night, after wandering Chicago and certainly not being lost, thank you very much, I made it to the House of Blues. I seem to have arrived just as Tesla was setting up, for not five minutes later, I had found the folks from DMC who had come to see the show, and the curtain lifted. What followed was an excellent concert, whose lyrics I knew not at all, but enjoyed immensely, interspersed thoroughly with conversations with my new coworkers, from stories of AC/DC shows to plans to see metal concerts to warm welcomes.  With that, my consternation disappeared – this was not some forced event, a masquerade to put the new guy in the spotlight. This was what DMC was all about:  a community of bright, passionate people, nurturing each other’s interests and abilities, taking on tough projects as eagerly as they take to their pastimes – and enjoying every bit of it.

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