Chicago 

Chicago DMCers went up on the rooftop deck to get a clear view of the solar eclipse!

Even Margaux adhered to safe eclipse viewing practices!

Rachel Hughes dressed for the occasion.

Milos Popovic brought double the eye protection!

Austin

Jon Jay took a great shot of the solar eclipse in Austin!

Boston

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a total solar eclipse! Boston was in awe during the eclipse!

Dallas

Dallas DMCers got together to marvel at this potentially once in a lifetime opportunity!

Denver

Denver sat back and enjoyed the show!

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26 DMCers headed to Alpine Valley Resort in Walworth Count, Wisconsin, about 90 minutes away from DMC Headquarters. While many went skiing, skiing was not the only activity.

“We had a few people snowboard, me included,” Aleks Konstantinovic, Systems Engineer, said. “There was nobody who sat out, we were all hitting the slopes!” 

While there were many DMCers who had previously skied and snowboarded before, there were a handful of participants that skied for the first time at the event.

“We had some first timers, and they ended up signing up for lessons at the resort.” Aleks said.

Alpine Valley Resort had a great assortment of slopes for skiers with different skill levels, according to Josh Wrobel, Systems Engineer.

“There were about six different lifts. Depending on which one you went up, there was a variety of terrain that you could ski on. Some of it was better suited for beginners, while other paths were more advanced,” Josh said. “There were a few terrain parks where people were doing tricks. Some of the harder paths were more fun for me because they were longer, but I didn’t have too much of a preference. Going with friends made it really fun!”

A particular moment of the day stood out for Josh.

“I got stuck on a chairlift for about 25 minutes with a few other DMCers. That was pretty memorable!”

Da WiSKIson CheeSKIson was a successful event that many hope will make a comeback next year.

“I think overall it’s just a fun trip and would be happy to do it again next year!” Josh said. 

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Originally, Adam and I were supposed to host the party together, but unfortunately, an onsite project called him to Kentucky that week, so it was up to me to decide on the welcome party location. I knew I had to pick somewhere unique, that I wouldn’t be able to get at home in Dallas.

Carnivale

My Chicago co-workers mentioned Carnivale to me while I was brainstorming where to host the welcome party. To me, it sounded like a fun opportunity to try something new, and it exceeded my expectations! The inside of the restaurant was terrific. The restaurant’s artwork covered walls are festive and brightly colored, giving it a bold ambiance. It was a unique experience and felt like we were in the middle of a real Carnivale celebration!

The restaurant features food from all over Latin America, including Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, and Chile. We had appetizers like grilled lamb racks, shrimp skewers, and al pastor sliders.

After dinner, we made the extra effort to find a place to continue the party. The West Loop location of Carnivale made it easy to find another place for an after-party.

The After-Party

We moved on to Green Street Smoked Meats, which was only an eight-minute walk away. We snacked on smoked brisket and a couple of different sides. Several of us shared pitchers of different kinds of beer

From Dallas to Chicago

In all, the party was a great experience. I tried some wild cocktails and new foods, and I bonded with a lot of the team. Training in Chicago and having a welcome party with such a big turnout helped me feel part of DMC.

I’m in the Dallas office now, but even though there are several offices across the country I don’t feel separated because I’ve met a lot of DMCers already! The welcome party experience helped me acclimate to my new job, and I made some great memories along the way. 

Learn more about DMC’s company culture and check out our open positions to join our team.

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Elliot and I chose to host a sushi-making party in the Superior Kitchen in DMC’s newly renovated office space. The event was a fun learning experience for everyone, and I knew how to make something new and different by the end of the night! Chef Samantha DeMichael guided us through the process of rolling the sushi and gave us helpful tips on how to make our sushi rolls stay together.

More than 50 people signed up for the event, so we split into two groups. This allowed everyone to get one-on-one time with our sushi chef. The first group made sushi right away while the second group got to have drinks/socialize on the rooftop. Then we switched groups.

We placed our nori on the mats given to us by our sushi chef, filled them with the right ingredients, and rolled our way to a delicious dinner. It took a few tries to roll them correctly, and I will say my first one was not as beautiful as the sushi chef’s roll. At least it tasted amazing! I felt like I could do it again on my own after getting this hands-on training.

I was happy to learn that making sushi isn’t as hard as I thought. It’s more of an art than a science. The experience made me appreciate the effort that’s required to make the sushi roll actually look pretty. It was a fun accomplishment for me to know that if I needed to, I could roll my own sushi! Plus, we learned about different traditional types of sushi and how to not overfill our rolls.

I got to see how the DMC team works together in a new setting. It was a cool way to learn more about people’s personalities, and I was able to get a feel for how the employees work together.

In all, I thought the party was a pretty unique way to learn more about DMC. Bringing in a sushi chef to teach us and help everyone one-on-one is something I don’t expect from traditional organizations. In my previous jobs, welcome parties weren’t a thing for new employees, so having someone come around and personally show us how to make sushi was an exceptional experience in terms of new hire onboarding. It helped me understand DMC’s company culture. I felt welcomed by the team, and it was a great unique experience for me.

Now that I have worked here for a few months I can say that the fun didn’t stop there. From Friday happy hours to activity fund events, I have had a blast adventuring with my coworkers at DMC. I can’t wait to see what’s next!

Learn more about DMC’s company culture and check out our open positions to join our team.

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After kicking off the event with appetizers and a meet and greet, Chicago WIT co-chairs Annie Korsgard and Anjali Bharadwa introduced WIT’s core values and issues facing women in technology today.

The focus of this quarterly meeting was the importance of diversity and inclusion training in the workplace. 

WIT COMMUNITY

WIT focuses on building a community for professional women and men who work in the technology sector. The goal is to create a pathway for women to attain leadership positions and develop profitable businesses in the tech industry.  

As a DMC employee and project manager on our Digital Workplace Solutions Team, Anjali was a familiar face to women in attendance. She and Korsgard shared more information about why organizations like WIT are important in supporting the growth of women who work in technology:

• Only 26% of professional computing occupations in 2018 in the U.S. workforce were held by women 

• Only 11% of professional computing occupations in 2018 in the U.S. workforce were held by women of color 

• The turnover rate is more than twice as high for women (41%) than it is for men (17%) in tech industry jobs 

THE IMPACT OF CHOOSING DIVERSITY + INCLUSION

Attendees heard how research into diversity by McKinsey & Company supports a positive impact of inclusion on an organization’s successes.  

Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on their executive teams were 21% more likely to perform at above average profitability levels, and 35% more likely to perform at above average profitability levels when in the top quartile for ethnic and cultural diversity in the workplace.  

The report, Delivering through Diversity, also found that these high-performing companies all developed diversity and inclusion strategies that aligned with their core company values. Having well-aligned strategies correlated with companies attracting top talent and improving their customer orientation. 

WIT GUEST SPEAKER

WIT’s main speaker of the evening, Theresa Stewart (Designer and Cultural Consultant from Colored), gave instructions in evaluating company need for diversity and inclusion training in the workplace.  

Stewart provided an honest and tangible look at the issues organizations can face when it comes to diversity and inclusion.  

DMC CHICAGO + WIT

The evening culminated in a chance for guests and WIT members to network and enjoy some appetizers at the DMC Chicago office. A discussion developed between WIT members and DMC members present regarding the issues faced by women and people of color within organizations around Chicago.

WIT members offered effective methods of diversity and inclusion training that they have used previously in their organizations, and DMC gained a lot of insight into what other technology companies are doing to create a positive impact in tech. 

Learn more about DMC’s Company Culture.

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1. Reduction of Single-Use Plastics

Prior to these initiatives, DMC stocked individual plastic water bottles, orange juices, and creamer cups in the kitchen. Now, we’ve stopped stocking single-use items and instead purchase gallon orange juice jugs and quarts of half-and-half, which come in recyclable containers. Employees also now use glassware in the kitchen for all of their beverage needs and for water, the DMC staff can fill up at one of the kitchen’s water coolers. Additionally, we’re also transitioning from using single-use cleaning wipes to using a cleaning spray and cloths. 

2. Spreading Knowledge About Recycling

There’s a lot to know about recycling—far more than most people realize! During our brainstorm session about possible eco-friendly initiatives, we covered some things about recycling that you may not be aware of. For example, even though all plastic items have a number printed on them to indicate what kind of recyclable they are, not every city will recycle every item.

The City of Chicago does not recycle #6 plastics, aka. styrofoam. Also, recyclable items that haven’t been rinsed out are also not always recyclable. It’s best practice to always rinse things like yogurt cups, peanut butter containers, and jam jars (or even better, run through the dishwasher) before they’re recycled.

At our Boston office, they found that their building didn’t have a recycling service. Therefore, the Boston team did some research and now work with Earthworm Recycling to have monthly pickups. 

To spread knowledge about what can and cannot be recycled, DMC printed the EPA’s “Top 10 in the Bin” poster and hung copies above all the receptacles in our kitchens.

3. Plastic Bag Recycling

Plastic bags can even be recycled! Rather than add to the immense mass of plastic bags in the Pacific Ocean, consider saving your clean, dry plastic bags and recycle them at a local store. To aid in this effort, we added a plastic bag recycling station to our upstairs kitchen where employees can deposit things like bubble mailers, Ziploc bags, and shopping bags.

Every few weeks, the bags are taken to be recycled. Our Chicago office is within a mile of a Best Buy, Mariano’s, and Target—all of which will take plastic bags (for free!) to be recycled. You can find out which stores closest to you accept plastic bags by entering your zip code. This is an easy way to make a big impact on the health of our oceans and ecosystems.

4. Composting

One of the best initiatives to come out of the brainstorming session has been composting. To support company-wide composting efforts, DMC Chicago put a compost tumbler on the roof deck to complement our roof garden. There’s a large bucket in our kitchen with a list of what can and cannot be composted hanging above it, so employees can easily and quickly be sure they’re composting the right things. We even formed a compost team!

With the help of a compost team, the bucket is emptied into the composter tumbler every week. When everything has properly decomposed and is ready to go back into the earth, we like to contribute it to our rooftop garden in the summer!

Conclusion

If you take anything away from this blog, we hope it’s this: everything mentioned above doesn’t require too much effort. In the case of reducing single-use plastics, that’s created even less work around the office because we already had glassware and we no longer need to stock as many items in the refrigerator.

If you’re considering making eco-friendly changes in your workplace or home, don’t feel daunted! The payoff always far outweighs the cost.

Wish you were working at DMC and recycling stuff too? Check out our careers page!

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