Preparation of the Feast

For the private lesson we made an array of pasta dishes from scratch. We started with a lesson on general cooking skills and then split into groups to make either tortellini, spaghetti, or mezzaluna. Half of the group made a pasta dough by hand, while the other used a food processor to make a different kind of dough. As we waited for dough to rise, we gathered ingredients and made the fillings and sauces for our pasta dishes.

Besides being excited to enjoy some delicious pasta, I had a great time connecting and working with my coworkers on something outside of the technical work we do at DMC. With one person feeding pasta into the machine, another operating the crank, and a third there to catch the dough as it was rolled thin, everyone had a task that contributed to making our meal.

Presentation is Key

Depending on the type of pasta, the dough was either cut to make spaghetti or filled and shaped to make the tortellini and mezzaluna. Though I did not fold the most beautiful tortellini, I am proud to report that they did not explode while cooking and turned out quite delicious. After the sauces were done and the pasta cooked, we were instructed to present our pasta with “Instagram worthy presentation” (shown above).

After the cooking and presentation of the pasta was complete, we were able to see and taste what everyone had made. I felt happy to have joined a community of people who would want to do something like cook pasta from scratch after work and have a great time doing it.

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

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Did we get some dirt in our dinners? Meh, extra seasoning.

Production: 
As the evening commenced, dirt was potted, succulents planted, and green thumbs flexed. To no one’s surprise, our engineers proved as skilled at gardening-in-miniature as they are with expert solutions. The results were fantastic terrariums complete with decorative dragons and ducks.

Postproduction: 
However, we quickly realized that this was only the beginning of our succulent saga. The true challenge has been the continuous task of keeping our Zen gardens alive. We were told that ice cubes would do the trick, but our results proved otherwise. After a few tragic casualties, I was tasked with a quest to find the perfect succulent spritzer as our dragons and ducks weren’t doing much to help. In the end, the DMC Boston office rallied together by rotating pots into sunny spots around the office and spritzing away once a week.

I am happy to report that, thus far, each of our Zen gardens have at least two succulents alive and well and we hope they will continue to grow and thrive throughout the winter season.

Learn more about the DMC Boston office and DMC's company culture. 

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This fall, I had my welcome party with the DMC Houston team at Well Done Cooking to learn more about Thai food.

First Course: Shrimp Spring Rolls

We started out learning how to wrap spring rolls. The rolls had shrimp, cilantro, cucumbers, and vermicelli noodles. We served them with a tasty peanut dipping sauce.

Entree #1: Baked Curry Spiced Chicken

Next on the menu was baked curry-spiced chicken. We marinated the chicken with yogurt and curry powder. We seasoned like ‘Salt Bae’ before baking them.

Entree #2: Lemongrass Green Curry with Tofu

This recipe was the most technically challenging. The first step was to puree then strain a whole host of ingredients, including basil, lemongrass, coriander, and cilantro. We then reduced the strained liquid on the stove and added coconut milk. In the final step, we added roasted tofu. We served the curry over rice.

The cooking class was a great way to welcome new hires and bond as a team. It turns out, engineers can cook!

Learn more about the DMC Houston office and DMC’s company culture.

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One of the ways DMC celebrates new hires is through Welcome Parties! New hires may choose a Welcome Party of their choosing. These fun activities help DMCers get to know their new coworkers and celebrate DMC’s continued growth.

Even though the regional office employees were only spending three weeks in Chicago, the team never misses a chance to celebrate! We had a Wine & Paint welcome party for the four new regional office employees and one of our new Chicagoans this past fall. 

On that Tuesday evening, the downstairs kitchen was transformed into a painting studio complete with small easels, primed canvases, paints, aprons, and of course: wine!

We sipped and tried our best to follow along with the ever-patient but far more talented painting instructor as she demonstrated step-by-step how to paint a striped vase with colorful flowers.

Everyone took their own creative freedoms with the composition, choosing different colors or flower shapes.

When all was said and done, we knew each other even better, and everyone left with a token to remind them of their inner artist!

Learn more about DMC's Company Culture. Interested in joining us? Check out our open careers. 

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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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This night of entertainment was dedicated to a welcome party for new hires Gabby, Paige and myself. It might not be typical, but at DMC, a welcome party is thrown for every new employee. Gabby, Paige, and I decided to combine our welcome parties for a fun evening at the WNDR Museum with food and drinks afterward.

The WNDR Museum (pronounced “wonder”) was full of artistic, interactive exhibits that invite you to touch and explore. Exhibits included musical showers that played a song based on the buttons you pressed, a room where lights on the floor followed your every step, and a room of wall-to-wall mirrors that reflected each other into infinity. If there was ever a place to go for an interesting Instagram pic, it’s here.

Many people’s favorite exhibit was one where water-sensitive panels on the wall enabled painting with water. Everyone was handed a brush and given a small area to unleash their creativity on.

My personal favorite display was a huge wall made up of small discs, each about the size of a quarter. These discs flipped between black and white sides to reflect the shape and movements of any people walking in front of them. Every time a disc flipped, it made a “clicking” noise, and with hundreds of discs, this wall definitely drew everyone’s attention! Working at an engineering company, my co-workers and I, of course, had to stop to figure out how it worked. I even heard a couple of people wondering out loud about how we could build this in our office.

My experience at the WNDR Museum had a lot of parallels to my experience so far at DMC. I encountered a lot of new things I had never seen before, and everyone else was happy to try and figure them out with me. Of course, we were all equally clueless going into the WNDR museum, which made for a nice change from my last couple weeks of asking more experienced engineers a mountain of questions! Everyone at DMC is as happy to answer my newbie questions as they were to figure out how the wall of flipping discs worked together.

After a surprisingly short trip through the museum and a quick gift shop browse, we headed to our final destination: The Press Room.

The Press Room has a cozy atmosphere and tasty cocktails, which made for the perfect setting for me to get to know some of my new coworkers. Talking outside of the context of the office and snacking was a great way to end a great night. After a group toast to all of us new hires, I left feeling welcomed by everyone at DMC and excited for the next after-work event!

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

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I recently had the pleasure of experiencing a Welcome Party along with Oliver Reed, a fellow new face within the DMC family. Oliver and I knew that we wanted our first big social event with everyone to involve artistic creation and social libations, so this is exactly what we did.

Our Welcome Party began at Denver’s famous I Made It Workshop, an open woodshop where anyone can gather to learn the art of carpentry as well as design. We decided to make resin cheeseboards, a beautiful mix of wood and color. One of our fantastic instructors, Francis, explained that creating resin cheeseboards allowed everyone to work with almost every tool in the shop.

This activity was the perfect choice for those interested in woodworking as well as painting. First, we chose a beautiful piece of wood, cut down locally in Colorado. We then went, in groups, down to the lower level of I Made It. This seemed to be the area where the more intense tools were stored. We shaved down one side of our wood to reveal the various shades of brown, purple, and grey within the wood’s rings. The next step was to cut the wood down the middle to create a canal for the resin.

Mixing the resin was probably my favorite part of the night. The workshop had any color option you can think of, from glitter to metallic to neon. Everyone was able to show their skills and use as many or as few colors as they wanted. By the end of our class, we each had a board that represented our individuality.

Even more exciting than getting to make a cheeseboard from scratch was getting to know each one of my coworkers and their loved ones. Most events at DMC include an invitation for a plus one, so not only did I get to know more about my coworkers, but I got to know the families of my DMC family.

I cannot say enough about how DMC focuses on creating a welcoming, friendly, and hard-working culture for its employees. We are given the tools to express ourselves while learning new traits with new friends. I’m excited to call DMC Denver home.

Learn more about DMC’s core values.

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