PixelMEDIA Inc.

In today’s workplace, it is easy to get stressed by numbers, budgets, delivery schedules and deadlines.  Let’s face it — any word that starts out with “dead” can’t make you feel good about the workday.

We spend so much of our lives at work and away from our families, so why not work in an environment that cultivates fun.  One of the driving factors that led me to PixelMEDIA and the web design world was the inherent foundational make up to be fun and creative.

And sure enough, my five years at PixelMEDIA have been a blast, spending my time building great products with great people – all while having fun.   If any of you know me, I like to keep things pretty light-hearted and have been known to throw out some pretty bad jokes.  But this environment allows me to be me – bad jokes and all. And let’s be honest, we aren’t saving people’s lives here, we are building applications and websites.

I wanted to take a second to remind everyone that not only is it ok to have fun at work – it’s vitally important.  The last couple of years have certainly been tough – with less work, tighter budgets, and people more on edge.  PixelMEDIA wasn’t immune to this trend.  Stress takes a toll and does damage by gradually eroding the lighter aspects of the corporate culture. What’s the answer? At PixelMEDIA, we are taking the time to make sure fun remains a big part of our day.

There are a ton of studies out there and any search will lead you to dissertations on how a fun environment can impact organizations, from employees being more productive, more creative and organizations maintaining higher employee retention and satisfaction.  But there is no reason to go into that here — reading those long papers is just not fun!

In fact, “Fun” is one of our core company values.  Take a look at some of what goes on behind the scenes here at PixelMEDIA.

• Fun Stuff – we have a ping pong table, Xbox on a large screen and bicycles for all to use
• Fridays @ 4pm – It’s not like we are going to be very productive then anyway, so we bring in some beer, play ping pong, and enjoy each other’s company before the weekend
• Most of our designers have high-powered nerf guns – believe me you don’t want to get caught in that crossfire
• Department organized activities – We are all going out to play kick ball during lunch.  I haven’t done that since like elementary school.  I remember wearing Vans shoes and most of the time my shoe would wind up flying further than the ball
• We try to have fun with our clients, through our daily interactions or sponsored events.  We want our clients to come down and enjoy our environment and culture
• Lots of hazing with the use of Photoshop – you really don’t want to be on the bad side of someone with Photoshop capabilities
• Be spontaneous – we once had volleyball game with a beach ball between 2 cubicles while the directors where out – shhhhhh!!!!!!

If you want to see some of the fun things we do, you can check out our Facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/PixelMEDIAFB.

Every year in my review, I let my superiors know that I am still having fun.  I know it is up to me and all of my peers to keep it that way.  And now to go buy some Vans for kickball.

Tags: Customer Service