Coming of age
Pixel Dreams turned 15 years old in September 2024.
With great anticipation of this milestone, a self-assembled committee began planning the celebration, six or seven months in advance. As the year progressed, ideas grew in number and scale. Bountiful and beautiful.
“It’s gonna be legendary!”
The big day
Fast forward to September 13th, 2024.
Noon. Ish.
In the kitchen of our relatively new HQ, the Toronto-based team gathered.
The kitchen, brightly lit from windows overlooking a busy downtown Toronto street, already felt like a warm hug to our growing team.
“How did we get from a handful of rag-tags to this roomful of fine folks?”
Food for thought.
Together, our growing team — new cats and old dogs alike — dug in joyfully, filling hungry bellies with humble Chinese takeout.
The food brought back memories of our early years. One of our earliest offices was nestled smack dab in the middle of a pre-gentrified Chinatown. You can imagine the amount of Chinese food that fueled the late nights of our early days building this company.
“Ah, how wonderful it is to be alive, seeing our dreams alight, slowly actualizing one by one.”
Quiet musings in the mind of a sentimental (and cheesy) old dog.
Post-lunch cleanup was speedy. It wasn’t our first rodeo together. Cleaning up is one of our company rituals. Maybe that sounds a little cultish? Call it a learned habit. Does it really matter how one labels a good thing?
Afterwards, our team migrated from the kitchen into the main office floor. Teams took turns sharing stories of recent successes — insights and learned lessons the whole company could benefit from.
Sometimes we share stories of fantastic failures. But not on this day.
A fireside chat with our leadership team followed, reporting on the state of the nation, and answering questions from the assembled company.
The state of our nation? In short, it’s healthy. Steady. Ready for more. A lot more.
Where the fireside chat took place, a bountiful bouquet of edible treats sat on the side table. Two of the chocolate-covered-fruits-on-sticks read “1” and “5”.
Fifteen.
By three o’clock, the team felt pumped for the next part of the day.
A beautiful day
In mid-September, it’s rare for Toronto to see a sunny and warm day. Yet that Friday — Friday the 13th — luck was smiling on us.
Sunny. Blue sky. White clouds. Not hot. Not cold. Simply perfect.
A short walk from Pixel Dreams HQ, and our team was basking in the glory of being outside, together, at Toronto’s iconic Grange Park.
Joining us were a couple of coolers of well-chilled cans and a box packed with favourite outdoorsy games.
The rest of the afternoon was filled with tight hugs, big laughs, and fun times.
Our newest team member, Mr Elevate, showed us the trick for making panoramic photos that also include the person behind the camera.
It’s a wild lo-fi hack we’ll no doubt use again.
High spirits. Low key.
“How did you feel about the company’s decision to make PD15 a low key celebration instead of the splashy celebration we had previously planned?”
When asked in a team survey, our team shared beautiful heartfelt sentiments.
There was an overall sense of appreciation and gratification to be a part of a company that thinks for itself, one that has the capacity to pivot when it makes sense, and not be stuck in a sunk cost fallacy.
Our team expressed enjoyment of the casual celebration, and pointed out that for a company aiming to be around for a long time — aspiring to celebrate our 100th anniversary in 2109 — fifteen years is still adolescence.
Still the beginning.
Why did we change our mind?
Throughout 2024, all around the world, we saw growing unrest, persistant conflicts, rising unemployment, and mass layoffs, among other hardships.
The timing wasn’t right for a splashy celebration.
We are grateful to be alive, doing work we enjoy, with the people we adore. And we’re thankful to witness our company’s growth in capabilities, teams, and opportunities.
We’ve rolled up our sleeves and put our heads down to tackle the work in front of us. Because there is so much to do. Together.
It may have seemed a low key celebration. But for us Pixel Dreamers, it exemplified the high spirit of the company we choose to be — one that is more about strong connections and shared experiences than flashy displays.
What’s next?
Some have asked if we were planning for an epic sweet sixteen next year.
Maybe.
Perhaps.
We will see.
There will be an epic celebration, if and when, the time is right.
Until then, we’ll continue setting our sights on celebrating the 100th PDversary in 2109.
It will be a legendary party. You and your loved ones are invited.
We’ll see you there!
