Dear reader, thank you for taking the time to dive into our 2023 Accountability Report. This report highlights our efforts and major achievements with regard to our company’s purpose of Raising Intelligence and Awareness (I+A).
It was a landmark year for our team. And for the world as a whole. In the Pixel Dreams universe, 2023 was a year of huge strides in both augmenting our internal I+A and in finding new ways to give back and share the benefits of our growing success.
We couldn’t have achieved this without you, our community of friends, family, and partners.
We are truly grateful.
In service, LLAP,
Khalid M
CEO & Founder
01. Giving Back
We’re Building a Children’s Library in Rural Vietnam!
In celebration of our cofounder Lannie’s 40th birthday, our team organized a fundraiser to build a children’s library in rural Vietnam. The surprise birthday event in October was a resounding success.
By the end of the year, our community raised $40,000 CAD for the Vietnam Education Society (VES), a Canadian charity with an outstanding track record. One hundred percent of the proceeds reached the community of Quảng Trị. In addition to raising $40K, our team funded all administrative, travel, and event costs.
The groundbreaking ceremony was celebrated on January 9th, 2024. We expect the children’s library to be completed by the end of Q1, 2024.
Partnership with TSOS
In collaboration with one of our amazing clients, we supported the US charity, Their Story, Our Story (TSOS), donating more than $20,000 USD in professional services
KRISTEN D
This was a unique opportunity for a few lucky PDTers to flex their creative chops while feeling warm and fuzzy. Our team got the chance to update the TSOS visual identity (VI), create an online VI style guide, and develop various marketing and corporate identity collateral. We are grateful to have the opportunity to partner and serve.
Read more about our partnership with TSOS here.
PD Kids Bootcamps!
An old PD dream that came true. This past year, we had the honour and opportunity to run two bootcamps for a group of PD kids. Not just any regular camp, but bootcamps filled with life lessons and big adventures.
March Break Inaugural Bootcamp
Our first-ever PD Kids Bootcamp aimed to go beyond traditional norms. Our Bootcamp encompassed teaching life skills such as cooking (it was the first time some kiddos used a knife!) and cleaning, along with discussions around family, discipline, and health. The kids enjoyed diverse activities, from art sessions and nature hikes to meditation. If the kiddos were well-behaved and hit their daily goals, they got to play a few minutes of video games at the end of the day. At the end of the week, the kids ganged up against our CEO for a royal rumble playfight.
Learn more about our March Bootcamp!
Summer Bootcamp – Working With AI
Parents and their children enthusiastically requested (demanded) a summer bootcamp! So, of course, we obliged. Our summer bootcamp was two weeks long, focusing on creativity and artificial intelligence. We introduced the kids to storytelling and visual arts leveraging AI tools like ChatGPT and DALL·E 3.
The kids crafted stories, drew pictures for their storybooks, and even recorded their stories at Xylo, a boutique audio engineering studio in Toronto.
Echoing our first bootcamp, the kids learned life lessons, cooking, cleaning, and nature hikes.
Check out more of the kids’ audiobooks!
02. Artificial Intelligence
AI was undoubtedly the most prominent tech topic of 2023. By early spring, conversations around AI in business and everyday life filled the airwaves. We were ready and prepared!
In fact, did you know that Star Trek and artificial intelligence inspired our company’s purpose (Raise I+A)? Oh yes, indeed. It was 2009 when founders Khalid Mokhtarzada and Lannie Le implemented the first iteration of Starfleet Academy at Pixel Dreams.
Read our Raise I+A Origins Story.
R&D and Integration
At PD, many of us are serious sci-fi fans, familiar with AIs like the helpful onboard computer of Star Trek’s Starship Enterprise to the more ominous HAL 9000 from Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Our decision to invest in AI research and development, exploring new tools and methods of operation, is partly driven by business strategy. But, it’s also a way to indulge our inner geeks and our enthusiasm for the sci-fi realm.
We asked ourselves three questions:
- Where can we disrupt ourselves?
- Where can we automate and augment?
- And where can we better collaborate?
Our R&D efforts yielded improvements in many areas, increasing efficiencies and capabilities and, most importantly, allowing us to do more for our clients while reducing their billable hours.
Would you like to see a list of the AI tools we use?
Check out the latest AI tools we use at PD
WednesdAI
By the turn of Q2, we established a regular cadence of reporting on the latest in AI news. A special thanks to our CEO, Khalid Mokhtarzada, Director of Ops, Jenn Nguyen, and AI Researcher, Boris Babkin, who reported on recent AI news. We called it WednesdAI, a weekly newscast (and team conversation) every Wednesday morning. This initiative kept our team informed while encouraging discussion.
To supplement our weekly newscasts, we created a dedicated AI channel on Slack, where team members shared interesting articles and videos on the latest and greatest.
We look forward to continuing our research, with the intent of reporting regularly to our community starting this quarter.
Watch our latest WednesdAI videos!
03. PD Events
Every Friday, we set aside regular work to engage in educational activities, to explore topics that help us build on our larger I+A mission.
It was a hybrid year. In 2023, we continued with our online virtual meetings while also getting back into more in-person events.
Our events are a vital part of our culture and heritage. From the tradition of Friducation, emphasizing learning and community, to our annual Summer Getaways, we blend professional development with celebration. These gatherings, whether in-person or virtual, are crucial for fostering our culture of continual learning and reinforcing our bonds, truly embodying our ethos of “Learn. Do. Teach.” and our commitment to excellence.
Friducations
Friducation is a cherished tradition at Pixel Dreams, dating back to our early years. Every Friday, we set aside regular work to engage in educational activities. The tagline is simple yet profound:
Learn. Do. Teach.
This tradition has evolved to encompass a variety of non-work events, ranging from study sessions and learning opportunities to field trips and cultural bonding activities.
2023 was a hybrid year. We continued with our online virtual meetings while also getting back into more in-person events. We enjoyed a diverse range of Friducation events, including presentations, fireside chats, case studies, field trips, team getaways, surprise parties, and celebrations.
Of course, we came together weekly during our Friday afternoon wrap-ups. We cherish these opportunities for us to get together, and we wouldn’t trade it for all the latinum in the Alpha Quadrant.
Summer Summit
Our first annual PD Summer Summit was held in July 2023, at Blue Mountain. The Summer Summit was nestled in the middle of our annual PD Summer Getaway, which started with a solid offsite workday, followed by a few days of free-flow activities and celebrations.
We used the Summer Summit to review our yearly goals, reinforce our purpose of Raising I+A, and discuss our DVOS. The day included our mid-year I+A Academy Awards, client case studies (#RaisingStandards presentations), reinforcing our culture of excellence, and a fireside chat with our partners. We capped off a solid day with a team dinner and drinks, celebrating late into the evening.
This year’s summit was held at Blue Mountain.
Our Summer Summit was nestled in the middle of our annual Summer Getaway, starting with a solid offsite workday at Blue Mountain, followed by a few days of free-flow activities and celebrations.
Learn more about the 2023 Summer Getaway
The philosophy behind PD Summer Getaways
Winter Summit
Held at our PD Castle, the Winter Summit kicked off with our CEO making his signature breakfast. The team was quick to help clean up — and in record time!
Afterwards, our team engaged in presentations, followed by a rejuvenating hike in the forest. The afternoon was filled with more insightful discussions, case studies (#RasingStandards presentations), a celebratory dinner, I+A Academy awards, and a festive Secret Santa exchange.
Learn more about our 2023 Winter Summit.
04. Launch of PDTM
In 2023-Q3, we took a massive step forward in our commitment to teamwork by launching Pixel Dreams Talent Management (PDTM). This was a fundamental shift in our approach to team development.
We’ve always believed that teamwork and culture are our greatest strengths. PDTM is a formalization of that belief, an investment in the sustainability and adaptability of the PD culture. It’s a new cornerstone effort in nurturing these core principles, with a shift from a conventional HR approach to a proactive talent management focus.
PDTM is our commitment to developing and increasing our team’s capabilities, with the goal of serving our clients and community to ever-expanding levels.
Two key initiatives we launched in 2023 are significant steps in that direction:
- Implementing a Learning Management System (LMS)
- Introducing our PD Buddy program.
From acquisition strategies to offboarding, culture immersion to dialectic reporting, we are committed to setting up the kinds of HR processes that will continue to build on our I+A aspirations.
05. Reports
Culture Report
Our annual Culture Report, conducted at the end of Q2, highlighted a culture of love and mutual respect. The full report, available here, delves into the nuances of our evolving workplace ethos.
Every year we ask our teammates to provide three words that best describe our culture. We take those words and create wordclouds.
I+A Academy Awards Report
And finally, our team I+A stats. This section is dedicated to the efforts and learnings our team achieved. Every year, our team dedicates countless (we count!) hours to reading, listening, and attending courses to elevate their personal I+A. Not bad for a small team! See our stats below:
Sales and Persuasion
Art of Negotiation
Relational Intelligence
Small Habits that Make a Big Impact on Your Life
Steal Like an Artist
Tao Te Ching
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership
The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team
Ego is the Enemy
total books
total pages read
total audiobooks
total courses
total educational podcasts and videos
total minutes listened & watched
total group events
total hours of coaching received
Echo
(4,021 pages)
🥉
Dreams
(7,503 pages)
🥈
Transform
(18,039 pages)
🥇
Grit
(4,174 mins)
🥉
Dreams
(5,992 mins)
🥈
Star
(5,484 mins)
🥇
Present
(2,460 mins)
🥉
Flourish
(2,841 mins)
🥈
Liberty
(2,729 mins)
🥇
Thank you, for making it so far!
This concludes our accountability report. We thank you, our PD community, for supporting us in this long journey and empowering our team to do more. We do more because of your encouragement and support.
As we look towards 2024, we remain dedicated to furthering our impact and growth as individuals and as a collective, continuing to Raise I+A at home and around the world!
Yours in service,
The PDT
