My First Week At DP

Hey folks,

my name is Andreas Franke and I´ve been asked to share my impressions of the first week here at DP with you. 

Even though my job interview was a very pleasant one, I really did not know what to expect. I had no ideas about my colleagues and what to expect at work. 

Sincerely, my first day at DP has been a complete surprise for me. I have been travelling a lot and was working in different jobs, but never felt I welcome somewhere before that quickly. Everybody was friendly, people in my office were really kind and caring from the first minute. We had lunch at a great Asian restaurant in a very relaxed atmosphere.  

Throughout the week I adapted to the schedule at DP and learned how to master the luxurious espresso machine. On Wednesday, there were free Pfannkuchen / Berliner for us, a very welcome surprise. The first quiz about my coworkers on Friday was also manageable.

I am looking forward to enjoy a drink with my colleagues on the upcoming Friday and I´m quite confident that we will have a great time together. 

SEA’s record breaking Team Event

One team, one room, one mission and one hour! – The Live Escape Game

For our first team event of 2015 we went back in time to 1970’s DDR, and ended up trapped inside a secret prison. We had only 66 minutes to get our dear colleague Morten out of solitary confinement and all of us out of the prison. Clues, codes, and keys were hidden all over the place. Could we make it out in time, or be trapped forever? Since SEA consist of only skillful masterminds we managed to break out of there in record time! 

The prison was located in an old bunker with original furniture from the DDR era, which really made us feel like we were in the 1970’s. Hints and clues were everywhere, and what a puzzle it was to link it all together. Every single little object could be essential for our escape. There was a constant count-down on a screen, making us more and more frustrated as the time was running out and we still hadn’t solved the mission. But what seemed to be an insolvable puzzle was solved in only 59:35 minutes by putting our highly intelligent brains together, and only a bit (ok, maybe a lot) of help from the game-masters. 


Personally, I think we must have looked like a bunch of confused chickens bumping into each other while occasionally squeaking because we found something interesting on the ground. I even almost screamed when I saw the old prison guard sitting around in a dark cell (in my defence, he was a skeleton). But hey, we broke the previous record anyway! 


We dare you to beat our time! http://exit-game.de/engl/

Written by Sol (SEA)

Feelgood Manager at Digital Performance

As a dedicated and fast-growing Internet company it was only a matter of time until Digital Performance introduced the position of a Feelgood Manager. The time has come and we are excited to introduce our very own Feelgood Management trainee.

A companies wish to create a pleasant work environment for its employees is no secret nor is it a new idea. However, the specific position of a Feelgood Manager is a rather recent idea. All personnel matters of a strategic nature are responsibilities of the Human Resource department. Whereas, the ‘emotional’ support and assistance falls into the remits of a Feelgood Manager. In a nutshell, a Feelgood Manager acts as a cultivator of the company culture and is responsible for the well-being of all employees by having a sympathetic ear regarding any problems, worries or ideas. 

So …, what are the specific benefits for Digital Performance? In general, our Feelgood Manager is the first contact person for all employees regarding the office-life. As mentioned before, any problems, worries or ideas will be tackled by the Feelgood Manager. In particular, the full onboarding process of new employees is guided by the Feelgood Manager; ranging from the office tour and the buddy system to the employee-memory and the onboarding presentation, amongst others. Nevertheless, old employees needs will not be neglected. Another important aspect focuses on the internal and external employer branding. In order to maintain and strengthen the relationship between Digital Performance and its employees, particular emphasis will be placed on merchandising products, team events and social media. Hence, Digital Performance is working hard to proactively enhance its feel-good factor.

Judith, 23, Feelgood Manager

“I am extremely excited to be here at Digital Performance! A big THANK YOU to everyone for this warm welcome. I hope to get to know all of you a bit better real soon and please don’t hesitate to ask me about my position as I realize this is a rather new phenomenon. Of course, I am looking forward to all your ideas and suggestions regarding the feel-good factor at DP. Nevertheless, I also have a sympathetic ear for any problems, worries or complaints. I hope we can strengthen and enrich this office-life here at Digital Performance.”

Extended Christmas Bingo Mulled Wine Beer Friday!

I know what you're thinking: “Extended Christmas Bingo Mulled Wine Beer Friday!? That sounds awesome! But how is that even possible?” :P

Well last week we had a special Beer Friday! We celebrated Saint Nicholas day. After getting some presents from DP we all had a traditional christmas dinner of pizza and sushi... We also had mulled wine in addition to our usual beer.

The special activity that evening was Bingo. Yes....Bingo. Most of us played it for the first time in our lives, foolishly mistaking it for just an old peoples game. The idea come from our beer-manager Martin, who definitely deserves credit for keeping 40 of our employees quiet, sat on their chairs, and paying attention (more or less :) ) while waiting for our numbers to come up.

Sure the prizes might also be a good motivation, but nonetheless a really fun time was had by all!

Product Management Team Event

Our team event started with us in the office eating pizza and salad to muster the energy to burn for our team event. It turned out to be a very prudent idea to do so as it was an intense evening, with lots of ducking, running adrenalin.
 

The chosen activity for our team event was Laser Tag. We were very excited for it with our hands itching to get a gun.

After a short intro to the rules and the safety everyone got their gear and chose their guns. The first game mode was "Free For All", in other words:  everyone against everyone. It was the hardest  and most chaotic game of all with people coming from all directions.

Then we formed teams. First, two teams played against each other, then we split up to form 3 teams and make it even more interesting. In the last game we tried to take control of "radioactive" boxes and defend them as long as possible from the other teams which ended up in a very fast-paced and intense game.

With a lot of „Laser Blood” spilled and a lot of energy used, we had tons of fun and brought home a lot of fun memories.