What was your favorite part of 2018 Dragon Army cruise?

Two months ago we took our entire company and their +1’s on a cruise. It’s annual perk of being a dragon ;)

Someone asked me recently what my favorite part of the cruise was this year, and it was easy to put my finger on it…

Because we brought such a large group on the cruise (60+ people), we were able to reserve one of the smaller ballrooms to have a cocktail party. We had a mic set up so that I could give a toast, and I was trying to think of a way to bring a part of our culture into the moment and share with everyone’s guests what its like to be at Dragon Army.

And then it occurred to me. We have a monthly company meeting, and at the end of the meeting we do something called acknowledgements. It’s one of the ways we’re not your average company.

Essentially, I open the floor to anyone that wants to acknowledge their peers openly for something awesome they’ve done over the last month, preferably (but not limited to) around our values.

So I decided to open up the floor during our cocktail party for acknowledgements, and the love-fest began. People were thanking each other for being such great team members and sharing these wonderful moments that they had shared. This went on for a while, and then I wrapped up by talking about how we really do believe that a company can be a force for good, and reminding them of our Purpose – To Inspire Happiness.

After the formal part of the party was over, I walked over to return the mic to the bartender and a man came up to me. Apparently he had been sitting at the bar during our party and had overheard everything.

He asked me what our company did, and I explained to him that we build web, mobile, and innovation experiences and products for large companies. He admitted that he didn’t know what that meant, and jokingly said that he was planning to ask me for a job because he’s never seen anything like us.

He explained that as an older man – my guess was he was in his 80’s – he’s worked at a lot of companies, and he was blown away by how much we all obviously cared about each other and believed in our business. He said that he even got choked up at one point, he was so moved by what he was witnessing.

“I’ve never seen anything like it!” he said.

He vigorously shook my hand and offered to buy me a drink – an offer I wish I had accepted but I told him I needed to get back to the party – and we said our good-byes. His parting words to me were to keep doing what I was doing, because the world needs more companies like that.

And I intend to.