COVID-19 may have put a damper on any physical and social interactions this year, but it couldn’t stop us from making Orion Day happen! Every year, staff look forward to getting together at Long Beach HQ for some B&B (business and bonding). Since staff were unable to congregate in Long Beach this year, Orion brought Orion Day to them thanks to modern technology and video conferencing! The day started off with our annual State of Orion meeting, where we reviewed company financials for the year-to-date, discussed marketing and business development strategies (including our awesome new newsletter, and completed a little professional development training. With the ongoing injustices happening across our nation, a segment of the State of Orion focused on the importance of diversity and inclusion (D&I) and what Orion is doing to fight racism and other inequalities. Orion continues to be against racism and strives to foster a culture of inclusivity and diversity in both our workplace and community. The Orion D&I team have been hard at work in bringing ideas to action within our offices by creating avenues for staff to educate themselves on how to be antiracist (i.e. book club, Netflix watch parties, training). We’re looking forward to becoming more engaged in our local communities and maintaining this momentum.
This year we took a different approach to Orion Day and hosted our first ever town hall – the State of You. Staff were asked to complete an anonymous survey on their thoughts of the “new normal” and how it has impacted their work and work life. Staff and management alike shared their experiences dealing with the “new normal” and it was great seeing everyone engage and provide helpful tips to their colleagues. All in all, the town hall was a success in shedding light on the matter, so that Orion can come out of this as an even stronger team.
No Orion Day is complete without a team building activity. The Party Planning Committee hosted a virtual murder mystery centered on an 80’s high school prom gone wrong. Staff were assigned characters not knowing who the victim and perpetrator were. Staff dressed and acted the part while trying to gather clues and solve the mystery of “who killed Bobby Backer?”. Was it Ryan Rocker, the punk rock outcast who recently split with Dolly Dancer? Or maybe Teach Tanner was a little more disappointed with his students than we thought? Lots of finger pointing and accusations were made throughout the activity, but the murderer was none other than Cindy Sensational played by Project Geologist Nina. Want to know the motivation? Guess you’re going to have to organize your own virtual murder mystery to find out! Great job to Project Scientist Adair and Senior Project Engineer Matthew for solving the mystery. Let’s not forget Senior Staff Geologist O’hara (Sarah Social), who won Best Costume for her tubular 80’s outfit and Business Operation Specialist Janette, who won Best Actor for her amazing performance as Sally Spirit.
And to add the icing on the cake, staff were given the afternoon off to kick start their weekend. Once again, Orion Day was a good reminder of what makes this company special, the people. We look forward to celebrating Orion Day next year (hopefully) at the Long Beach HQ!