This past February, Matter Boston celebrated its two-year anniversary at 197 Portland Street. As the fastest growing and largest satellite office, we strive to maintain the same fun, supportive and caring environment our Newburyport colleague so eloquently outlined in her update on Matter HQ. While the Newburyport happenings seem hard to top, we at Matter Boston aim to have just as much fun. 

So, what IS the Boston office like, you ask? Read on to find out what have we been doing to keep the culture afloat.

 

Fourth Floor

As I said, Matter Boston celebrated its two-year anniversary at 197 Portland Street and how did we celebrate? We took over another floor! Now when you visit the Matter Boston office, you’ll see that we inhabit both the 3rd and the 4th floors. While we’re a short elevator ride away from each other, it’s safe to say that we’re just double the space, double the fun.

 

Ping pong table

A common occurrence in the Boston office is a 4pm email to your coworkers saying, “pong?” And while we aren’t bringing out the solo cups and cracking open the beers (yet), we work to set aside some time throughout the week to let off some steam and spike some ping pongs at each other during a good old-fashioned game of table tennis. One-on-one matches? Been there. Doubles? Done that. What many of us have found is that the ping of the pong ball bouncing back and forth across the table brings a therapeutic sense into our busy lives and had brought some of us closer, and some farther, together based on the outcome of the game. Olympics 2020, see you there?

 

St. Patrick’s Day

We came, we saw, we made it out alive without having to drink green beer. St. Patrick’s Day in Boston is like a religious holiday. Whether you’re Irish or not, you’re bound to be knocking back some Guiness and eating Lucky Charms… and that’s just what we did. After branding ourselves with temporary clover tattoos and listening to a bit of Dropkick Murphy’s, we headed to Southie, because we wouldn’t be doing it right if we didn’t. We arrived at STATS hungry, and left with full bellies of fried mac ‘n cheese, nachos and so much more.

 

March Madness

Ah, March Madness. The only time of the year I ever care about basketball. Much like the rest of the country, 75% of our brackets were botched within the first few games. However, we had a decent amount of Villanova fans in the office, so some folks still walked away happy. As for myself, I will continue to choose UNC no matter their standing because I like to think I bleed baby blue. Who’s to tell me ‘no’?

 

American Idol

As one of our monthly fun events, Matter Boston decided to put everyone’s singing chops to the test and bond over a little bit of karaoke, American Idol-style. We rented out a private room at the Limelight Stage in Downtown Boston where we had professional lighting, sound systems, and instrumental versions of to boot. Some highlights include a sultry rendition of “You’re So Vain” by Kate Duchaney, and a crowd-pleasing singalong of “Mr. Brightside” by Matter Boston’s newest employee, Jorge Rodriguez.

 

That’s all, folks! Thanks for tuning in.

Anyone else feel like 2017 was just yesterday? Whether we want to believe it or not, 2018 is well upon us by now and the Matter team has been hard at work (and play!). We are all about work-life balance and creating a fun, supportive and caring environment in our offices as well as our communities. Wondering what that actually means? Check out some of the cool things our Newburyport office has done so far this year:

 

Blood Drive

In January, Matter sponsored a mobile blood drive in partnership with Mass General Hospital (MGH). Think: “Pimp My Ride” but blood drive style! A fully equipped bus parked itself outside our office and some of our staff were brave enough to donate. One of the most rewarding parts of the blood drive was when MGH reached out a week later and let us know that some of the blood we donated helped make a liver transplant possible for a 42-year-old man. It can be difficult to find time in our busy lives to volunteer, but seeing the results makes it worth it.

Check out the video recap on our Instagram here.

 

Shuffleboard Tournament

To liven up lunch breaks, our Newburyport office invested in a shuffleboard table. Only a handful of people had played shuffleboard before, so the learning curve was steep, but after some practice time, we were Olympics ready. We decided to organize a tournament to show off our skills in random teams of two, single-round elimination. Let me tell you, there’s no better way to see your coworkers’ true colors than a cutthroat shuffleboard tourney—who knew how competitive this group was?! Our week-long competition got tougher and tougher each day until the final showdown. Jon Ridzon and I carved out a victory against Kay Hongmani and Tim Hurley (and yes, I got asked to write this blog post because I am a shuffleboard champion ?) The tournament was a blast and in addition to boosting our moods, it was a great opportunity to mingle with people outside of our teams.

 

Valentine’s Day

Love was in the air at Matter when we celebrated with our Valentine’s Day tradition. Every year, we decorate a cart, load it up with sweets and drinks, and upper management rolls it through the office like real-life cupids gifting us all with goodies! We switched it up a little this year and went with a selection of chocolate-covered Oreos, gummy lips, and sour hearts from a local candy shop. We all love candy—who doesn’t?—but even better is seeing our VPs and management bringing around this goofy cart and taking a break to chat with everyone.

 

St. Patrick’s Day

Nothing says “Happy St. Patrick’s Day” quite like a Matter party at a local hot spot in Newburyport. We celebrated at The Port Tavern with Irish music, classic Irish cuisine and even a blow up leprechaun.  Everyone was decked out in their best green attire and accessories.

Ski Trip

This winter, Matter Newburyport and Matter Boston teamed up for one great ski adventure. While some employees shredded on the slopes, others found themselves more at home at the bar. Check out this video recap!

 

These are the type of events are what set Matter apart and makes it such a great place to work. We spend 40 hours a week together, working hard. Stepping away from your computer and giving back to your community, or having a little fun with your coworkers makes all the difference!

Any ideas for what we should do next month?