Trick or treat!
Even for grownups, Halloween is the perfect excuse to throw on a creepy costume and stuff your face with delicious candy. These five Boston tech companies know this, which is why they took advantage of the spooky holiday, holding costume competitions and throwing festive parties with yummy snacks and beverages.
We got the inside scoop on their parties.
“We love Halloween at SimpliSafe!” said Cori Sutton, HR and talent associate. “We kick off the spooky season by decorating the office with spider webs, mini pumpkins and candy, of course. On Halloween day, we host a party centered around a fierce costume contest. There are four categories employees can compete in: scariest, funniest, most creative and crowd favorite.”
“This year, Drift is combining its monthly new hire happy hour and Halloween party into one awesome, mega bash. The theme? ‘Musicians throughout history,’” said Ashlyn Daniel-Nuboer, office manager. “We’ll give out awards based on categories like ‘Best New Artist’ for a new hire and ‘Best Group Performance’ for the best group costume. We’ll have all the usual food and drinks, plus a photo booth and games. And of course, Rocky Horror Picture Show will be playing to set the scene all night long.”
“From the thick, creepy cobwebs that hang across the glass doors in our lobby, to the bat silhouettes that line our walls, Halloween is as much a hallmark in the LevelUp office as the desks we all work at,” said Shay Rodger, agency support captain. “Each year, the different LU departments huddle up across the month of October to plot out how they’ll build the best team costume concept in an effort to beat out the others in a battle of creativity and secret-keeping — oh yes, we take interlopers eavesdropping on our plans very seriously. Early on in October, tiny pumpkins appear in our cafeteria that interested coworkers can grab for the annual decorating contest, with creations including, but not limited to, an interpretation of one of our own LevelUp scanners, a beautifully intricate bird, and one of the piranha plants from Mario Bros. The winner also receives a trophy.”
“EdX’ers love when Halloween comes around!” said Kristina Lopes, HR and talent operations lead. “Per edX tradition, we have an annual party where edX’ers are encouraged to dress up and bring their family. We have holiday-themed treats and potions, lots of trick or treating around the office, and a really popular costume contest for both adults and kids. Anant, our CEO, also loves to dress up for the occasion.”
“Halloween is one of our favorite holidays at Ellevation because everyone gets to either participate in or enjoy the festivities,” said Mayya Bozhilova, people operation manager. “We have a lot of fun decorating the office, and with each year, the decorations become more elaborate and lively. This year, apart from the traditional Halloween costume contest and catered lunch party, we are also organizing a mini pumpkin decorating contest. Our remote team will be participating by sending us pictures of their costumes and pumpkins via Slack and casting their votes for the scariest, funniest and most creative costumes and pumpkins.”
