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| 07.04.2009 |
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ALS colleagues celebrate the end of the quarter
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.jpg) On the 7th of April 2009 ALS colleagues were reviewing the quarter’s results. However, boring office reports are not for ALS, as the life and products of the company are always brimming with creative fantasy.
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| As it always was |
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On the 7th of April 2009 ALS colleagues were reviewing the quarter’s results. However, boring office reports are not for ALS, as the life and products of the company are always brimming with creative fantasy.
The Great Concert Hall of the “Conti” casino was hired; it is situated a couple of paces from the company office – on Kalinin Square. As we say, “Apples don’t fall far from the tree. Since the company produces high quality computer graphics for slot machines, it is absolutely logical to review the results in the depths of the gaming world.
In a carefully planned event, combining elements of a business report with an entertaining show, the best showmen and artistes from St Petersburg and surrounding areas were employed. However the main features of the programme were the management’s reports for the quarter and the first showing of promo-movies. Ilya Golitsin and his deputy, Alexandra Konosh delighted colleagues with their artistry, Ekaterina Gerasimchuk and Evgeniya Bortsovea by their businesslike approach, Ivan Azemsha and Vycheslav Demushkin by their calmness and expressiveness, and the performance of Atyom Snegovsky and Elena Serova, notable for its directness, gave rise to considerable animation in the hall. During the first quarter of 2009 the company completed 21 projects. In spite of the difficulties arising from the production department going over to a new system - working in groups where the leaders and their deputies were not experienced executives, but artists themselves - the quarter’s plan was fulfilled and the sceptics confounded! Moreover, all the projects excelled in their variety of styles, elegance of graphics, brightness of colours and sophistication of animations. Excellent work! All four groups honestly deserved their bonuses for the quarter. Without false modesty, the developers in the company declare that in three months they have really grown in their craft. This is also borne out by the fact that twelve artists were immediately elevated in their class and category – in other words, received an increase in salary. This, of course may seem strange to some people – in the majority of Russian companies, suffering from the global crisis, the situation is quite the reverse.
The achievements of the production department were demonstrably reflected in promo-films specially prepared for the occasion. The premier of the films aroused great excitement and was met with loud applause. And for dessert a semi-animated, semi-documentary film “Creative Ordeals” was served, put together by the artists of Golitsin’s group and revealing the great secrets of the production department. It’s truly a pity that commercial secrecy doesn’t allow these classy films to be made accessible to the Internet community.
Finally, the winner of the traditional “Person of the Quarter” nomination was announced. The hero of the quarter was the charismatic group leader, Ilya Golitsin. He welded together a team around him, showed leadership skills, generously sharing his knowledge and abilities with his fellows, resulting in the remarkable success of his group. Our hero didn’t receive a service ribbon, but did get an ovation from his colleagues, “silver rain” and a valuable prize: two tickets for a concert of one of his favourite rock groups “Epidemic” where he will be taken by limousine.
And so on the 7th of April, ALS colleagues celebrated a successful end to the first quarter. Insiders of the art department report that the celebration took place and the developers remain in raptures, and that such quarterly reports rally the team and stimulate interest in the work. In front of us is a quarter no less difficult, but the place where the results will be reviewed is already known. On this occasion the choice fell on “Okunyovaya”, conveniently situated on the banks of the Gulf of Finland and well known to ALS colleagues – the ideal summer option!
ALS colleagues share impressions of the previous evening:
Natalya Vedernikova (artist): The end of the quarter was impressive in its swing! The evening was filled with all sorts of events: music, dancing, the report by the group leaders, professional presentations. It was all a well-deserved end-of-quarter review. P.S. The performances of our group leaders were particularly impressive; it’s not every day you see them standing on the stage in the spotlight with a microphone in hand.)))
Anastasia Ravinskaya (manager’s assistant): I really enjoyed the corporate event marking the end of the first quarter. First of all, the place itself suggested a dress code and you saw many colleagues in a completely different light. Our young women, who everyday wear jeans and sweaters and no eye make up, looked like real ladies. Glancing at the young men in stylish outfits, you remember that it’s spring already. Secondly, we enjoyed the performances of the group leaders. Each one somehow discovered himself anew. Without doubt Ilya Golitsin and Alexandra Konosh shone. It’s not without reason they say that a talented person is talented in everything. It was right that Golitsin was awarded the Person of the Quarter prize. Artyom Snegovsky, on the other hand, always serious, calm and collected, was so shy on stage that you remember that he is also human. The promo-films gave me, a person who is distant from the development of projects and the work on them, another possibility to admire our artists. Well, light nibbles and dry wine pleasantly enhanced the impression of the celebration.
Nadyezhda Smirnova (artist): The evening presented loads of positive emotions!) I loved the ceremony, the live music, and the interesting master of ceremonies with his good sense of humour. It was very interesting to see your colleagues on stage and giving presentations, and they looked really great on the big screen. Thank you to the management for such a wonderful presentation that inspired us to the next achievements!!! We are looking forward to the next event in Okunyovo :).
Vyacheslav Demushkin (deputy group leader): In my opinion it’s not bad to see the results of your work in a new situation, and it just was a pity that the showing of the presentation films was not of the required quality. But that was not our fault. We also spent little time in the gaming hall, although that was probably for the best, and everything else went very well.
Pot-Pourri from the 3D-artists’ comments: It was a most wonderful event that touched our hearts and souls from the very start. And although, of course, we wanted to work during this day, the event brought no less pleasure. I liked the violinist and her performance of a Russian pot-pourri. The artistes “Svyatoy Kreposti” were convincing. Especially when the woman slapped Volodya on the shoulder with the cry “Tolik!” And, apart from that, another canary-yellow colleague appeared in our creative team.
Alexandra Konosh (deputy group leader): I really enjoyed the event, arranged to celebrate the hand over of the projects! It might sound too pretentious, but after 3 months of not enough sleep, food and recreation etc., etc. we really deserved this celebration. The celebration was arranged in grand style. I really enjoyed the group presentations! We had the feeling that we were engaged in something important and responsible!) Such celebrations make me dream about new achievements. I hope that such “unchildish” corporate events will eventually adorn our everyday office life!!!
Ilya Golitsin (group leader, “Person of the Quarter” nominee, and enthusiastic creative personality): Everything was wicked, and it can’t be described in one sentence. And it never will be described. I never experienced anything like it. My hands shook so that reading from sheet of paper was impossible, and when they declared me Person of the Quarter – it was a complete shock. It was great; it was unusual for me and useful for my colleagues; thank you to the organisers and management for this event. We’re looking forward to the end of the quarter and the meeting at “Okunyovaya” .
Anna Kobylinskaya (assistant to manager of the production department): The event surpassed all plaudits. It was quite formal and at the same time it wasn’t boring. The MC announced everything as though he had worked in ALS for a long time. The artists presented a detailed and understandable video account about the work they had done. But with all this, the atmosphere off stage was completely informal. I was pleasantly surprised by there being live music – a marvellous performance by the saxophonist and a sensuous violin. I couldn’t but be happy that the event took place without alcoholic drinks (more exactly with their being served sensibly), which allowed everyone to understand exactly what a quarterly report is in an informal format)) I have been to many parties, including exclusive events, and including elite fashion shows (and in all kinds of establishments of the city) and either people drink or, on the contrary, it’s all horribly boring. Here we saw a mixture of a good approach, not traditionally Russian in the organisation of the event, and at the same time we didn’t see cheap window dressing. We saw a dynamically developing company which presented the fruits of its work in the very medium of its work – graphics (and that is also a plus). And it seems a even the MC was fascinated to see how casino games are made and who makes them). We saw positively motivated people, and we saw 4 strong teams of artists, and also the words and actions of competent leaders. The evening was marvellous – not too formal and yet not dragging out late into the night. |
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Russian pot-pourri
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