It’s been a while since this space was updated. Not that we have had nothing to say, just too much to do! What better way to kick things off again than to tell you of our recently concluded Annual Off-Site.

Unlike the last two years, we headed to Goa (hell yeah!) this year for one whole week. However, this year was special for a different reason; Pinstorm has added offices in the EU and China apart from being present in Singapore, Malaysia and the US and it was the first time that all Pinstormers were meeting in one place. You can imagine the pandemonium that ensued!

125 Pinstomers from across the world started for Goa on the 25th of August ‘08, from the Mumbai head office. We caught the Garib Rath – ‘chariot for the poor’ in Hindi- train, which turned out to be quite a misnomer as we were seated in AC sleeper compartments which also had (working) electrical sockets to power our gadgetry.

Imagine a group that large, spread over three bogies, running all over the train, laughing boisterously and generally having a good time.

The pinvasion of Goa started with the occupation of Sun City Resort near Baga beach. Once there, the group was divided into 12 teams of around eight people each, with a captain and vice-captain. An events schedule of conferences and tasks of the week was handed over to all captains.

The Pinstomers spent the remainder of the week taking part in various conferences and outdoor activities. We were privileged to have Alok Nanda – founder, Alok Nanda and Company; NP Satyamurthy – Joint President of Lintas Media Group and Sanjay Khare -Executive Creative Director of Euro RSCG, India, hold special sessions with a team task assigned at the end. Teams were then scored on the basis of how well they executed the tasks.

In the outdoor activities the teams took part in learning how to read a compass and tie different knots. The best part however was the activity where the teams had to race all over Goa, each destination providing a clue to the next, like The Amazing Race. The only difference being that the Pinstomers were left in the lurch with a bottle of water, biscuits and Rs. 20 (US$0.45!) only per person. Personal money and mobile phones were banned too! Even after two days, the company is still buzzing with the different modes of transport the teams hitched rides on to complete the race. More on this later! (yes, we’ll devote an entire post to this one Its here.)

As the minutes ticked by, the Pinstormers on the station were seen lying on the railway track able to convince the station master to delay the train at the Goa station by 12 whole minutes! This allowed us to jump off the buses and into the train just in the nick of time!

All in all, the entire week turned out to be a lifetime experience for all of us, which brings us to the next question: How soon are we having the next off-site?

Images at gallery.pinstorm.com

It takes two to tango. And when there are over ninety enthusiastic souls, who believe in the adage ‘work hard, party harder’, the workplace can only get lit up with smiling faces.

It all started with Joanita’s mail to all of us. The theme for this Diwali was ‘Go Desi’. We were motivated to dress up in our traditional outfits for the occasion and decorate our desks as well to win the best desk prize! The day – Wednesday, 7^th November, 2007.

Can anyone ever beat the spirit of Pinstormers! The celebrations started a day in advance. One of the teams actually stayed back overnight to decorate their desk areas. Another team unaware that it was not the first one to start the decorations came in early on the D(iwali)-Day. And then the decoration-virus affected one and all. Soon the entire office was bright with lights, flowers, rangoli colours and the vibrant outfits.

While each one of us was dressed in traditional attire (alright, almost each one of us), little did we know that there are some surprizes in store for us. In the evening, there was a surprise get-together. Prizes were given away for best lit up areas, ravishing Pinstorm girls and hot Pinstorm guys!

Diwali’s over and 2007 is reaching its end. But you walk into our Mumbai office and all the Diwali decorations are still intact welcoming you to the festive spirit called Pinstorm!
Diwali pics at gallery.pinstorm.com

On 9th August 2007, 90 Pinstormers got onto 2 buses and headed for Kamshet for our annual offsite. The 2005 Pinstorm annual offsite was also held in Kamshet but the difference was that we were 3 times the number of people this time around.

We decided to have a theme around which our organizers could plan activities. ‘Innovation and Creativity’ became the focus of our offsite. Our organizers ‘The Elementz’ decided that the most fun method would be the ‘Out-bound Management Development Methodology’ which is why we picked the venue to be YMCA Camp Lakeside, in Village Nilshi in Kamshet.

The location was beautiful with a picturesque lake and hills around. We had dorm like style of accommodation which was fun because it put 8 – 10 of us in one room.

The highlight of the whole trip though was the activities (all outdoors except when it rained too much) and of course the unofficial parties at night ;)

And obviously which offsite is complete without a few skits of the bosses and colleagues.

Needless to say after so much fun and learning, we all were saddened to get on the bus back to Mumbai, but the memories of the offsite will be with us forever because the experience was such that no one would forget the trip.
Offsite pics at gallery.pinstorm.com

As part of an internal presentation, a group of us created this video on life at Pinstorm. Come join the fun!

[video]http://pinstorm.com/blog/wp-content/upload/jointhestorm.wmv[/video]

We finally moved into the spacious, 7000 sq feet office in Santacruz, Mumbai in March 2007. With a white & glass décor interspersed by colored chairs & lockers, this place looks truly amazing.