MindComet RE:treat 2008 is here!

Over the past few weeks, we've been working hard to pull ahead, as well as find time to plan for our yearly MindComet retreat and participate in the pre-trip activities.

Our theme this year is simply RE:treat. What does that mean exactly? It actually means a lot of things:


And as we've come to expect, the location as well as details were shrouded in mystery. However, this year there was a bit of a twist...

In place of the usually "roomies", we were put into teams, and as teams we had to compete to find clues to uncover the location, itinerary, team competition info and even prizes including "steal an office for a day" and "vending machine exclusive - winner's choice".

Competitions were facilitated by a mysterious figure only known to us as "Roundo Elko". He or she tweeted at us, facebooked us, took over the announcement board and all around keps us on our toes for the past couple of weeks.


Yesterday, we came into the office to find "hobo satchels" suspended on sticks with bandannas hidden around the office in our team colors. Inside we found conductors' hats (signifying a long train ride that we are about to embark on) as well as our team shirts, goodies and yet more puzzling information that has yet to explain itself.

So here it is, the big day. We came into the office and had our normal weekly company meeting, which was pleasantly supplemented by scones - courtesy of Andrew Riley's wonderful wife! Among the RE:treat chatter, Marcelle let us know that she purchased two FLIP cameras to let us easily record the trip. Expect video coverage on Cakeplow and the Lowdown before the end of the month!

We're psyched! Roundo, Marcelle and her crew have planned an awesome trip for us as we travel up the east coast aboard the Silver Meteor to a resort in beautiful South Carolina. Unfortunately, I can't share further details, as they are still shrouded in mystery. Look forward to clueing everyone in upon our return!

Miss us!

One Month, Two Wheels

It's officially been a whole month since I've given up on cars.



Over the last 30 days, I've only piloted a four-wheeled automobile on one occasion - and that was to sell it... so that doesn't really count, right?

Even when facing mother nature's tears (commonly known as rain), I just somehow don't feel the draw to cage myself for the trip. However, we shall see how things fair soon when Florida's (mildly) bitter cold winter sets in.

I've clocked over 2,000 miles since registration in July and plan to continue piling them on until the little Ruckus has paid itself off through commute savings alone in Spring. Then, I just might move up to a big-boy bike.

Last week had me bravely (read: stupidly) testing out a short stretch of Interstate - my first and last time. The relatively-near future will likely hold a trip to South Florida - very possibly my first trek as an adult to the Florida Keys, where scooters are king!

My scooter-media blitz is still in the works. Fans have been pushing for a blog - can't let them down. I'm also considering mobile updates while on the road courtesy of Bluetooth and Utterz.

Until next time - peace, love and 49cc's!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Account Managers Institute Uniforms

A few weeks back, the female portion of Account Management showed up to work as mirror images. We are now thinking that this should be institued as female uniforms company wide. It's really pretty flattering, eh?

SUPAFRI and the Wheel of Destiny

This past Friday, the management team decided to switch things up on us and replace our traditional Recognition Friday with SUPAFRI...

Finding that we were growing out of our old traditions (and the fact that IZEA stole them all anyway), in addition to SUPAFRI, we replaced our Cakeplow as a means for celebrating MindComet anniversaries.

It's succesor, The Wheel of Destiny, turned out to be more dastardly than we could have imagined. Of the three spins, two came up PUDDING FLING and one with 20 Dolla' Bill Y'all. What can I say? The Wheel of Destiny giveth and it taketh away. Or does it just giveth some more? Depends on perspective, I suppose.

Watch below as MindCometeers David Martin, Andrew (PT) Clark and Josh Riggs were punished and rewarded by it's umm... spinny-ness?



David was in it to spin it and win it, but all he ended up with was a face full of pudding (not to mention pudding stains on the wrong side of his pants and a smell that just won't go away).

The Wheel of Destiny doesn't play... well, that's actually all it does. But you get my drift.




PT Takes a whirl at the Wheel of Destiny and earns a cool $20 - or $4.53 after taxes.



Josh fought the Wheel of Destiny and the Wheel won - or did it? David Martin takes his revenge for a stain that just won't come out, and Chris Rodgers shows his true feelings through the interpretive medium of chocolate pudding.

Intern High Fives

The sad part about interns is that we know we can't keep them forever (especially the undergrads who go to school out of state). It's kind of like buying a Hamster, knowing that they'll only live for a few years. Anyway, we make the best of the time we have.

Last Friday, we had to bid adieu to Shawn.


Most of the team went out to lunch in his honor. I'm not sure that everyone knew that was the purpose - some just looked hungry.

Anyhow, with our bellies full and back in the office, the time had come. Out of the blue, we decided to start a new tradition - Intern High Fives.

As opposed to walking Shawn to the door (watching carefully to make sure he didn't pocket any staplers or sticky notes), we walked him around the office to slap some skin with the entire company. Whether he knew them or not, high fives rang true throughout the office.

I forgot to check his pockets for sticky notes - and my pad is looking mighty slim - oh well - good luck back in Charlotte, Shawn! See you on Parking Wars!

MindComet Summer Olympics Event

In spirit of the Beijing Summer Olympics, we decided to host our very own summer Olympic events, Wii style for MindComet's August team building event. Team members partook in an assortment of events including fencing, the trampoline, long jump, triple jump, javelin and more. From the looks of it, there was definitely some Michael Phelps and Shawn Johnson's in the making.





All participants took home golds last night! Look out 2012 London Olympic's trainees, MindComet is ready to compete!

Lucha Loco

There is a menace lurking the cubicles at MindComet. He is called Cerebro Del Mal and he is pure evil.

Fact: There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Cerebro Del Mal has allowed to live.