SpringSters - Blogging Bunch

All through September and October the pace was frenzied as we geared up for the beta release of Pproductl. With the release out of the way on November 2nd Springsters headed to the beaches of Goa for some fun, sun and relaxation. It was a well deserved break and Springsters made the most of it spicing each day with a different experience. After a lot of online search we had zeroed in on Alcove Resorts on the Little Vagator beach. With a breathtaking view of the sea and coconut trees, open air sit outs facing the sea, it not only lived up to our expectations but also set the right mood for the holiday we will cherish forever. Surf boarding, para-sailing, hiking, campfire, river cruise with fishing and dancing, driving through the winding streets of goan villages all night, getting ourselves tattooed and chilling out in the pool with a drink in hand, visiting some good night spots, we packed all this and more in the four days we spent at Goa. As Goa wove it’s magic on Springsters the outgoing ones turned gregarious and the quiet one’s came into element of their own. Awesome food and free flowing spirits helped :).

Our web UI guys metamorphosed into “official” photographers for the trip, here are a select few capturing Springsters in action or preening especially for the camera!

Friday evening, the roads of Pune were already filled with people starting their weekend plays.  At the MangoSpring office we were all ready to party ourselves….because:

• The results of the “Team Challenge” were coming and everyone wanted to know which team took the i-pods home
• The Server team has been chasing a deadline and had been putting in a lot of late nights.   We wanted to give them a well deserved break. .

So instead of heading to a pub and spending the evening squinting through the tobacco smoke, we decided to spend the evening on our MangoSpring terrace for some fun and laughter.   There were squeals of laughter with the Balloon stomp.   We made enough noise to get quiet a few stares from the “late at work ” lot from the offices overlooking our terrace.  Next we played “The Human Knot”.   We have all become very good at these games……next time we will have to have a MangoSpring Olympiad!

Next came the results of the MangoSpring Team Challenge.   Team GhostBusters rocked  and were the grand winners.  Much to everyone’s envy, they took home the i-pod rewards.   Not far behind was team Lemon Tree.   The best part was that there were also special prizes for the best movie, the best simple and elegant scenario , the best small business scenario and the best quick event scenario.   So in the end, everyone was a winner!  Kiran and Abhinav regaled everyone with mimicry and there was loads of food and ice-cream as usual.

Plans are already afoot for July, when we plan to go bowling at a new entertainment mall that has come up on the outskirts of Pune.

At MangoSpring Brown Bag sessions have become a de-rigeur at our office . In these sessions we meet over some grub and one of us talks about a topic they wish to talk on. At the outset there were no volunteers for the sessions. The first session was about “He Says” “She Says” - about how men and women communicate differently at the workplace. By some quirk of stars all our teams except one are has one member of the XY chromosome and one of the XX chromosome. So there were a lot comments and laughs. What it also did was sensitize us on how to communicate more effectively and with empathy. It also left some of us like me confused:)  so now every time I nod my head I catch myself thinking am I just listening or am I agreeing (the research says that men nod their heads to show they agree and women nod theirs to as a way to say go on…i am listening)

After that we haven’t missed a single Friday there have been all kinds of topics -graphology to mobile world to vedic mathematics to name a few. Whatever it is we make it a point to eat a lot and talk a lot ….

Activities like these at MangoSpring make us aware as a team of each others interests not to mention that we expand our horizons with each session. The Happiness Manager seems to be doing a neat job of keeping us Springsters a happy lot

Though there is never a dull day at MangoSpring, some days are more special than others. Since morning there was something special in the air. It was D-day for SPICE. After all the planning, today was the day when the workplace decorations would be judged. There was palpable excitement as everyone was waiting for the judges to complete their round.

It had all started about 15 days prior during one of our meetings group sessions. Gayatri came up with the thought of having a personalized workplace. Our office at Wakdewadi Pune is a cozy, cheery little place. We all thought that it just needed a dash of spice to make it special. Nothing less would do for SpringSters!!

The Product Team had their closed door meetings and had stayed at the office until 3 a.m. the night before the finale. It took a lot of work and their effort showed. Their idea launch pad was impressive! They also showed their team spirit by wearing light green shirts to portray the green in MangoSpring.

The Mobile Team came up with the idea of a “Wireless Village”. They all dressed in kurtas to add that ethnic touch for their wireless “village” theme!

The Server Team decided on depicting how and why they are called the core team. Each member’s workstation sported a “Ruby” on an engine. After all, they are working on “Ruby on Rails”! The members of the team also all showed up wearing “Ruby Red” shirts to complete the presentation!

The Web Team brought smiles to our judge’s faces with the witty and funny remarks on the posters in their workspace.

In the end, it was Isha, the team spokesperson that helped push the Server Team to the top. They had a theme of “Unity in Diversity”. Isha also won for best personal workplace. Isha said that she couldn’t figure out whether to put up something funny or logical for her workstation. She decided to portray her conflicting thoughts at her workspace with the left brain and the right brain activities. So instead of pens in her pen holder, she had printouts she had to catch up reading on!

A special thanks to all of the judges. The contest was very tight, and our winners won by a very narrow margin! After all the frenzied activity around SPICE, SpringSters are now grappling with the “Team Challenge”! More on that later….

The first step, the first word, the first award, the first salary….whatever it is, the first time has special importance. Needless to say, the first blog entry at MangoSpring is special to us. The blog is our way of communicating with you, and lets us tell you more about MangoSpring. Given that we are in stealth mode - when everything is told only on a need to know basis–this is easier said than done. (more…)