Nordic Christmas Party

Got a text from Thane the new GM of Nordic boats Saturday afternoon inviting me to partake in their first annual Christmas party. The text was short and to the point and didn't give a lot of detail or description as to what the game plan was, all that I knew was 5:00 and something about a BBQ. A quick offer to bring something to the Que, and should I bring the wife and kids was sent back. An even shorter and borderline cryptic response "Adults only, bring your drinking shoes."

Now for those of you that don't know Thane, he's a rare breed and in my humble opinion probably the coolest general manager of a boat company out there right now. He's been on the "other side of the desk" in the boat building business for his entire career. He is a master tooler that has tooled dozen's of west coast favorites. The cool thing about Thane, well Thane would stop you right there and tell you the list is too long for this short article, is that he's down to earth. He knows boats inside and out, has the personality to deal with customers, the knowledge to deal with vendors, thick enough skin to deal with the employees, and boots high enough to wade through the snow, that is the marine industry, to get to the cabin. We'll discover what ultimately will be Thane's best talent as we dive into what's important, Nordic's 1st Annual Christmas party.

I arrived around 5:30 (fashionably late) and found Thane and John manning a semi circle of BBQ's. I didn't get a final count on them, but I think there was 5 or 6 going with a very large "warmer" grill at the end. Thane was working feverishly preparing steaks and putting them on the various grills, flipping, testing, etc.. I'm pretty sure this was as hard as he's ever worked in his whole life.

I made my way inside to see a first class spread of finger foods in the middle, a live band to the right, and a full bar complete with bartender in the back. Now I'm somewhat of an expert on Christmas parties, in a past life I used to make it my mission to go to as many as possible during the holidays, this one for being at the facility was done very well. The finger foods were delectable, the bartender was great looking and attentive, and the band actually sounded pretty good! I grabbed a drink and took a look around and noticed something almost immediately, everyone was smiling and mingling. Most companies when you put the employees and management outside of a work environment they don't have much to talk about. It's almost invariably awkward for everyone and Christmas parties can range from "We came because we are supposed too" for the employees to "We're all family." It became self evident as the night drew on that the team at Nordic from the GM down to the janitor we're all in good standing and as much friends as they are coworkers. I spoke with Thane and Jon about this later that evening and he responded that moral was very high in the company, and happy workers put out good work. This conversation led us into the dinner, and I noticed that each table had a bottle of wine to go along with a superbly cooked Steak, twice baked potatoes, creamed corn, string beans, and a variety of other things that I'm sure I'm forgetting. The whole setup was first class, and done with a sense of style.

After dinner the bartender was on point, and the band was jumping. One of the guys from the lamination shop even did a karaoke bit that was pretty impressive. Around 9:00 the holiday bonuses were to be given out, and the management decided that instead of handing out individual bonuses of varying amounts to all the workers, they would have some fun with it. Let the lottery begin! Envelopes with ranging gifts and amounts were shuffled and names were drawn at random. Everyone had a chance to win a concealed prize, and the best part, nobody knows who won what. The party raged on until about 10:00 when the crowd started to thin. An important note was that Nordic hired a limousine service to get everyone home safely, which I thought was a nice touch and ultimately ended up taking advantage of myself.

Overall for this being the first Christmas party I thought it was an overwhelming success, and my only gripe would be that the customers of Nordic didn't get a chance to experience it. This leads me into Thane's a fore mentioned "best talent." He is by nature a great host and kept the vibe fun for everyone all night. My suggestion to Nordic is to bring back a regatta in 2013. You don't need to spend big $$$ to put one on, and have a poker run and contests with bought or donated prizes. A nice day on the water with the customers, followed up with a catered dinner back at the facility later that evening with the same vibe this party had I think would be just about perfect.

Thane and wife Jen

Having Wine with Paul and Char at the dinner table


Fernando's name drawn in the Lottery


Kristin's name drawn in the lottery