This NYC agency is hosting a college-style activity fair to help staffers battle post-summer Friday blues
Someone in the world is currently playing the world’s smallest violin for all the agency staffers who must return to five-day workweeks now that summer Fridays are officially over.
back-to-school
To try and soften the blow, NYC brand engagement firm Sullivan is hosting a college-style activity fair this Friday, where employees will have the chance to get involved in everything from a Fitbit Club to a sample sale enthusiasts club.
Since the agency and its content lab Imprint brought on ten new hires over the summer, Sullivan’s founder and managing partner Barbara Apple Sullivan said that the fair will also give newcomers a chance to mingle with colleagues.
“Summer is a time of transition because people move, go back to school and graduate from school, so we tend to see more movement in these months,” she said. “Since we’ve had a few people join the company this summer, it’s important to us that they get to know other Sullivan and Imprint team members that they may not necessarily work with on a day-to-day basis.”
During the summer, Sullivan’s employees are free to leave at 1 p.m. on Fridays to relax and enjoy the weekend. While some staffers end up putting in a whole day’s work anyway to tend to client needs, Apple Sullivan said the agency officially closes at one and purposely schedules fewer meetings on Friday afternoons to make it easy for workers to jet out a little early if they’ve finished up for the week.
“Two of our guiding principles for the company are ‘Two Feet In’ and ‘Get to Work’ meaning that we jump in two feet first for our clients and work passionately to get them results. Our clients are our number one priority, so this often means that whether we’re in the office or on the beach, we’re thinking about how to solve their challenges and achieve their goals,” she said.
Now that the 63-person office is back to its 9 to 5 hours, Apple Sullivan is hoping to bring some back to school energy to the workplace by hosting a fair that will bring together people who have similar hobbies and interests.
“We thought about what people are already passionate about and ways that we could support them and bring them together with like-minded colleagues,” she said. “We have people who have wanted to share support via their Fitbits, so the Fitbit Club seemed ideal. Our office is located in New York’s Meatpacking District with a lot of fashion and design nearby, so a Sample Sale group made sense. People already share book recommendations on their own, so Book Club came together, and being in New York, there are endless galleries openings, museum exhibitions and concerts, so Culture Kicks is a good way to explore those sites together.”
Sullivan, which works with brands including American Express, Brown and Merrill Lynch, holds Thursday night socials & has gathered employees for volunteer opportunities in the past, but this is the first time that it is implementing formalized clubs.
“We’ve grown tremendously over the last few years, so we’re excited to institutionalize something to commemorate the beginning of fall,” said Apple Sullivan.