Fanatical Days of Summer - Banana Splits - Rackspace Talent

WEEK 10: Lots of edible treats made the agenda this week. Remember the days playing little league soccer? Rackers did! Nostalgia brought on with sliced oranges! I made it a well-rounded adult treat by adding raspberries and a variety of chocolate.

We had an Open Book this week. To keep everyone alert, big slices of chocolate chip cookies were served.

Now for the main event: our Run Rate Party!

We celebrated in Blacksburg with some local Italian food, a keg & wine for all. Great accomplishment and great party!

WEEK 11: The Days of Summer is filled with snacks galore as of late. This week I found myself running out of steam a little bit – as far as ideas go anyway. Let’s remember that, after getting about halfway through the summer, my goal is to not duplicate anything! For inspiration, I revisited my school days.

Think packing your lunch in elementary school. Employees enjoyed Little Debbie Cakes, fruit cups and goldfish, fruit drinks and apples & caramel dip. Finally, the question came up – what would you do for a Klondike bar? Well, all Blacksburg Rackers had to do was show up for the summer treat for the day. Not a bad reward for coming together with co-workers to take a timeout mid-afternoon!

WEEK 12: There are a lot of Fanatical® employees roaming around Rackspace’s many offices. Shahbano here in Blacksburg is no exception. She put together an awesome scavenger hunt for her co-workers. This event involved her baking three pans of brownies! If that doesn’t say Fanatical, I don’t know what does! This came at a great time when my brain was having a tough time generating new ideas… Thanks Shahbano!

Everyone was lured into our break room by the aroma of pizza. But, not just regular old pizza – DESSERT PIZZA! I don’t think you even had to eat it to get a sugar high, the smell alone was energizing. We lightened things up a tiny bit with pound cake topped with berries and whip cream. Enjoyed some old fashioned Jones sodas and, of course, there’s always room for Jell-O!

Great week. What in the world will week 13 bring? I’m starting to wonder myself!

WEEK 13: So, this is the penultimate week of the Days of Summer. I’m seeing a light at the end of the tunnel…that I’m not sure I want to see. This has been so much fun – hard work, but fun!
Sharing in the fun with me on many occasions is Antoine. He works in our RTS department here in Blacksburg and also adds so much to our office culture. This week was no exception. Antoine gave our faithful standby – Sonic Drive-In – a call. He ordered 75 slushies and helped me go pick them up. This was an adventure that brought smiles to many faces.

We followed this up with a variety of baked goods – think bake sale type goodies – sabotaging anyone on a diet! I turned to another fast food establishment for help. McDonald’s was hit up for apple pies and fruit & yogurt parfaits. A little indulgent and a little healthy – which would you choose? This week also had the pleasure of honoring none other than National Banana Split Day! Of course we couldn’t pass this opportunity up. Employees had an awesome time constructing their ideal banana split. Great timing for this celebration!

What an exciting 4 weeks! The next time you hear from me will be to let you know what the final week of the Days of Summer had in store for the Blacksburg office. It’s bittersweet to talk about. Hope all of Rackspace® is having a great summer!

Ashleigh started her career at Rackspace in 2009. She is part of the HR team in Blacksburg, working specifically on office management, culture and events. Ashleigh likes to help and support people, playing up her number one strength – Developer. She has found her role of making sure Rackers have the environment they need to be the most productive to be both fun and rewarding.

In her spare time, Ashleigh enjoys spending time with her awesome family – husband, Matt and children Lucas (3) and Savannah (3 months). She also loves to visit new places and coaches a high school tennis team.