Key West Trip

If you have ever read anything about our company you know each year we go on a company trip. This year was no different and our wonderful (and warm) destination was Key West, Florida. Anyone living in the northeast this year can appreciate how much we were looking forward to heading to sunny Florida after all the snow we had.

For those of you that did not know this about us here is a little insight. Every year we get away for a week to discuss the prior year’s accomplishments and disasters, something we like to call The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. We look at the things we did really, really well and things that we need to approve upon. We also discuss the future, what direction we want to be going in, and what part each of us wants to play.

It is here that we dream and plan about what we want our company to look like, how we want to do business, and how we go about getting there. We have found that by getting away from the normal routine called “Life”, we are able to really concentrate and share our ideas during our meetings which normally happen in the morning. Some businesses require a board room to have meetings but for us, that is a little too conventional. We have had meetings around a fire pit, on the beach, and even in the woods, but this year we were lucky enough to have them around a pool.
There were endless things to do in Key West when we weren’t in meetings. Many hit the beaches to soak up the rays and get rid of the pasty white skin that came with this Pennsylvania’s winter. There was plenty of shopping to be found especially on Duvall Street, the main drag through Key West. Restaurants were everywhere and offered a wide variety of foods. You could have chosen from Cuban to Italian, from seafood to hamburgers. I must admit though that one became a favorite of the Meadowbrooke crew, Mr. Z’s. Mr. Z’s was about a half block from our house and had the best cheesesteaks. It was visited by several of us daily. It also helped that they were open until 4:00 a.m. so those that stayed up late were especially happy. If you ever get to Key West, we highly recommend seeing the sunsets at Mallory’s Square. They are breathtaking!

One of our favorite nights is when we do our company dinner. Everyone brings a dish to share and it is a night of fun, laughing, drinking, and general merriment. It is a time for all of us to bond with each other and to share stories and to get to know each other outside of the work environment. We were very fortunate this year because some of our crew went on a fishing trip and brought home several fish for us to grill up. I must tell you it was delicious!

The week went very quickly and unfortunately, we had to come back to the cold. Although we could not bring the warm weather with us, we did bring back with us lots of memories and a much better vision of where Meadowbrooke will be heading in the future.

P. S. Did I mention that we all stay in one big house together? This is the beautiful house we stayed in for the week, all 26 of us!!

Written by Dori Heller.