We gathered at Game Show Studio, a unique venue that transforms guests into contestants on spin-offs of popular TV game shows. From the moment the team walked in, the energy was electric. Bright lights, big hats, loud buzzers, and a stage set up just like the shows the team watches on TV made everyone feel like the game show contestant they always dreamed of being. 

The Houston team split into groups and competed in a series of challenges inspired by classic game shows. There were trivia rounds that tested the team’s knowledge, fast-paced buzzer games that kept everyone on their toes, and even some hilarious challenges that had the whole team cheering.  

Highlights of the Night

• Celebrating Davis: Davis jumped right in and showed off his competitive side, making the event even more memorable. It was great to see him and his wife connect with the team in such a fun setting. 

• Big Hats: The props closet at the Game Studio was top-notch. Everyone was able to pick accessories (including giant cowboy hats, disco ball helmets, and tricorn hats) that fit their personality!   

• Laughs and Surprises: Some of the questions and challenges led to unexpected answers and funny moments that we’ll be talking about for weeks. 

“It was quite fun working together as a team to come up with answers,” Davis shared. “The games were spin-offs of popular game shows like Wheel of Fortune, The Price is Right, and Family Feud. Before we could even start playing, everyone had to select a costume to wear for the duration of the competition. The costumes alone were well worth the laughs we got out of one another, especially when we were trying to come up with serious answers. I appreciated that we all leaned into the ridiculous nature of the event and absolutely made the most of it. At the end, DMC brought home the win!”

Why We Celebrate

At DMC, we believe that building strong relationships within our team leads to us delivering exceptional solutions to our customers. Events like this give the team the chance to relax, have fun, and strengthen the bonds that make our workplace collaborative and enjoyable. 

We’re thrilled to have Davis on board and can’t wait to see the impact he’ll make as part of the Houston team.  

Learn more about DMC’s company culture and check out our open positions.  

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Boston

The Boston office went axe throwing! 

Chicago

Chicago DMCers had happy hour at the office with the help of Drinkbot, the robot bartender!

The Chicago office also had pizza happy hour! 

Dallas

The Dallas office had fun at Puttshack! 

Denver

The Denver office hosted the annual DMSki extravaganza! 

Denver also had their holiday party! 

Houston

A few Houston DMCers went to practice their swing at Top Golf! 

They also went to Escape It Houston and did an escape room!

The Houston office also attempted to Skeet Shoot! 

San Diego 

The San Diego office went bowling and had a nice dinner afterwards with our founder Frank!

St. Louis

The St. Louis office went to Sandbox VR and played VR video games!

 Learn more about DMC's culture and explore our open positions! 

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"I was sitting at my desk building a Lego set during some downtime, and Aaron Shoemaker, who sits next to me, asked if he could start building them,” Aleks said. “I was like 'sure.' Then, Hannah Gjovik walked by and peeked into the quad. She asked 'what are you guys doing?' She started building with us, and then we had like five people building Legos at my desk. We thought 'maybe we should do this for an activity fund.'"

The most popular Lego sets to build were various plants. DMCers built bonsai trees, orchids, and other types of flowers.

Charlie Gordon built a Pac-Man machine.

Andy Kopplin got a box of various random bricks to try and build the tallest tower he could.

"My favorite part was when we had all the boxes stacked up on the table a couple hours before it started," Aleks said. "Everyone was peeking into the room to look at them and take pictures of all the boxes stacked up because it was a massive mound of just Lego boxes."

Around 60 DMCers and plus ones showed up, being one of the larger Activity Fund events. Bridget Miles, DMC's Human Resources Manager, attended the event and loved how easy it was to talk to everyone.

"My favorite part was talking to people that I don't usually talk to. I think Activity Fund events in general are such a good way for people to get to know each other, Bridget said. “I hope we can continue to find ways to do that.”

DMC Houston

DMC Houston also hosted a Lego building Activity Fund event where every employee in-town attended. Luke Howe-Kerr attended because he loved Legos growing up and has been getting back into them since Legos can be found around the office now.

This family-friendly event allowed Ray King to bring his four-year-old son to the office to join in on the Lego building fun.

“It was both a chance to build with Legos again and a chance to get like a set that could be displayed – which was fun. It was honestly a blast,” Luke said. “It was fun to do a more casual event where everybody could pick their own little fun thing that fit best for them. We're all a bunch of engineers and most of us love Legos."

DMC Dallas

The Dallas office also hosted a Lego building night and paired it with Buffalo Wild Wings.

Learn more about DMC’s company culture and check out our open positions!

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Explore our open positions!

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The Houston office went on a bike/food tour for Caroline Courbois’ welcome party!

Denver folk jump for joy after completing the Donut Dash (not seen: the donuts)!

The Dallas office put their noggins together and conquered the Escapology Escape Room!

The Cincinnati team introduced Tim Johnson to Skyline Chili!

The Chicago office fulfilled their need for speed at K1 Speedway! (Let’s Go!)

The BOLE project team visited the Kennedy Space Center!

They even became the SLS Rocket!

NY gang visited Brooklyn for some grub from Hometown Bar B Que!

Denver enjoyed the sunshine with a day at the park! (Hi Nola!)

Learn more about DMC’s corporate culture and explore our open positions! 

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First Impressions

It was the first time at the conference for most of DMC’s four attendees and DMC’s first time attending as a company. Everyone was excited for the opportunity to connect with more women in engineering and expand the DMC talent pool.

Cecilia Tetlow, Project Engineer at DMC’s Houston office, was a first time conference attendee. 

“I thought, this is going to be a great opportunity for DMC to reach out and increase our diversity,” Tetlow said. “It was exciting to show up and see that many female engineers and engineers in general supporting each other at the conference.”

Jason Mayes, Senior Director of DMC’s South Region, is no stranger to gender disparity in the tech industry. 

“I sit on the Industry Advisory Board at Notre Dame and diversity is a constant challenge we discuss each year. Engineering has been a male dominated industry for a long time so it was exciting to see so many talented engineers at WE22 and know that the gap is narrowing.”

The annual conference boasts companies, engineers, and universities from all over the country.

“Once you actually go in to the conference area and you see all the different booths and […] big names that are showing up like Apple and Siemens and Tesla, […] its really exciting,” Tetlow said.

Mayes was also glad to see the variety of exhibitors at the conference.

“So many great tech companies from across the country are all here for one reason: to find the best engineers and their future leaders.”

Making Connections

DMC got the opportunity to connect with many students, engineers and organizations during the conference.

Caroline Courbois, systems engineer at DMC’s Houston office, attended SWE for the first time outside of college.

“It was cool to meet so many other women engineers,” Courbois said. “A lot of them were college students, so we were talking about their studies, their experiences in their programs, and their accomplishments. A lot of people, who were not necessarily looking for jobs, […] would come by and ask about our Tilt Table and then talk about their own work and careers as a woman in engineering.”

Natalie Pippolo, systems engineer at DMC Houston, also enjoyed the welcoming atmosphere.

“Even when I was still setting up the table, people would come up and chat with me. It was cool to see all of these booths from big companies just full of women,” Pippolo said. “You get to see all of the women who work at all of these big, male-dominated companies.”

In addition to making new connections, Tetlow and Courbois got to reconnect with some friends from their undergraduate programs, which was really fun, according to Courbois.

WE22 was also a great opportunity to connect with some of DMC’s partners and clients. 

“It was really cool to see a lot of companies that are also our clients doing recruiting there and interacting with a few,” Courbois said.

Pippolo also had the opportunity to connect with some familiar organizations.

“We were right next to the Siemens booth, so I got to talk to some people who knew about DMC at Siemens,” Pippolo said.

DMC’s Tilt Table Demo

DMC was excited to share the Tilt Table Demo with WE22 attendees.

“We were getting a lot of attention for it from people who were interested in DMC and those who had never heard of DMC,” Tetlow said. “That was definitely a lot of fun, just explaining how the ball demo works and how it relates to what we do at DMC.”

“It was fun to get to share that with some other companies,” Mayes agreed.

Conference Takeaways

DMC is grateful to have had the opportunity to connect with the many talented women in the engineering and technology community. 

“It was a great opportunity to get exposed to a lot of great candidates that we don’t typically get to make impressions on […],” Mayes said. “It was great to be a part of it, [and] it was fantastic to meet a lot of really talented engineers. Hopefully, we can widen our candidate pool and find an even better cross-section of engineers.”

Tetlow also noted the significance of attending WE22.  

“Hopefully, people who read this blog will see that DMC cares about diversity and supporting women and gender minorities in engineering,” Tetlow said. “I think it’s good that DMC is being involved in this space, with the added benefit that it will help us to recruit more smart people.”

Upcoming SWE Chapter Events

DMC is a proud sponsor of the SWE chapters at University of Notre Dame and Rice University. We look forward to connecting with SWE members at future events!

Learn more about DMC’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

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Spooky season is upon us! Beware! Witches, ghosts, and ghouls roam through the night. But that won’t keep DMCers from going out and having fun! From more YOEs to spooky tricks, here’s what the offices have been up to this month!

San Diego YOE!

New office on the block DMC San Diego held their first ever YOE this month: Surf’s Up YOE! Here’s a look at all the fun you may have missed out on:

DMCers explored the La Jolla Tide Pools ocean side in search of washed up sea creatures!

Yee haw! The crew learned how to line dance! Next up: dance battle You Got Served style!

Nicoli Liedtke finding some inner peace at Iron Mountain

Wine tasting, food, and good company. Sounds like a good time to me!

Surf’s up DMC!

WIPE OUT!

The San D office is open for business!

Branded for life! The YOE even included temporary tattoos – which DMCers creatively placed.

Some DMCers had a scenic hike at Iron Mountain while on the YOE.

More Fall Fun!

Apple Picking

Boston skipped the produce aisle and picked their own apples

Check out those juggling skills!

Jack’s Pop Up

The Chicago office looked for The Great Pumpkin at Jack’s Pop Up to welcome Andy Femminineo and Derrick Huynh to DMC.

AWC BestFest

Strike a pose! Houston channeled their inner Zoolander at BestFest!

Spooky Decor

The Seattle office was invaded by aliens! RIP the cow.

The Boston office also got into the Halloween spirit by carving pumpkins.

Learn more about our corporate culture and explore our open positions!

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Fall is finally here! The weather is cooler, and pumpkin spice is wafting in the air — but the fall chill doesn’t stop the fun at DMC! From the YOEzarks to office happy hours, here’s what we’ve been up to in October!

2022 Lake of YOEzarks!

The great DMC YOE finally made its return! This year, DMCers from across the regional offices gathered in St. Louis for a week of fun, bonding, and good times. Here’s just a taste of what went down!

Blowing off some steam at the arcade!

Everyone getting ready for a great feast with drinks at a local winery.

Good food, good company, a warm fire, and a scenic view. What else do you need?

Time for a spelunking adventure!

Taking a minute to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Did someone say boat party?!

Just one of the many YOEzarks bonding activities — playing card and board games!

Soaking up the last bits of summer on the lake!

Here’s a recap of the weekend:

Clay Shooting & Ice Cream Party

After clay shooting, the DMC Denver office went out for ice cream!

Dance Dance Revolution Happy Hour

DMC Boston had a DDR happy hour!

Cincinnati Welcome Party

The Cincinnati office welcomed Zach Sieber and picked up some sweet new art for the office!

Axe Throwing

The Dallas office prepared for battle with axe throwing!

Surprise Baby Shower

The Houston office held a surprise baby shower for Elizabeth Hill Reed!

Dinner (and Dessert) in D.C.

The D.C. office went out for dinner at Union Market…

and learned how to make moon cakes!

Pirate Ship Welcome Party

Shiver me timbers! The Chicago office journeyed the great lake on a pirate ship!

Pumpkin Palooza Activity Fund

The Chicago office also got together for an evening of food, drinks, and pumpkin carving! Read about it here. 

Read more about DMC’s corporate culture and explore our open positions!

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There were 15 campers in total: seven from Dallas and eight from Houston. The Houston caravan departed for Chisos Basin Campground mid-day on Thursday, splitting the drive over two days. The Dallas crew opted for a straight shot to the park on Friday morning. 

The drive west through Texas wasn’t glamorous. No podcast was entertaining enough to save us from the flat fields of cattle and pumpjacks; however, things started to pick up once we reached Marathon, TX, about an hour north of the park. As we drove south towards the park, the flat land became hills and the hills became mountains with jagged points and steep cliffs. 

Our campground was deep in the heart of the landscape, so, once we reached the park, we needed to drive another 40 minutes south. Scaling peaks resembling castle walls towered in the distance. They seemed to grow larger as we drew closer. At last we drove through a crack directly into the cliffs. We slowly wound our way down the cliff edges to the flatter basin between the peaks and found ourselves at the campground. 

Friday night after our camp was set up, we ate dinner, the javelinas stopped squawking, and we kicked back in folding chairs to point out constellations and stargaze. Over the next two days, we broke into smaller groups and asynchronously explored all the best trails, peaks, and activities Big Bend had to offer!

Lost Mine Trail

During the most popular short-day hike at Big Bend, we weaved in and out of the juniper, oak, and pine forest for five miles. We even spotted a pair of deer snacking on a tree just a few feet off the trail. Lost Mine Trail offered vast views of Juniper Canyon. 

We clutched our hats to keep them from blowing away in the wind as we took in the views at the top. The smooth rock ridge offered views of Pine Canyon and Sierra del Carmen in Mexico. 

The Window Trail

The next most popular trail in Big Bend is The Window, which (thankfully) began at the group campground. This trail descends two miles through rolling hills and vertical rock walls to a narrow pour-off, which overlooks the surrounding Chihuahuan Desert. 

This area can be very dangerous during flash floods as large runoffs flow down through the window. Even when it’s not wet, the rocks are extremely slippery due to the runoff. One large group made the trek down on Saturday morning and another went at dusk.

Santa Elena Canyon

We drove through Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive and arrived at a gaping cutout of a towering plateau. After crossing Terlingua Creek, the trail climbed several short switchbacks and then gradually descended along the banks of the Rio Grande. 

On this trail, we were surrounded by lush riparian vegetation and 1,500-foot towering vertical cliffs of solid limestone. The trail ends where canyon walls meet the river, but we waded up the river through water levels that ranges from ankle to waist deep.

After a mile of trudging through the muddy river bottom and strong headwinds, we found a large cave, decided we didn’t want to find out what was living in it, and turned back around. 
     

Emory Peak

This was an over 10-mile roundtrip, and only a handful of us made it up the challenging and technical hike to the highest point in Big Bend (7,832'). Starting before the sunrise and guided only by the light of our headlamps, we didn’t arrive at the peak until the sun was high in the sky. The last 25 feet require a scramble up a sheer rock wall, but the reward is the ultimate panoramic view of the entire landscape.

South Rim

Two groups were brave enough to make it up and out to South Rim. The bravest of them all, four in total, backpacked up to a remote campground for one night to be at the rim for the sun rise. As you can see from Nick practicing his Dragon Ball Z power stances, we made it.

We walked the rim for a couple miles, just feet away from the 2500 foot drop off, taking in the views of the valley below.
 

Hot Springs

This trail offered an opportunity to step back in time and experience Big Bend before it became a national park. A short distance from the trailhead are the historic remains of J.O. Langford's Hot Springs resort: including a picturesque building that was the store and post office as well as a motor court that accommodated overnight guests. 

The actual hot spring was a quarter mile further down the trail, contained within the stone walls of what was Langford’s bath house. Between the motor court and the spring, one can view ancient pictographs that people who live here thousands of years ago drew. The springs were a great place to rest our muscles after all the other grueling hikes.

Learn more about DMC's company culture.
 

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COVID restrictions in 2020 and early 2021 meant that many new DMC employees weren’t able to have a welcome party immediately. Fortunately, a decrease in restrictions in mid-2021 initiated a series of fun activities at DMC’s Houston office, as team members who joined during the height of the pandemic took their turns to celebrate joining DMC and have fun with coworkers out of the office.

Casimir Smith‘s welcome party was a part of this recent series. He decided to recreate his favorite Houston Activity Fund event, the Tour De Houston. This event consisted of a day-long bike ride around the city, with several fun stops along the way. This time around, the Houston team used DMC’s monthly event budget, the Activity Fund, making Tour De Houston 2 an Activity Fund,Welcome Party hybrid.

Tour de Houston 2

The Houston team met on a Sunday morning to begin their 12-mile ride around the city. 11 DMCers attended, making this Houston’s biggest Activity Fund event to date.

According to Casimir, there aren’t many bike-friendly places in Houston. However, the team was up for the challenge and managed to develop a route with plenty of food, drinks, and fun along the way.

Their first stop was Market Square Park for coffee and snacks. Next, the party stopped at Saint Arnolds Brewery for lunch and drinks before hitting the road again. Each stop lasted about an hour, with the exception of the final stop in Highland Park. To reach the bar, the group rode against 30 mph winds! Their perseverance was rewarded with a long rest, more refreshment, and celebration.

Getting Started at DMC

Now that he’s a developed member of DMC, Casimir reflects on his start at DMC.

“I had the quintessential COVID-19 office start mid-2020: Filled with uncertainty and starting at a new office at a time when everyone was already knee deep into working from home.”

“At that point, most activity funds went toward Zoom events, and getting to know people was a slower experience. When the office opened back up, I got to meet a lot of people for the first time. That was a big transition.

“In a lot of ways, it’s easier to appreciate the party and DMC’s culture all the more. It makes me appreciate being able to be with people in the office a little more than I otherwise would.”

“Workwise, big props to Elizabeth on answering all of my questions and helping me to develop and  to reach a place where I’m a lot more independent as an employee.”

We will be on the lookout for Tour de Houston part 3!

Learn more about the Houston office and  DMC’s company culture.

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