Thanksgiving: what does it make you think of?
Pumpkin pie?
Turkey?
Or an electronic group hug initiated by a certain Knewton employee?
Yep, that’s the one — for us Knerds at least. Over here in our Union Square headquarters, we’ve been experiencing an extended Thanksgiving, with offerings better than your grandma’s gravy.
Confused?
Here’s the deal: this Friday, while a sizable chunk of our tech team was heads-down on an important project (we’re talking all-nighter, all-weekend kind of work), the whole company got an email from a certain David Y (there are a lot of Davids around these parts — we need last initials). It was titled simply, “Thanksgiving.”
We all opened it, of course. We like pie and turkey as much as the next guy.
But instead of food, we found a one-of-a-kind missive, by turns heartwarming and clever, extolling the hard work and sacrifices of a few colleagues. That first email has set off a flurry of responses — other people who wanted to recognize their coworkers for their work ethic, accomplishments, or good attitude.
Sure, the email thread has its fair share of jokes and (gentle) jabs. You can’t turn off wit. On the whole, though, it’s pretty warm and fuzzy, especially by the standards of this cynical city.
The moral of the story? If you and your fellow team members are deep in the trenches and could use a smile, take a minute to say thanks.
Or make them pumpkin pie.
Meghan is on the marketing team at Knewton. She received her BA in English from Stanford University and her MFA in Creative Writing from Hunter College.
