Darin's Unfettered Ramblings on Shenanigans for Good, St. Titan's Day, and More

2021 St. Patrick’s Day…

...is definitely a big rainbow away from 2020 St. Patrick’s Day. We're not quite at the pot o' gold yet, but if you squint just a little, you can see some shimmers of it getting closer every day.

This won’t be my 2020 musings. Much to everyone’s chagrin, I have plenty of content out there regarding the loads o’ fun that was 2020... how we can “Stand Tall and Start Moving” (ourselves, our families, our co-workers, etc.) about how our workplaces (at least the good ones) can be sources of spirit and shenanigans. I’ve talked about how “return to work” is a ridiculous phrase because everybody’s already been working this last year (except the unfortunate souls who lost their jobs - shamrocks out to you). So if you’re looking for my reflective musings, you already have the luck o' the Irish because you'll be spared them here.

But since it's St. Patrick’s Day, I’m basically obligated to share at least a wee bit o' chatter that resembles what we’d share over pints at our favorite pubs. So buckle up buttercups, and let’s tip our first pint...

Let’s tip our first pint…

I’m frequently asked whether we’re having our annual “Shenanigans for Good” event (thankfully, a much-improved name from the previous “Client/Partner Appreciation Event” - how goddamn boring that name was, it’s embarrassing). Well, unfortunately...no, we’re not. While restrictions are rapidly easing, the event typically attracts 400 to 500 shenanigators, and restrictions are keeping us far from that. We’re not the type to plan a reduced capacity Shenanigans for Good...that’s not us, that’s not happening. We’re thiiiiis close to being able to throw an Irish Titan level party again, so we’re going to practice a little patience (which is basically my kryptonite). But dont’ get your kilts in a bunch. We’ll be back soon with details regarding a delayed 2021 Shenanigans for Good. Hell, it would be poetic justice for Irish Titan to be one of the first 2021 business events since last year’s Shenanigans for Good was one of the last business events in the Twin Cities.

Which reminds me to order another round before our next pint...

We stand by our decision to hold our party last year. It was scheduled for 03/12, right when kilts started flying askew and green top hats started spinning. It was the right decision, for the reasons you can see in my post from that day (which somehow feels both decades and moments ago). Our turnout was about half of the usual turnout, but 2020 Shenanigans for Good raised over $1,000 (part of our $6,000 we raised for charity in 2020), it provided the last paycheck for many of the Local West End staff, the attendees still comment about how they appreciated that one last chance to see the whites of people’s eyes, and most importantly, nobody got sick. A week later, we would have canceled the event (because it was the right thing to do, regardless of restrictions), but we feel we made the right call, both then and now. This isn’t Russia, Danny, so you’re free to disagree, just like you were free to attend or not.

One more round of pints, please…

Finally, many of you know that Irish Titan throws an internal, Titan-only party on St. Patrick’s Day. We call it St. Titan’s Day. I’ve also received quite a few questions about the fate of this year’s throwdown. In some ways, this was an even easier answer than Shenanigans for Good...it’s also a “no”, because I won’t allow our Titans to become fractured.

We’ve come this far with ALL of our Titans feeling protected, respected, and supported (with a VERY intentional approach to achieving this), regardless of whether they’ve been coming into the office or if they’ve been working from home. And we’ve actually STRENGTHENED thru this. Our Titans range from cautious to confident in regards to how they’ve individually responded to COVID, but there’s been absolutely no fracturing amongst them - no judging, no culture wars. I couldn’t be more proud because there’s been far too much culture warring this last year (this last year to others years is as Vikings is to Hallmark). So there’s no way in hell we’re jeopardizing that unity when we are thiiiiis close to that shimmering pot o’ gold. 

Additionally, if we tried to throw our St. Titan’s Day party right now, it would need to be both socially distanced (for those Titans who would attend in person) and remote (for those not yet coming to the office) (side note: we’re flexible in our Titan’s work location until we move to “Return to Hybrid” in the next month or so - read more here). A socially distanced and virtual St. Titan’s Day does NOT sound like my kind of shenanigans. Not when we can wait just a wee bit longer, for some more vaccination and COVID progress, which then enables us to throw what will be the most epic St. Titan’s Day ever. Color me crazy, but this is an easy decision.

Bartender, one last round of pints, please, and put it on the Underhills bill.

As far as reflections upon the last year, you’re all about to have a chance to get to know some of our Titans, as we’re sharing THEIR thoughts from the last year. What they’ve learned about themselves, about others, their new hobbies, etc. We proudly have quite the cast of characters at Irish Titan (we like personality), so they deserve to live in the daylight. 

Sláinte. Enjoy 2021 St. Patrick’s Day. Erin go bragh.