"I have attended a couple of Christmas events and other parties in companies. But I have to say that this one was very very special. From the beginning, I had the feeling that VUI.agency as a company and as a team is something different and special, and the VUI.nachten very strongly confirmed my feeling. It needs a lot of honesty and openness to vulnerability to experience what we experienced together.

I don't think this would be possible in many other companies. It shows that this is a team of many beautiful individuals who fit perfectly together. I'm very happy to be a part of a team that has this degree of self-awareness, honesty, and harmony."

/ Mudabir Ahmed Khan / Senior Voice User Interface Architect at VUI.agency

How was it possible to translate the feeling of connectivity and celebrate together in a remote event?

In the run-up to the event, the organizing team of "VUI.nachten 2021" sent out a lovingly assembled Christmas package to each team member. A handmade mug, a cocoa ritual kit, and beeswax tea lights. Now you may ask yourself – what's so special about that?

Well, first of all, the package was hand-packed and shipped with the kind support of the Lebenshilfewerkstatt in Munich. The cups were made by Clemens Köhler from Munich with whom three VUIs, including Patrick Esslinger, one of VUI.agency's co-founders, recently took a pottery course. The beeswax tea lights were made by the Kaspar Hauser Foundation – a non-profit organization that provides varied job opportunities for people who require assistance, among other things. The Christmas card was printed locally at our trusted copy store in Munich.

And, last but not least, Daniel, head of the initiative "Joyful Nature Munich", assembled the Cocoa Ritual Kit. Dedicated to fair cocoa trade, the beneficial power, and the best possible taste, Daniel imports the cocoa directly from a small farmer in Peru.   

Here we go, 3:30 p.m. – everyone meets via Google Meet. For many of us, thoughts are still circling over the last phone call or situations from the previous workday. More and more VUIs appear in the video call, and suddenly there is an unexpected guest. We have an actual reindeer in the meeting! It snorts and puffs, and everyone laughs with all their hearts. The "VUI.nachten" is off to a great start with 15 minutes of a reindeer reality show.  

Then the reindeer says goodbye, and all VUIs leave the screen for a few minutes, heading to the kitchen and preparing the cocoa according to the instructions. The milk is heated, the raw cocoa mass dissolved in it, the coconut blossom sugar and two distinct types of cinnamon are added for flavor. Afterward, a guided cocoa ceremony starts. We close our eyes, get into a meditative state, and listen to the story of cocoa. There is a conscious presence of all VUIs, enjoying a few moments of silence, creating awareness around the beauty of the cacao plant, focusing on the best moments of the year that just passed, the team spirit feeling, and what we achieved together.  

Then, we get the chance to listen to a spoken performance of the VUI – our agency's persona, the essence of the whole team. The inspirational and dreamy words connect us even more.    

After listening to this performance, Patrick and Christoph, VUI.agency's co-founders, give a memorable speech summarizing all the major goals we achieved in 2021. They also share the vision for next year and announce the continuation of the fundraising campaign they initiated last year. This year, the donation per team member amounts to 250 euros, and everyone gets the opportunity to support projects in education, healthcare, and nutrition for disadvantaged communities.  

For the next section of our remote Christmas event, all the participants are divided into five groups to compete against each other in a Jeopardy-style quiz. If you are curious, this is what the questions looked like: "Which VUI had to shave his beard at his wife's painful request?" or "Which VUI celebrates their birthday on October 29?" You can imagine there was a lot of laughter and, above all, good conversations. In any case, we had a lot of fun.  

At VUI.agency, not everything is about working. We would love to spend more time together. With the current situation, events like our "VUI.nachten" are essential to "really" get to know each other remotely. Especially at the end of the year, we want to look back and reflect on all the significant challenges we solved. All the connecting moments we spent together. We want to toast each other and feel the bond between us. This is about consciously taking time to celebrate what we have achieved. Together.