When CEO hit the dance floor - Access Big Break---
It was a weekend to remember. The much-anticipated big break was announced, and this was my first time participating. In previous years, I had spent private holidays with family, and unfortunately, our vacations coincided with the big-break days.
I took the flight from London Stansted. It was an early flight, so I had to wake up around 3:00 am. Ines dropped me off at Stansted. While I had been to Spain before, this was my first visit to the Free State of Costa Brava in Catalonia. The flight landed at Barcelona airport, where the big break access staff greeted us. We were then bussed to the Evenia Olympic Suites resort in Lloret De Mar, a charming township close to the capital, Girona.
Despite feeling a bit tired from the journey, we didn't go to sleep immediately. Instead, we jumped into a session of free drinks and amazing Spanish food. I met Laura and Andrew from my team, and they welcomed me to their table. Oh, and Andy and Nicola Taylor were there too. They all hugged me, and it felt like I had known them for a long time, even though we usually connect through Microsoft Teams. It was the first time I saw Andy in person.
The food buffet was excellent, and the option for unlimited drinks was equally impressive. Later, I headed to the pool, where I ran into my old colleague Oli and had the pleasure of meeting Dane Gardner. I also had the chance to connect with sweet Lynda from Simon's team and a James and few others from Paul's team. Fran and Shaz from former DPS team were there too. Ah, I almost forgot to mention, Pauline from FP passed the pool area briskly like a breeze with her entourage. Everyone wanted to talk to her, man she is popular.
The atmosphere was lively, with people dancing to the music and joyfully jumping into the pool, all while savoring a variety of drinks.
With drinks flowing and music blaring, I was having a great time. I danced happily in the main lobby to DJ music. Oli invited me to join his new Access Cloud team and go out to party. Nathan, who was from Oosha or Access Cloud Services, joined in. It dawned on me why their responses sometimes took a while — they were true party animals. Our destination was Dreams Cafe, where some of us indulged in karaoke singing. It was there that I met Dina J and Jess Yau, and all of us were sipping on Mojitos. To my surprise, I encountered Phil Morton for the second time, the first being two and a half years ago when we first spoke at the DPS car park. Now, he seemed to appear out of nowhere in the Evenia Olympics lobbies many times. I hope he remembers our previous encounter.
On the way, I met Jessica, and Dina was having kebabs from Cafe Istanbul, which apparently served the best kebabs in town. However, I had already enjoyed a tasty dinner at the Evenia Buffet, which was more than enough. I helped Jessy and Dina find their way back to the hotel, although Jessy was a bit confused by Google Maps.
I couldn't sleep much that night, so I stayed at the hotel relaxing. In the morning, I briefly went to the city and bought some souvenirs for my daughters. I read my book and headed towards the lunch buffet. After tasting a variety of excellent Spanish food options, I ended up by the poolside. Laura, the social butterfly, was making rounds and talking to people. I met Lesley and some others from different departments, including ERP, HSC, Coins, and Logan from the Compliance team.
I met a new kid on the block, Kate, who worked for Caboodle, a recent acquisition by Access. They were planning to head to a bar in the evening. I also ran into a few other Oosha, aka Access Cloud Services, colleagues again. One of the tall gentlemen was smiling at me and seemed familiar. I asked him who he was, and it turns out he was the newly appointed Commercial Director from Legal Bricks, Mike Connolly. When he inquired about me, I hope he doesn't remember my reply. Later on, a gentleman from Proclaim was generously buying drink rounds for everyone. Upon asking, I discovered that he was Micky Thompson, the person who had given Nathan and me a short and sweet lecture on equality at Access. As George Orwell joked, 'Maybe some are more equal.' Okay, that's a joke; don't take me too seriously there.
Nathan and I went inside the bar to dance, and I saw a familiar gentleman on the dance floor. Once Mr. Jon Jorgensen, our Chief Sales Officer, hit this gentleman with a pie on a stage, and I saw it on the Access news. Our CEO, Chris the Brain, I mean Bayne, took a selfie with me, correcting his own picture. Thanks for that. He was happily chatting around, but I thought he would go and sing karaoke, but alas, he didn't. Otherwise, I could have presented a nice video.
On Sunday, I explored the town with Andy, Nicola, and the gang but went off to buy some more souvenirs. Lloret de Mar is an average city with lot of tourist oriented shops. Beach is nice and sandy but I could not jump into the water. I've always liked the Spanish sausages, and they have a lot of varieties. I got some for the family from a local supermarket. Min you, they are much cheaper than hear in UK.
While sleeping in my room, I heard such a big noise. Looking through the window, I saw a huge bubble party. Laura was walking away from it with foam all over, as were many others. Everyone was having fun.
In our last meal at the resort, I met some really nice people from Coins — Mona Lisa, Olga, Hosse, Kate, and Bruv, among others. That's the end of it. I had some nice food from the buffet, and in the morning, I took the return flight to London Stansted.
All good things come to an end. There were some minor mishaps, but I was determined to enjoy my time there. Always look on the bright side of life, they say.
Be positive; that's my motto.
Thank you, Access.
- don’t be too surprised. Vijay and Kuweni’s clans mixed with the rest of the local ethnic groups, thus creating the Sinhalese ethnic group or nation.
