Hornbill Systems 10th Anniversary

[Left to right, top to bottom] Neil's pumping ended in a premature and short release; Glen's studious approach also failed to achieve great results; Lucky we had water-proof suits for the egg fight; Admiring the golf course; Pat fires his egg; Gerry thought he was on a winner until Champion Hornbill had their turn.

Hornbill has a appealing initiative called “545” which matches the anniversary date and newly introduced employee benefits and stuff (EG 5 additional annual leave days; 4 things like fresh fruit, cappuccino/coffee machine, extra health cover, pension stuff, etc.). Hornbill is a software house that started from nothing and has rapidly expanded while making the conscious effort to retain the friendly/close environment for its employees. I remember reading the assets section of a random company vision and seeing “our employees” listed as the most valuable asset. Brilliant! I dreamed of working for a company that actually follow through on this. Perhaps Hornbill is such a company … [would you like crackers to go with this cheese?]

What a fantastic weekend!

The 5th April 2005 was the 10th anniversary of Hornbill Systems Ltd. Employees were invited for a weekend in a Lane End hotel to celebrate. Most attended (about 40). It was an absolute classic! We played games all day then retired to the snooker tables, dining halls and bars for the night. There was laughter, bonding, sharing of tattoos, exposed G-strings, games, food, wine and painful heads the following morn.

I got a lift with the project manager who started this week, Jason. He has a good sense of humour, he is honest, loves a beer and is eager. This bloke will fit in nicely.

We checked-in late morning, met in the lounge for some chat and guessed the weekend's agenda. There was suspicion of exercises associated with corporate bonding. During a short series of presentations in the conference room, the plans were revealed and it was stressed that the focus was fun and celebration.

The people that run It’s A Knockout co-ordinated the day along with a few exceptional Hornbill people. We split into teams and enjoyed the afternoon sun with many ridiculous activities that were awarded points. Some of the games included designing a carbon propelled rocket, navigating a blindfolded team mate through a “mine” field, solving puzzles, creating a egg catapult, etc.. Talking about eggs, as the day went, eggs were awarded for special efforts. Some examples of our team’s egg awards were: my comic sabotage efforts on the mine field (what you can get a blindfolded man to do is hilarious); Laura for exposing her g-string while in a provocative position; American Simone’s quick-fire punch line to instructions to give the padlock a good yank – “I’m a good yank!”.

We had some free time in the evening when The Games were completed. Some spent it on the golf course, some in the gym and prepared for the big night coming with a power nap. I joined some of the lads in the snooker table to watch the guys play a very long game (1.5 hours). To be fair, it was a king size table and there was suspicion of cling-film covered pockets!

We seated ourselves in the dinning hall after a drink in the lounge. Imagine a wedding or 21st, this was your fairly standard formal dinner. A cake presented to Gerry (MD), a short speech (which we should be thankful for as that is apparently uncommon for Gerry!), was followed by pleasant culinary delights and some gambling … that’s right, gambling. Presenters with video tapes of races (pigs, donkies, u name it) took bets and called the event. Our team are terrible gamblers and this was evident with our pathetic results even with hedged betting! However, this did not really matter as …

… Our team, team Green aka team Champion Hornbill, took out the honours on the day! Can't remember the score as we were too busy yelling taunts at fellow tables. Champion Hornbill received our medals and, as is standard of champions (like Champion Crouch) for such a prestigious award, we drank champagne from the largish silver trophy [well, silver in colour at least ;-)]. Not that winning really meant much, it was a good laugh that we perhaps took a little too far chanting “loser, loser, loser” as the runner up teams’ tables were announced. Nah! Perhaps not far enough!

Some memorable events occurred through the remainder of the night. Or should I say unmemorable? Many a sore head arose on Sunday partnered with foggy recollections. So many messy drinkers; Pete exposed his tattoo which is position squared in the middle of his left cheek. Sadly, he exposed some tackle as well; There were some unusual wresting techniques as boys will be boys and drunken boys will wrestle; Mark Sharkey’s gay stride to put a bet on the predominately homo race was a highlight; Ridiculous balloon hat creations and monstrosities; The bar shut in the early hours of the morn and we wanted more (as you do). Chip created a concoction of dregs to fill two pints that Pat & I actually sculled!; Neil screeching as Pat took a firm grip on their relationship; Jason assuming the position and Chip simulating the great ride.

We had a terrific time and there are some beaut photos, videos, rumours and denials that have surfaced from the event. If you want to see more than the pics on this page, check out the full Hornbill 10th Anniversary photo album.

BALOON HEADS! Lou, Mark, Will, Simone, Gerry and Chip.

Laura and I; Does Chip have a big tongue, Will?; Chip turns his attention to Kenton (who looks a little shady); Gerry, the tiger.

Archana; Team Champion Hornbill; Chloe and Lou; I might have missed my mouth here; Chip, stop riding Jas!

Kenton, what do you think of Saika's .... umm ... files?; Lou and Simone; Pete bearing all to share his tattoo; Laura bearing almost as much, demonstrating how she won an egg; Patt and Chloe; Kenton bombed!

Mark's gay strut to bet on the homo race; Vik, stop making Laura do naughty things!; Michael was framed; Mike & I talk far too much drunk rubbish for one night; Saika and Simon; Simon and Michelle.

[Left to right, top to bottom] Jenga jokes; App Dev twins, Rene and Andre; Mike, Cimone and Chloe pretending Plevey isn't about to fall on them; Lou; Gerry & Gill; Gerry cutting the cake (check out the less than interested waitress!); blowing Pete, yo chip, Gerry, Laura and Graham; Mark and Pete are impressed; Dave, Rob, Michael and Dan.

 Home

You can email me at tjcrouch@hotmail.com