At home, holiday cards are a staple of my family’s Christmas decor. In between our living and dining rooms, we have sliding french doors, but in December the doors are off-limits for use. Instead, we hang twine down either door frame and each delivered card is hung with care using a tiny wooden pin. By mid-December the entire door frame is covered by family photos, red and gold greetings, and handwritten notes.
My own family’s Christmas card isn’t too exciting of an endeavour. Usually, Mom emails me a photo she deems “cute” enough and I add it to a standard template and have it mailed back home to her, as I seem to be the only one in the family who can work TargetPhoto.com.
This pales in comparison to the holiday card undertaking at gap intelligence.
Coming Soon to a Mailbox Near You
Around here, holiday cards are serious business, with preparation beginning in August. gappers are provided the opportunity to share their nominations for the yearly theme. This year we had a wide range of suggestions– from movies (I’m so glad we didn’t go with The Big Lebowski) to tours of San Diego (yes, I did want to spend a day at the San Diego Zoo, I can’t believe that didn’t win) to the absurd (“Ketchup” actually received 5 nominations this year and I am still confused).
Then, we vote.
Walking in a Winter Wonderland Down Memory Lane
So you can fully understand the depth to which gappers commit to their craft, let’s take a look at the last six years’ cards:
2012: Very gappy Olympics
Because as the Fighting Hedgehog’s kickball record shows, we are quite the athletic bunch.
2013: Stay gappy, San Diego
A tribute to one of Will Ferrell’s best and perfectly fitting as it takes place in our own backyard.
2014: gappy Space
But we promise working at gap intelligence sure beats working at Initech.
2015: The Mighty gappers
As if the gap Gulls season tickets behind the goal weren’t enough, we wanted to be on the ice too.
2016: Let’s Get gapical
An 80’s workout theme that my costume box and I are truly sad we missed.
This Year’s Theme Is…Best at gap!
Modeled after the 2000 movie, Best in Show.
Following an in-office movie viewing, gappers came ready on Photoshoot Day with hair spray, puppy-sized costumes, and most importantly, dog treats.
Like the rising stars we are, we needed an entire afternoon to perfect this year’s card. There were no shortcuts taken; I’ve never seen so much polyester in one room. When we took the photoshoot outside, people stopped and stared: I’m sure very confused as to what 30 people in costumes, with their dogs, appropriately lined up in front of a ladder holding a duo of photographers, could’ve possibly been doing.
Naturally, the highlight of the day was THE DOGS. There were dogs EVERYWHERE! It was a gapper’s dream come true.
As gappers, we pride ourselves in our passion for each other, for our clients, and for the community. We hope the extra effort we put into these holiday cards shows just that. Hopefully you are a recipient of the 2017 edition of the gap intelligence holiday card and that you display it proudly on your desk. Because let’s be real, when I look through my family’s hanging display of holiday cards, I’m only looking for the dog photos anyway.
