From Bytes to Boos: Highlights from ITS’s Halloween Party

In the “spirit” of bringing the community together, IT hosted a Halloween party at 25 Science Park on Tuesday, October 31. With the help of planning committee members (Chatarra Alston, Stephanie D’Andrea, Debbie Michelson, Cheri Ross, and Kathy Swanson), the fourth-floor lunchroom was transformed into a festive atmosphere of balloons, props, spooky decorations, and delicious treats ranging from sandwiches to cake.

Highlights from the event include a candy corn guessing contest (won by Lou Hemsey) and a Halloween costume contest, with prizes awarded in two categories:

• best group costume (Shark team)
• best individual costume (Baby Yoda)

Staff was encouraged to promote their costumes and solicit votes in the most creative ways. Team members Naomi Erwich, Mike van Emmenes, and Neha Agrawal wore themed t-shirts with information about IT’s upcoming migrations and cloud storage deadlines. Jessica Kunstman dressed from head to toe as Anna from the movie Frozen. Others dressed as characters from Harry Potter, Toy Story, and earlier decades, including the eighties. Embracing the Halloween spirit, SLT members Mark Manton, Ryan Schlagheck, and Wies Rafi joined the fun by dressing up as a Star Trek Enterprise character, Artificial Intelligence, and a secret agent.

The team enjoyed spending time together in a relaxed and fun setting, away from their routine work responsibilities. IT Consultant Syed Hussain was particularly impressed by “how excited people were to embrace the themed event by dressing the part this year.” Cheri Ross shared her appreciation of the high turnout for the event. With positive feedback from staff, many expressed that they hope this becomes an annual occurrence for ITS.