CRACKING THE CODE

Every year, TRI holds an employee contest as part of our Christmas Party celebration. This year’s challenge was a Christmas Tree Decorating Contest using only recyclable materials. Simple, right? Well… not exactly.

Our Sales & Marketing Team decided to mainly use egg cartons as the tree’s leaves, because apparently we like challenges and sore fingers. From the beginning, we wanted our tree to say more than “Holiday vibes.” Our concept was the season versus the reason for the season – half Christmas tree, half cross. The message was clear: Christmas isn’t just about giving gifts; it’s about receiving the greatest gift of all – God’s gift to us through the birth of His Son.

Once the concept was finalized, the real work began. Cutting egg cartons turned out to be far more difficult and time-consuming than anyone expected. Who knew cardboard eggs could fight back? Shaping the tree and the cross required patience, precision, and a level of focus that made us question our life choices. Beyond the hours spent cutting, painting, and pasting, what truly stood out was the teamwork and camaraderie. Bringing the idea to life involved countless discussions, debates, creative disagreements, and yes – side meetings that probably could’ve been stretched in emails, plenty of laughter, and sarcastic remarks. In the end, it all came down to listening, compromising, and moving forward together as one team. We pushed the idea forward.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m not exactly a “crafty” person, but I contributed where I could by throwing in concepts and ideas. Others clearly found their calling, painting, drawing, and designing like seasoned artists. One teammate, our “frustrated engineer,” handled the structure by using his Pythagorean-theorem skills to ensure both the tree and the cross were balanced and aligned. Different talents, different personalities, all blending together to create a surprisingly sturdy work of art.

When all the trees were finally presented, it was inspiring to see how much we had grown not just creatively, but as a team. Each entry was thoughtfully and beautifully executed. Congratulations to Production, R&D, and, of course, our own team for winning this year’s contest.