How do you measure a year? 8,760 hours? 525,949 minutes? One new iPhone release? 52 Friday afternoon happy hour sessions? However you choose to do so, a year measures the time it takes for our planet to mosey once around the sun. It also marks the time that has passed since I’ve started my journey at M/C/C!

*insert happy dance* Wow. Only a year?

Stop and smell the roses, or... salsa!

This being my very first anniversary at M/C/C, and the company also celebrating its 25th anniversary, what better way to commemorate such a wonderful landmark in my career than an article about just that – celebrating milestones. Either way, it’s clear that marking an anniversary, personal or professional, is a stone that should not go unturned. Why?

Milestones are benchmarks, and should be thought of as mini-goals or achievements in a company’s path to success. With an anniversary coming up, companies have an exceptional opportunity to focus attention on their important accomplishments and any awesome highlights in their business history.

These milestones can then be used to solidify and improve the companies’ or brands’ reputations and levels of awareness. David F. D’Alessandro was right.

“The best people want to work for the best brands.” 

A company’s reputation can speak volumes about its quality, service, culture, innovation and value, thus helping to position it for future success, recruit new, cool employees and show off its awesome work!

I remember when I was a little Ambur, my mother would get so excited when I could count to 100. The expectation would soon turn to 150, then 200, and so on and so forth. Though seemingly small, the motivation I received from her encouraged me to continue to strive forward and achieve my goal of counting more and more! The same applies for businesses. Taking a moment to celebrate the small steps along the journey en route to your goal ensures that employee morale remains high and employees stay motivated; and it also helps recharge the spirit of the team as they get ready for the next stage of the project. Most importantly, celebrating milestones gives you a sense of achievement that makes you want to celebrate – and, a great excuse to pop open a few bottles of bubbly! *We’ll cheers to that*

M/C/C office doors sport anniversary decor.

The best part about setting milestones is that there is no magic date! Some companies choose to celebrate them at random like The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular, while others choose to base them around an iconic milestone like Ford Motor Company’s 100th anniversary celebration.

Or, if you’re awesome like us, you choose to give back with a cool “Giving You the Business” contest.