Team Event - A retro on a summer day with family and our favourite pizza toppings!

The end-of-year break is a time for celebration and enjoyment, so what better way to commemorate the festivities than with a team retrospective and inviting our family and friends for lunch?

On this summer day, our team gathered together to make delicious pizzas. Staff brought along their favourite toppings, which ensured something new and exciting with each pizza made! It was a fun-filled opportunity to get together casually before we break for the holidays. With toppings such as potatoes, jalapenos and Nutella on freshly made bases baked in the pizza oven, this was every bit as merry as we hoped it would be.

We gathered away from the Katalyst office in a leafy suburban setting. Coffee was abundant as we kicked off at a relaxed time of 10 am, starting the day with a team retrospective on the year that has been. Using the theme of a classic Aussie ute, each team member added post-in notes of their highlights of the year to create a montage of our most memorable moments and achievements at Katalyst.

Then it was on to the project showcases. The company has worked on some exciting projects this year, both client and internal work. Though we are a highly collaborative company, we often don’t get a chance to see all the work going on, so this was an opportunity to see what our software engineers have been tinkering away on.

With our showcase showing no sign of slowing down, it was only the arrival of staff family and friends that brought the presentations to a close. The pizza oven had been fired up and the pace quickly shifted to pizza making. With party bags and episodes of Bluey on hand to entertain all the kids, we gathered in the kitchen to start our pizza creations.

While everybody mingled, the pizza oven went into full swing. Even our guests tried out their pizza-baking skills! We all got to share stories, laugh and bond over our favourite projects this year and glorious pizza creations. We were amazed at the plethora of different toppings people had come up with – from classic combinations like margaritas and hawaiian to more creative ones like potato and rosemary.

Everyone enjoyed the pizzas with toppings becoming more experimental as the day rolled on. When the ingredients ran thin, the ingenuity began. Brendan crafted his pizza with canned sweet chilli tuna, sweetcorn kernels, and kewpie mayonnaise. As the afternoon set in, the dessert pizzas entered the oven with Jason baking an indulgent combination of marshmallows with Nutella. The dessert pizzas were an obvious favourite with the kids (and the adults too).

We left with full bellies, content hearts and a renewed enthusiasm for the year ahead. As Katalyst continues to grow, we will make sure to take time out of our busy schedules to celebrate together as a team! With delicious pizzas, unique toppings and plenty of belly-aching laughter, this party is sure to remain a memorable event for all who attended.

Our team is passionate about creating amazing experiences through technology – here’s hoping 2023 brings even more opportunities for innovation and collaboration.

We look forward to the year ahead and can’t wait to share what we create. Happy New Year!