It’s hard not to love Halloween. It’s the one time during the year when folks get to tap into their imagination and completely transform. So, true to form, the inventive and imaginative and exuberant companies that make up the LA tech scene are getting in on the fun, too.
From escape rooms to doggie costume contests, here’s how eight companies get into the spirit of this spooky season.
Hallowinning: “FloQast celebrates by having an annual Halloween happy hour and costume contest in the office, where we hand out awards for best costume, funniest costume, scariest costume, most creative and best group. We also have taken employees to local escape room events where teams get locked in a room and have a time limit to decode the clues and escape.” — Adey Tadesse-Heath, director of human resources
Hallowinning: “A day filled with insanely impressive and creative costumes, delicious treats, and fun — Halloween at WITHIN is out of this world. This year we are kicking our Halloween game up a notch and will be hosting a spooktacular trivia night: ‘Boos, Brews, and Brains.’” — Norah Gustafson, office manager
Hallowinning: “Working for a company like Hallmark makes celebrating holidays a very important part of our culture. Halloween is a company favorite. We hold an annual department decorating contest, and everyone really rallies together to compete for “best decorated.” Considering we have a team of creative and technical talent, the competition can get really tough. We invite our employees to bring in their children to trick or treat throughout the office, and we have entertainers and activities throughout the day. The kids get to vote on the winning team who gets a special treat — department lunch and prizes.” — Kim McCune, vice president of human resources
Hallowinning: “We go all out with our annual Halloween bash. We start by completely transforming our office with both Halloween and Dia de los Muertos decorations, and match those themes with candy, food, music, seasonal drinks and more. We challenge our team members with pumpkin carving, calavera crafting and costume contests where we award both the best and worst entries — you’d be surprised how many people actually want to win the ‘worst’ awards. Halloween is one of our favorite times of the year, and our party is a big reason why.” — Kathleen Prior-Louis, head of talent
Hallowinning: “One of my favorite things about BCGDV is how creative and interesting our team is, and Halloween is one of the times that this is most obvious. From costume competitions to Halloween candy weigh-ins, it’s a great way for us to blend fun with a healthy dose of competition.” — Sam Garrison, strategic programs lead
Hallowinning: “MeUndies loves Halloween and this year is no different. We’ll host our annual costume contest — for humans and their pups — celebrate with spooky treats throughout the day and announce our costume contest winner at a Halloween themed lunch. Last year, we had “Last Lunch on the Left,” a horror movie themed feast with every menu item containing a movie title pun. We’re so excited to see what the team comes up with this year.” — Tori Coyne, employee experience manager
Hallowinning: “Halloween at Criteria typically involves a collection of creative costumes. Both our human employees and our dog employees participate. The celebration is topped off with some delicious Halloween-themed treats.” — Michelle Silverstein, content marketing manager
Hallowinning: “Our office looked like an old mansion with fog, ghosts, spiders, old scary movies and creepy lights. We all brought a bunch of friends, and the DJ got everyone dancing. The bartender served mysterious steaming cocktails with eyeballs inside. I think it was best the Halloween party I’ve ever been to.” — Yulia Zhukovska, UX&UI designer
