QC Spotlight: The Social Committee

We can’t avoid the fact that the last 12 months have been tough on all of us, and workplaces across varying industries have felt the impact of this. In fact, employee morale was the top challenge for nearly 70% of the 1,700 HR professionals surveyed in April 2020.

As the saying goes, “all work and no play…”, so at QueryClick, we like to work hard to drive results no-one else can but ensure that we make time for some well-deserved fun and games too.

That’s why we created the Social Committee to help spread joy and keep Team QC engaged and entertained throughout the year.

But what is a Social Committee and why is it important to have one? Well, good thing you asked. Let’s find out…

What is a Social Committee, and what do they do?

If you’re a fan of the US Office, then just picture the ‘Party Planning Committee’ that’s headed up by Angela, Pam, Phyllis and other ladies of Dunder Mifflin.

The QC Social Committee operates a similar function to that group – with far less drama and equal amounts of hilarity!

As we have an office n Edinburgh, but, as everything is online right now, it means we can create a combined Social Committee (or, Super Committee!) to join the entire team together.

Why is it important to have a Social Committee?

Wellbeing has always been a focus for QueryClick. In fact, we were awarded the Healthy Working Lives ‘Silver Award’ in 2019 by NHS Scotland for our commitment to our employees’ wellbeing and the Social Committee has had an increasingly important role to play in this – especially over the last 12 months.

As Team QC are spread far and wide across the UK, the Social Committee gives us an excuse to get together (virtually) and stay connected during times when it can be easy to feel isolated and shut off from the world.

We have even had some new team members join within the last 12 months which means there are QCers that have never met anyone face-to-face or even set foot in the office!

Situations like this make social get-togethers critical to ensure new team members feel like they are part of the team and to allow them to get the sense of company culture.

And there have been other changes in the last year too: we’ve become a fully remote-first company.

Having a Social Committee means there will still be plenty of opportunities for us to get together, catch up and have some laughs once the office opens again.

Related: My Experience of Joining a Remote-First Company

What has the Social Committee organised at QueryClick? 

The past 12 months have been a year at QueryClick like no other and with that has come cause for celebration and comforts. Cue the Social Committee!

Whether it’s been to celebrate success, get us through difficult times, mark a national holiday (or just because we felt like it!), the Social Committee have pulled out all the stops to keep Team QC entertained.

Here’s just a few of the events QC’s Social Committee have organised recently:

• There’s been a murderrr… Team QC dawned their deerstalkers to find out who among us had killed Toby Mory, owner of the Glen Frick whisky distillery on the isle of Islayabout. No spoilers, but let’s just say, we could give Sherlock Holmes a run for his money!
• A magical afternoon… We all had a magical time taking part in an afternoon Zoom magic show by Matt Fell. We were all dazzled by the tricks and even managed to perform some of our own!
• I scream, you scream, we all scream for… chocolate cake! We declared 19th January QC Chocolate Cake Day for no other reason than we felt like everyone deserved to eat some cake for breakfast to mark surviving the first few weeks of 2021.

Meet the QCers behind the Social Committee

So now you know all about the purpose of QC’s Social Committee… but who is involved?

We thought it was important to get a diverse mix of people involved who all have different interests and work within different areas of the business to ensure those who don’t normally work together day-to-day have a chance to connect!

Meet the team…

Daina Hine

Role at QC: Account Director

I joined the Social Committee because… I love party planning, and it’s a fun break from normal work.

My favourite activity organised by the Social Committee was… I think the Christmas Party ended up being really good which was astonishing given we planned and executed it completely virtually.

Chloe Henderson

Role at QC: Digital Content Executive

I joined the Social Committee because… I wanted to get involved in office culture and thought it might be a nice way to get to know people/help people get to know me

My favourite activity organised by the Social Committee was… The very first wine and cheese night! This was shortly after we’d moved into our current office and we had an enormous spread of cheese, meats, breads, and amazing wine picked by Haitham. I remember it fondly because loads of people who were there aren’t at QC any more and I miss them! And I love cheese.

Cameron Agnew

Role at QC: SEO Account Manager

I joined the Social Committee because… I wanted to have influence on choosing the fun activities we can do! My favourite thing about it is the feedback we have gotten from the wider company, and knowing that it has actively helped numerous people over the past year has been awesome.

My favourite activity organised by the Social Committee was… the virtual Murder Mystery for sure, but I also loved the Bouldering we did pre-lockdown

Linda Zagorskiene

Role at QC: Finance Assistant

I joined the Social Committee because… it needed someone from finance to help with payments, so I was asked to help out. I really enjoy being part of the team as I like to be involved in what’s happening within the company – and I prefer to be the one surprising others rather than the one being surprised!

My favourite activity organised by the Social Committee was… the QC Christmas party because I love seeing all my colleagues in one place, all united and having fun!

Meg Carney

Role at QC: Digital Content Manager

I joined the Social Committee because… I thought it would be a fun way to get to know people across the company that I might not work with day-to-day. It’s also nice to be the person delivering fun activities and news to the rest of the team!

My favourite activity organised by the Social Committee was… the trip to the Christmas Lights Show at Edinburgh’s Botanical Gardens last year. It was one of the last big social events we had before lockdown; walking through the twinkling lights with a mug of mulled wine and great company made it really special. We had a few new team members around that time too so it was nice to have a chance to bond with them outside the office.

Laura Imrie

Role at QC: Digital Marketing Executive

I joined the Social Committee because… It was a great opportunity for me to get involved with the company culture while working remotely – and meant I could get to know some members of the team I don’t normally work with.

My favourite activity organised by the Social Committee was… the Christmas Architecture 101 session (aka. gingerbread house building). I love all things Christmas and although I failed spectacularly at getting my house to stay together, it was a lot of fun and the perfect way to get into the festive spirit before going on Christmas annual leave.

Are you QC?

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