On Saturday 30 August the Staff Association of Thales Nederland celebrated its 55th anniversary. The promise the Staff Association made that this event would not pass unnoticed, was quite an understatement. The words dazzling megaparty describe this evening best. At about 8 p.m. the giant party tents on the lawn next to the company cafetaria, started to fill up with Thales partygoers and their partners. Soon everyone was pleasantly surprised by the African opening act of the percussion group Medicamento. In his opening speech, Arno Peels, CEO, spoke highly of the Staff Association and performed the official opening of the festivities.
The passionate performance of Medicamento had set the tone for a swinging night. On the large podium the Roofgarden Party Band played almost all night and made sure the dancefloor was continuously crowded. Their repertoire varied from the fiery latin beats of Jennifer Lopez to Dutch tearjerkers. The three-piece formation Paparazzi performed in the company cafeteria and played a wide variety of popular music.
Those more interested in food could eat to their hearts' content. The in-house catering staff of Thales Nederland had provided an abundance of Greek, Italian, French, Chinese and Indonesian dishes. The country theme recurred in the tents that were decorated with Hellenic gods, a real Venetian gondola and even the Eiffel tower!
But there was more: a cartoon artist drew portraits of Thales employees and their partners, people could have their photo taken so that they looked like some fantasy figure, e.g. a sumo wrestler.
The party was scheduled to end at half past midnight, but this proved to be a bit early. It was well past 1.30 a.m. before the music stopped.
All in all, an event to be remembered!