I turned 40 a few years back, and it wasn’t that big a deal for me. In some ways my wife thinks I’m a little old for my age, and when I hit 40, it wasn’t the milestone it is for some people. I think the night I turned 40 I was at a Cub Scout meeting with my son, delaying a sedate, quiet family dinner for a day or two because of that commitment.

Last week I was in Cambridge, at the Red Gate offices.

Not in Kansas (or Colorado) anymore.

Every year I go over once for twice for meetings with my team at Red Gate where we brainstorm, do some evaluation on where we are, and look forward to the future. Most of my time is away from the office, but I do spend a little time at our building (Red Gate has a building!!) and say hi to a few friends.

On Thursday morning, I was there for a surprise, and a rare event. The entire company, some 200 odd people gathered in the first floor (floor zero for you non-American, counting-building-floor-challenged people), with everyone in a Red Gate shirt.

A sea of red

The two founders of Red Gate, our co-CEOs, Neil Davidson and Simon Galbraith, both were turning 40 within a few weeks of each other. A few people in the company had organized a celebration with sweets

This was less than half of the treats available.

cards

Large 40th Birthday cards signed by everyone.

and a large rendition of Happy Birthday from the employees.

It was quite a celebration, with a funny “roast” speech given by one employee, a video Happy Birthday tribute, and even a parody of “Never Gonna Give You Up” from the Red Gate Chorus group.

A nice break in the day, and quite a celebration. Simon and Neil have built something rather amazing at Red Gate. It’s the kind of company I’d want to build if I every started another venture. Successful, hard working, respectful, fun, and very supporting of employees.

Filed under: Blog Tagged: Humor, Red Gate, syndicated