So, as you probably know from our last posts, on Thursday SEGA Europe threw their annual company conference. This, for a relative newcomer, was an absolute pleasure, because if nothing else at least it was two days off work. However, it turned out to be a more welcome break than that, with the speeches helpful, the team building hilarious and the night activities… well, it’s always a pleasure to have a party courtesy of your company.

The coaches took us from our office in Brentford to somewhere in the Cotswolds, and we arrived at about eleven in the morning. I’m not deliberately being vague, I’m just not entirely sure where we were - somewhere near Swindon I think, but the surroundings were particularly picturesque. Upon arrival, we were all given some refreshments and then into the conference hall. Now, I’d normally go into a conference with more than a little trepidation, because of the likelihood of incredibly boring speeches. However, this wasn’t the case with SEGA, and I was pleasantly surprised.

As I’d only been at the company a month, there was plenty of things I hadn’t known that I found out quickly at the conference. The President, Mike Hayes, began with general talk about company and performance; all which was pretty interesting to someone who’s fairly new. One thing I didn’t realise is just how much people loved Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, and how well it’s done over the last year. There was also some talk of our financial projections (which I couldn’t possibly bore you with) and upcoming titles (which are top secret so I can’t tell you). It was great to see how the company was doing, and it’s always nice to know that you’re working in an industry that is showing great likelihood of growth despite the threat of economic downturn. (I hate to gloat).

Anyhow, this might not be the exciting post you were expecting for something like the annual company conference, but there’s so much to write about that we’ve all chosen to post about it all week. The highlight of the morning’s speeches was the Generation Game style shenanigans that the marketing team threw for our upcoming titles, so I’ll let you know about that tomorrow. There’s also the ‘team building’ which entailed getting aboard boats and sinking a lot, and the BBQ bash, where much merriment ensued. Keep reading for an insight into SEGA company life this week from all of us here…