It’s the same thing every Tuesday. Of every week. Of every month. Of every year.
The clock is three minutes away from striking 10am. The daytime staff are in the office, grabbing their notebooks, refilling their coffee, ranting about something, making jokes, rolling their chairs into a circle formation, grabbing their heaters (it’s freezing in here!), turning off the phones, finishing their mid-morning snack, taking a final stretch, and racing to jot down their last few items on the list of ‘What’s happening this week.’ Finally, the chatter dies down, pen hits paper.
The staff meeting has begun.
And while, yes, the same thing does happen every Tuesday, every week, every month, every year, there is, of course, the odd Tuesday that’s different. The odd Tuesday that means more.
Last Tuesday meant more.
It was Katy Yachimec’s last staff meeting with us daytime office folks. Our beloved Assistant General Manager/ Box Office Guru landed a great job in Special Events with the University of Alberta Alumni. Lucky for you, she will work box office during the run of future shows, but unlucky for us, we will no longer see her here full-time during the day.
The clock is three minutes away from striking 10am. The daytime staff are in the office, grabbing their notebooks, refilling their coffee, ranting about something, making jokes, rolling their chairs into a circle formation, grabbing their heaters (it’s freezing in here!), turning off the phones, finishing their mid-morning snack, taking a final stretch, and racing to jot down their last few items on the list of ‘What’s happening this week.’ Finally, the chatter dies down, pen hits paper.
The staff meeting has begun.
And while, yes, the same thing does happen every Tuesday, every week, every month, every year, there is, of course, the odd Tuesday that’s different. The odd Tuesday that means more.
Last Tuesday meant more.
It was Katy Yachimec’s last staff meeting with us daytime office folks. Our beloved Assistant General Manager/ Box Office Guru landed a great job in Special Events with the University of Alberta Alumni. Lucky for you, she will work box office during the run of future shows, but unlucky for us, we will no longer see her here full-time during the day.
Katy Yachimec. You know Katy. You might not know that you know Katy, but you know Katy. To connect with Theatre Network was to connect with Katy. You literally couldn’t walk into the building without interacting with her. And when you needed to book tickets, move tickets, mail tickets – Katy made it happen. When you needed your gift certificate right this second because you’re on your way to a birthday party and you didn’t know you had to bring a gift and oh god I know it’s after five but if you could please just do this one thing I’d love you forever – Katy made that happen. (And with a smile, I might add.)
She has been with us for 2 1/2 seasons and she has been simply outstanding. Katy was responsible for the management of the office, box office, interactions with patrons, donation campaigns, donor development, and management of our smaller (Garden Party) and LARGER (Spring Fling) essential fundraisers.
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| Katy in the back gathering the troops! |
But it didn’t stop there. Katy had a knack for creating a positive and supportive atmosphere – whether it was calming everyone with a joke when the stress was high or pulling the staff together for birthday celebrations. (She even managed to wrangle us all cheap tickets to the Waterpark for her going away!) She’s a tireless worker who truly has a good time working hard – a wonderful quality. And thankfully for us, Katy is also a talented baker who has no problem sharing!
Like with any work environment, working at Theatre Network has its positives and negatives; its ups and its downs. It’s not easy and we ask a lot of our employees – it can be high-stress and fast-paced, requiring overtime and might not get you the same level of monetary compensation as offered in other industries. However, our employees are always quick to tout the many perks. One of those perks is the family atmosphere. I really mean that – we’re a very small staff and we share a lot of ourselves. I’m proud and thankful to say that we’re very close. We have each other’s backs both personally and professionally. We’re a family. And like in any family, it’s sad when one of the team can't be around as much – even though you're truly happy for them and their new opportunities.
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| Family Photo! |
So Katy Yachimec in a nutshell: quick to share, fast to help and fun to work with. The University just got themselves a great new team member.
Katy: you're still of course very much a part of the team. It's not over... it's just different. Us daytime folks - we will all miss you very much. Your work ethic. Your creativity. Your observations and insights on people and life. And of course – perhaps most of all – your singing and dancing in the office.
We wish you all the best on your new adventure!
