We at Prism Systems were excited to celebrate the season of giving a little bit differently this year. Instead of holding a traditional employee Christmas party, we put a creative spin on our holiday festivities by coming up with unique ways to spread the good cheer across what we called the "12 Business Days of Christmas."

"It was fun to try something a little different," said Administrative Assistant Carly McKeithen. "Instead of having just a single party, we were able to celebrate for a couple of weeks. It kept everyone's spirits high through the whole month of December. It was fun to have something new to look forward to each day. Also, with nearly 30 percent of our employees working in China and flying home at different times for the holidays, this insured that no one would miss out on the celebrating."

McKeithen herself put the idea in motion, brainstorming, collecting ideas from coworkers, and putting together a calendar of events. "This was a case when Pinterest came in very handy!" she said.

The event kicked off early in December with ice cream sundaes, followed by a catered lunch, a hot chocolate bar, apple cider and sweets, breakfast with elves, and a chocolate fondue party. However, it wasn't all just about the food. "We had a 'Tacky Christmas Sweater' contest one day, which got a lot of laughs, and one afternoon we had a 'Dirty Santa' gift exchange."

Of all the events, the vote was unanimous for everyone's favorite, McKeithen said. "We had a Toys for Tots Charity Day and that was definitely the part everyone was most excited about. We asked each employee to bring a new toy for a child in need, and then we packed everything up to donate to our local collection and distribution organization. Additionally, we had a very successful donation campaign with Prism matching, dollar for dollar, every monetary donation that came in, for employees who contributed in that way. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, so I hope this will become a new holiday tradition for us."