The CUBIES: Celebrating our Cubes 2021 impact!

That’s a wrap on another year, which can only mean one thing…time for The Cubies!

But what is exactly IS a Cubie?!

This isn’t your run of the mill, boring ol’ internal awards ceremony, but a chance to come together to recognise those teammates who have gone above and beyond and those wonderful tech for good projects that get us out of bed every single day. This long-standing and beloved tradition is infused with ALL the Cube quirk, magic and camaraderie that we have all come to know and love from the agency.  It’s something we look forward to for months, each year topping the next.

Many say that these kinds of internal events are simply ego-boosters, but the CUBIES tradition has always been a huge part of culture and life at 3 Sided Cube. With 2021 about to be firmly behind us the team had a busy year to celebrate!

So on a chilly December day we came together (in the new normal that is a hybrid event) to recognise the incredibly impact our work has had and the people that have worked oh so hard on it!

The CUBIES aims to recognise the team for their exceptional efforts and achievements every year. From ‘Most Inspirational Human’ to ‘2021 Superhero’ and ‘Excellence in Entertainment’. Here are a few of this year’s categories:

Newcomer of the Year

Which ‘Nube’ has ingrained themselves into the clan and thrown themselves into all things CUBE since January 2021?

Excellence in Entertainment

Who brightens your day, motivates you and is your ray of sunshine?

New Project of the Year

Which project (win or delivery) from 2021 are you most proud of?

Cube Academy Grad of the Year

Which intern has soared through our Cube Academy program and overall kicked butt to become a full-fledged Cube?

The Best Technical Contribution to a Project This Year

Who displayed the technical wherewithal to rock out on a project?

The Best Non-technical Contribution to a Project This Year

To get our amazing tech for good projects built it takes more than a technical build. It takes steering and stellar management, who embodied that?

Greatest Cube Contribution

Who’s got your back and has all of our best interests at heart?

Most Inspirational Human

Who do you look up to, who inspires you to be better or is a great mentor?

2021 Superhero

Who is always calm in a crisis, can solve any problem and is indestructible in difficult situations?

Greatest Team Player

Who’s got your back and has all of our best interests at heart?

Best Free-ish Time Project

Who used their ‘Innovation Time’ to knock o ur socks off?

Outstanding Values

Which member of the team most displays all our company values, living and breathing everything 3 SIDED CUBE?

Best Project Submission Video

Our favourite tradition to come out of 2021 – which submission video takes the cake?

Most Recognised Cube

What Cube pulled in the most 7 Geese recognition?

Team of the Year

Across all of our phenomenal teams, which one flexed the hardest in 2021 and pulled together to earn this highest of honours?

I’m very pleased to announce that the winner of this award, with a huge 22 votes, is the highly deserving, extremely talented, rubber duck-loving Ben Sherred!

This cube has made many of us smile since she arrived. After promising that we can all look forward to her production of Cube the Musical next year, I feel like there is lots more to come from this cube. It’s LUCY!

There was a clear winner for this one, it touched a LOT of people across the agency..I’d like to shout out the whole project team and give them a giant virtual round of applause…

It is, of course, UNHCR!

Some great nominees in this category – I want to give a huge shout out to all our Cube Academy-ers, you’ve all made epic strides this year and we’re so proud to have you on Team Cube. But the winner of this award is someone who is, quite possibly a certified genius and has helped cube take its first steps into the Metaverse. Yes, that’s right, it’s JR!

The winner of this award has done something BIG. HUGE. And there is no doubt he must have some serious superpowers to have gotten him through the experience. This isn’t a contribution that led to a new shiny app being released into the app store, but it was arguably one of the most technically challenging things we’ve done this year. He gave our disaster apps the ability to continue to be able to send alerts, and in super quick time. That wasn’t a job for just anyone. It was a job for the amazing JAVI!

This absolute powerhouse has been voted winner in this category mainly due to their amazing ability to make a really complex project happen. Wrangling a particularly tricky build, complicated technology, moderation, one time passwords and more rubber ducks than you can shake a stick at. It’s Sophia!

I am absolutely honoured to present this award. Because the winner is my name twin, my right hand woman and no. 1 Beyonce fan. I know you’ll all agree she’s an all round epic human being – it’s Jen!

Thank you for looking out for us all and for genuinely caring about Cube.

This guy. He is cool, calm and collected. His work ethic is incredible. He knows how to challenge in the right way to get the best results. His opinions and his talents are coveted by many and lots of us look up to him as a force of pure good in the agency. He has also taken his team to new sizes and new levels of greatness. It is of course, our resident cold sea swimmer and Daddy Cool himself…it’s James Marriott!

This person has been rock solid in their team and in projects all year. They’ve been developing themselves, and helping others around them to step up too. If I’m honest, we’d also like to know if they have any other family members who know how to code? Yep, it’s Simon!

This award represents everything I am so proud of in this agency. Looking out for each other, supporting the people around you to achieve greatness and generally being someone others can rely on. I can tell you that there was a tie in the nominations. You voted not 1,2, or 3 people as greatest team player but a whopping 6 Cubes.

And the record breaking winners are…Jen V, Poppy, Emma, Ben Sherred, Sophia and Nikos!

There was a big stand out project from Freeish Time this year. This persons efforts and output were absolutely amazing. And there is a real chance the tool might be used at Cube, and it’s also be a great tool for the testing team. It is, of course, the wonderful, Ali!

I always get the warm and fuzzies announcing this award. Because the winner represents everything that we want to see at Cube. And I couldn’t agree more with the result on this one. He’s shown patience, dedication and huge integrity no matter what he’s been faced with. I’ve seen this Cube go to get the milk when it ran out for his all important first cup of tea of the day, He’s showered under a waterfall of rubber ducks, and he’s absolutely clearing up this afternoon.

It’s the legend that is Ben Sherred!

I think we can all agree that, the project submission videos are one of the best things to come out of 2021.  I must say is a masterpiece and the winner is…

Blood 2.4!

We looked at recognitions on Paycor between the last Cubies and the end of November for this award. I think it’s fair to say, there is no human this Cube won’t help which is why everyone has recognised them a whopping 15 times. It’s everyone’s favourite jazzy shirted, floppy haired Cube who almost certainly embodies everything great about Cube. It’s the one and only Kevin!

This team have turned into a tribe this year. Between them, they’ve been across all our projects, they’ve been learning and growing and helping us all to get better by ensuring we’re producing higher quality products. Their dedication to the cause has been immense and I can’t wait to see what 2022 has in store for them.

It’s the amazing Testing Team!