thought, "This must be what the end of an empire looks like?"

I was at Adobe Summit last week and went to their takeover of AREA15
in between the psychedelic grocery store exhibit and the movie company haunted house was a concert featuring Barenaked Ladies and Timbaland

as the polo-shirted middle-aged men asynchronously gyrated and sang along, I toasted the Australian designers near me: "To Rome! May it never fall."

4/25/2026 1:02:13 PM

or you could just have fun and enjoy life

4/25/2026 1:07:46 PM

Quote :

"asynchronously gyrated"

Better than jerking off 2 dudes at the same time

4/25/2026 1:07:56 PM

^^ in this economy?

I did have fun but I, also, couldn't help but notice that the service staff fucking hated us


[Edited on April 25, 2026 at 2:11 PM. Reason : I don't love being hated]

4/25/2026 2:10:33 PM

A little bit of server spit can really spice things up.

4/25/2026 2:52:30 PM

I've been thinking this since 2015. How many failed projects can pile up and you're still hiring Hannibal Burress and Deadmau5 for the Christmas party. Our office made Silicon Valley at least.

4/25/2026 3:56:01 PM

my guy, it is kind of a relief to hear that other people have these thoughts

sometimes I just feel like a fucking stick in the mud

but when I go to these corporate summits I think: "We are paying our vendors too much."

like, fuck off with Third Eye Blind and Counting Crows... although I did enjoy the show
and seeing Weezer in the former HQ of kink.com was a trip

conceptually, fuck off with these things
in practice, invite me to more of them

4/26/2026 11:20:29 AM

I haven't worked at big enough companies to see these kinda high budget corporate events... the biggest I've been to was a holiday party at the Rickhouse with really good food and a DJ.

4/26/2026 11:40:08 AM

As a shareholder: "This is irresponsible."

As a 13 year old boy: "More unlimited bang bang shrimp and washed up radio bands, please."

4/26/2026 11:42:29 AM

Quote :

"A little bit of server spit can really spice things up. "

I think this cuts to the heart of my true complaint.

I like to have boundaries between my work life and my personal life. So, when the company starts paying for me to tramp around a haunted house or have a model spit into my white wine those boundaries get blurred. I start to resent the company for wanting to own all of my time and all facets of my life. Those things were mine that I chose and paid for with my own money.

Maybe I should just get into weirder stuff.

4/26/2026 11:45:01 AM

1. Corporate events are always a drag. One of the many reasons is that they are likely creating an event meant for the masses. You can't hope to ever make everyone happy, but you can do what you can with what you have. Also, try not to offend anyone. People like food, music, and alcohol. Boom.

2. Idk man, just enjoy it for what it is. Given the choice, would you be off doing something else? Probably. But sometimes you just gotta laugh, say fuck it, and enjoy yourself.

3. All of the workers there are concerned about doing their job and getting a paycheck. They probably aren't concerned with who they think are rich assholes.

4. Man, I used to date this girl that would occasionally make off handed comments about people she saw, complaining about the "yuppies". The comments reeked of rebellious teenage angst. One day I got sick of it and calmly reminded her that SHE IS A GODDAMN YUPPIE. That she is one of the Young Urban Professionals. And guess what...she's working to earn a paycheck to support herself, and there's nothing wrong with that.

4/26/2026 12:01:00 PM

#4 fr fr fr

4/26/2026 12:23:18 PM

My favorite example of that is a coworker that was going to protests in his BMW X7 to rail against the man and corporate greed. Why would you key my car! I'm with you!

4/26/2026 1:09:44 PM

Splurging on cars is kind of insane from the outset.

4/26/2026 1:14:09 PM

[Edited on April 26, 2026 at 1:15 PM. Reason : many such cases]

4/26/2026 1:14:49 PM

Quote :

"2. Idk man, just enjoy it for what it is. Given the choice, would you be off doing something else? Probably. But sometimes you just gotta laugh, say fuck it, and enjoy yourself."

the extreme irony is that I would have been in the same place doing the same thing but with my own money
so, yes, a laugh is in order


yes, I suppose I am one of the elite now

can I get the keys to the oligarchs bathroom?


[Edited on April 26, 2026 at 2:32 PM. Reason : - ]

4/26/2026 2:31:52 PM

AREA15 is pretty neat ngl

4/26/2026 3:08:08 PM