It’s that time of year again!!

It’s the time when Maveris team members compete in friendly competitions designed to spread holiday cheer and allow them to relax and get to know one another (and let’s not forget….to win Magical Maveris Medallions, or MMMs)! But that’s not all! This year there was a new competition that allowed everyone to help Packet (the Maveris mascot) catch the hackers! (More on that below.) Not familiar with Maveristmas of years past?!? Check out Maveristmas and Maveristmas – The SQL.

THE COMPETITIONS

LOGO COMPETITION

What friendly competitions are complete without an official logo?!?! Team members submitted entries that were then voted on by their peers to decide which image would be used to represent the entire event. The winning logo was used throughout the event on forms and slides, an emoji was created in Slack, and it was displayed on the Maveristmas 3.0 website (as well as above).

CAPTION CONTEST

The Caption Contest is a great introduction for team members into the types of competitions they can expect throughout Maveristmas. For this year’s competition, the goal was to provide the best caption for the image below. Entries varied from boy band comments to news highlighting a Maveris benefit to something about yellow snow.

These five elves are the longest tenured Maveris team members. But what are they doing?

DESK DECORATING CONTEST

Let’s face it: Each of us spends a good deal of time at our desk. The Party Planning Committee (PPC) and Allen thought that each of us could use a little holiday cheer around us as we tackle the challenges of the day. Winners for the competition were voted on within two categories: Most Festive and Most Maveris. What does ‘Most Maveris’ mean? The PPC and Allen thought it best not to define it and to see what the team thought. Below is a small selection of some of the submissions.

KARAOKE CONTEST

The Karaoke Contest never disappoints. It is a great opportunity for team members to show off their vocal skills or brush up on lip-synching. Oftentimes family members or pets are included which always makes things interesting. We had great participation this year with many of our newer team members jumping into the fun. The team voted on their Top 5 submissions and MMMs were awarded accordingly.

BUILD-IT

Build-It, having been featured in every Maveristmas, has become a staple competition. It gives team members the ability to show off their unique creative ability by building something that represents Maveristmas to them. Supplies used ranged from Legos^tm to popsicle sticks, clay, and even family members and animals! Whatever the medium used, everyone’s goal was to garner 1st place and gain MMMs!

Lego minifigure battle with cables and machines

CAPTURE THE FLAG (CTF) CONTEST

Packet the Dolphin holding a magnifying glass

Just like a parent who tries to put a little education into the family vacation, the PPC and Allen (with the help of Khris) thought it would be a great idea to do another CTF event as part of Maveristmas (To see the first Maveris CTF, take a look at the Digital Marathon from Maveris Olympics). The challenges within the CTF were broken into categories ranging from Trivia and OSINT, all the way to Digital Forensics, Stego, Crypto, PWN, and more. The intent was to introduce new concepts to some team members while also providing more difficult tasks for others. Many people throughout the team with varying levels of technical experience participated and enjoyed stretching themselves, learning new tools, and earning MMMs, all while helping Packet track down a hacker.

Here are a few comments from members of the team about the CTF.

Taking part in the Maveristmas CTF was a bit addicting. I love to learn new skills and this challenge pushed me to really learn and do things I haven’t anticipated ever learning! I now have a working knowledge of tools and techniques that security professionals use on a regular basis. Overall this challenge wasn’t just fun, but I learned a ton while doing so – I look forward to the next one!

Ted – COOP Specialist

Maveristmas CTF was full of challenges that were as entertaining as they were enlightening! If it weren’t for the CTF, I wouldn’t have known about convenient and essential tools like GDB and CyberChef.

Josh – Network Engineer

As a total non-techie, the CTF challenges were all outside of my wheelhouse, but I enjoy trying to figure something new out. Google was my best friend, especially when some of the questions were completely over my head. My favorite part was the lightbulb moment when I figured out the key to the right answer for each challenge.

Anastasia – Sr. Director of Proposals

THE GATHERING

Throughout the events we have done in the past, team members have requested ways to interact outside of competitions. For that the PPC and Allen had a few solutions: virtual hangouts (think morning coffee time), in-person hangouts after work, and a virtual environment through The Gathering. The Gathering allowed us to create a space that people could explore using their avatar and participate in conversations around a fire, play classic games, watch a movie, or attend poker nights. With so much of the Maveris team spread across the country, this proved to be a fun way to replicate some of the common happenings of a co-located team.

VOLUNTEERING

In the spirit of the holidays, the PPC and Allen wanted to encourage team members to be active in their community and to serve others. One of the great things about this was that each team member who participated earned MMMs for serving people or a cause that they are passionate about. The diversity of the engagements throughout the team was exceptional: providing gifts to kids within their community, placing wreaths on Veteran graves as part of Wreaths Across America, participating in a sensory friendly Santa event, etc.

Collectively, Maveris participated in the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Virtual Toy Drive. As of publication time, we were able to collect $3350 to help provide gifts to children receiving care.

With all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, Maveris’s goal was to provide a fun outlet where team members could interact with one another, increase time spent with family creating submissions, and provide an environment where team members could relax and be themselves. We know that sometimes the holidays are difficult, so we wanted to insert some holiday cheer through fun challenges, events, and prizes! In the end, great fun was had, new skills were learned within the CTF, and interactions between team members who do not regularly work together were fostered. We call that a win!

Want to learn more about what it means to be a Maveris Team Member? Check out some of our other Maveris Insights posts!

Interested in joining the Maveris team? Check out our careers page to see what new opportunities may be waiting for you, and be sure to visit our website and LinkedIn page for more information and updates!