One of the best things about working at the Dairy Queen® corporate headquarters is how cool my kids think my job is. As far as they’re concerned, nothing could be better than spending all day surrounded by Blizzard® Treats, DQ® Cakes and Chicken Strip Baskets.
Although the reality of work life here is not quite as exciting (or treat-filled) as they think it is, much of their take on what goes on at the DQ home office is the result of the annual “Bring Your Kids to Work Day” event. Each summer, the school-aged kids of DQ employees get to spend a day at the office, building their own Blizzard treats, taste-testing new food products, learning about food safety, playing games and earning a “paycheck” in the form of a Dairy Queen gift card.
During this year’s event, 97 kids participated. The fun included an Amazing Race style scavenger hunt, which had them all racing to complete tasks like posing for pictures with Curly Top® the Cone in CEO John Gainor’s corner office, and hula hooping in the parking lot outside. While the younger kids practiced their cake decorating skills, the older kids divided into teams and were tasked with inventing a new Blizzard flavor and then devising a marketing plan to support it. It was a day full of smiles, stories and DQ fun.
For some of the highlights, check out the video below:
embedded by Embedded Video
As Memorial Day gets closer, I started thinking about how some see it as a three-day weekend that marks the beginning of summer, while others, especially the nation’s thousands of combat veterans, see it as an important reminder of those who died in the service of their country. One of my good friends has a son in his early 20s who is currently in his second round of service in Iraq. It got me to thinking about the sacrifices our military personnel make for our country and how I appreciate when they receive even small privileges as a result of those sacrifices.
I recently read a letter sent to the Dairy Queen® corporate headquarters from a customer who, while ordering at a DQ® drive-thru, saw a group of uniformed military personnel enter the restaurant. When she reached the pick-up window, she asked the employee to use her credit card to pay for the service members’ orders as well. The employee did as she requested and explained as she returned the customers’ credit card that the charges would be less than she anticipated because uniformed military personnel enjoy a half-price discount at that DQ location. The customer went on to say she thought this was a great policy.
What do you think of this policy? What other examples of discounts to service members have you come across?
Welcome to the DQ® Blog! This blog will be written by Dairy Queen employees. We would love for you to share your smile and story about DQ products, memories, and experiences and the goal of this blog is to ignite conversation and have fun with a brand that has been around for more than 70 years. We plan to share with you everything, about the DQ system which includes: stories, news, products, events, promotions, DQ in the News, advertising, fun stuff, DQ people, in the community, and around the world.
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