New Traditions: The CollegeSource Holiday Playlist

While the title of this post may seem a little oxymoronic, traditions have to start somewhere! At this time of the year we all think about the little routines our families practiced, past and present, to celebrate special events. In a world that moves incredibly fast and is subject to constant change, these traditions can become more attractive than ever. They serve to create collective memories, unity, stability, and overall happiness. This holiday season we came up with a new one at CollegeSource and wanted to share it, as it is something you might want to do with your own staff and/or families: a collaborative holiday playlist.
I started the ball rolling a few weeks ago by asking employees to submit one of their favorite songs for a holiday playlist that we could all share. I happened to put ours together on Spotify, which has a public share feature (requires a free account only), but any number of music services would work. I also asked for only one song from each employee, but of course a number of our people could not help themselves and submitted multiple entries! I kept their lists on the side and if another employee suggested one of the same titles, I crossed it off and went to the second choice of that employee and so on. (I felt like it was important that each employee was represented equally, rather than have a handful submitting the bulk of the songs.) Finally, I tried to keep my request language neutral and open the door to diverse songs and cultures.
Here is the result: the CollegeSource Holiday Playlist.

Please keep in mind that this is in no way curated other than to remove duplicates. Your holiday sensibilities may vary, but this list is simply a reflection of the individuals that make up our company.
So why not start a similar tradition with your own team? We have had a lot of fun listening to this list and trying to guess which song particular team members submitted. (I’m not telling!) Happy holiday season to all of you. We hope you get the opportunity to celebrate in both old and new ways as we ring in the New Year.