Comments on: what small present can I send a bunch of very overworked guys?

Question: what small present can I send a bunch of very overworked guys?

krautland — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 06:26:42 -0800

what small present can I send a bunch of very overworked guys?

a few friends have started their own business and things have been taking off. they spend every waking hour (and then some) in their office, trying to get the work out of the door. I'm thinking of a creative little gift to send over to them. something like "the strongest coffee in the world" (any idea what brand that might be?). something a bit out of the ordinary is most welcome but it has to be no worse than pg-rated.

your suggestions, please...

By: LN

LN — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 06:30:51 -0800

Why not try looking here for some ideas?

By: mccarty.tim

mccarty.tim — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 07:20:23 -0800

What's the business? Maybe the gift could be a cute reference to what they do? I don't think it's especially caffeinated, but my favorite coffee, taste-wise, is Moka Summatra from DeansBeans.com. When I want more caffeine, I just drink more.

By: Argyle

Argyle — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 07:41:01 -0800

Food.

Food that takes no work to prep, clean up, or consume.

A basket of cookies or muffins is always welcome. Or a lunch of a bunch of Chinese or Italian. A huge bag of chips, pretzels, or other snack food.

Going a bit further, you could make a box of instant food that can be eaten at the desk. Ramen, soups, etc. To take it to the next level, a box of MREs would be funny, but eaten in the end.

Stick with food and it will be the best gift.

By: beccaj

beccaj — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 07:41:20 -0800

They probably have coffee there.
How about a pick me up in the afternoon like a tray of cookies or brownies?

By: Evangeline

Evangeline — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 08:17:15 -0800

I'm going to third the cookie idea. Maybe something like this?

By: nightwood

nightwood — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 08:19:07 -0800

I agree with food. But in my office, the things that went the fastest during crunch time were biscotti (nicely dunked in the copious cups of coffee), slim jims (I know, I know), gorp and bottles of Starbuck's frappucino.

By: jenkinsEar

jenkinsEar — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 08:39:41 -0800

We always liked having an intern / production slave / project manager there who would do the routine crap for us and order pizza, feed the meter, and shuffle the itunes playlists.

Can you afford to get them a temp for a day or two?

By: fishfucker

fishfucker — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 08:42:29 -0800

novelty brand coffee (i've read it's quite drinkable): Meth coffee

I'm working 10-12 hour days for a startup right now and I can say nothing is more welcome in that environment than food -- usually cookies or other baked goods. I'm actually the only one there (out of 4 or so) who drinks coffee, though, so coffee may only be enjoyed by a few depending on the office.

By: NotMyselfRightNow

NotMyselfRightNow — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 08:52:23 -0800

Hire a masseuse to come in for a few hours. There are ones who specialize in coming into offices and doing this.

By: dersins

dersins — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:22:55 -0800

Hire a masseuse to come in for a few hours.

That is an EXCELLENT suggestion. Out of the ordinary, not too expensive, and likely (at least more so than food or coffee) to be the kind of luxury that a small start-up wouldn't think about splurging on for themselves.

By: anaelith

anaelith — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 10:38:53 -0800

I sent someone brownies once and they went over really well, make them in a disposable cooking container (one of those foil ones, or the plastic oven safe ones if you can find them), and include disposable plasticware, and some napkins. Also put a little mint in the brownies, to give them a little pick-me-up. (By mint, I mean actual peppermint extract, as found in the spice aisle at the grocery store. You could include other things if you think they'd like them, but I'm not advocating that.)

By: nax

nax — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 10:43:01 -0800

Seconding the masseur.