Oh dear Stockholm, we're moving in

You know how Christmas is. There is planning and tinkering, the preparations start a month earlier every year, and yet everything is not quite in place on the 24th. Organizing a housewarming party for us eight companies that moved in together at Åsögatan 115 turned out to be a similar experience. Responsibilities had been distributed, and loose thoughts about "what if we had a tattoo artist" and "how much do 300 Thursday people really drink?" turned into an Excel sheet faster than you can say "who's taking notes?".

And yes, there was a tattoo artist. And a karaoke room. And men with sausages. And lots and lots of beer and some other drinks too. The doors opened at 5 p.m., which happens to be about when the human brain generally switches from “how do we solve problems” to “how do I find food and drink,” and as if a plug was pulled in a bathtub, we drew to us most everyone in Stockholm who happened to be within a few kilometers of our office.

A few scribbles were put onto the guestbook wall as the first lost souls sought rest from the initial mingling, and the list for the tattoo parlor filled up rapidly as the thought of going home some ink richer took hold. Behind the bar, for a few critical hours, the host companies formed the universe's fastest-moving organism, and the thirst of thirsty people was quenched at about the same pace as deadlines and email threads slipped from our collective consciousness.

Luleå Hockey faced Skellefteå at 19 and despite a bitter loss on penalties, the hockey room offered a welcome oasis in the stormy sea of new acquaintances. Here we could put common sense and social skills aside, and devote ourselves - regardless of team affiliation - to this puck darting around the rink. Visiting Luleå residents as well as stray Skellefteå fans agreed, against all odds, that none of the good, but all of the bad, is the referee's doing.

Behind the bar, the struggle continued. If you've seen film clips from Chinese iPhone factories, you understand the pace, and if you've visited a beer tent at Piteå Dansar och Ler, you understand the vibe. Conference facilities and team building exercises stand no chance. This is where we build something wonderful.

We'd like to believe that the karaoke room reached its crescendo when two thousand seagulls (as perceived from outside the building) sang "Shallow" around midnight, but some claim that a colony of long-haired people survived this phase and immediately staged a small Rage Against the Machine concert around three in the morning. We will probably never know the truth, as the mobile batteries had long since died, and no documentation exists.

Now here we are, stomachs full of the hangover kebab, and really just want to do it all over again. To everyone who came here, and to everyone who helped, and to everyone who welcomed us to Stockholm in one way or another: From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!