Acadian Invites Employees to Share Their World Through Photos

Acadian Ambulance based in Lafayette, LA, has made company calendars before, but for 2014 they did something entirely different with it: they made it by and for the company’s employees, featuring stunning photos from their lives outside work.

“We’re an employee-owned company and we wanted to do something to honor our employees that had nothing to do with work,” says spokeswoman Julie Mahfouz. “We try to always do things to instill camaraderie in the Acadian family.”

The company asked employees to submit photos they had taken of anyplace they had been, to share and showcase their broader experiences. There were more than 500 submissions, and some were so impressive that Acadian staff clarified to make sure they were indeed taken by the employees.

Mahfouz says the “Share Our World” calendar was created in place of Acadian's final quarterly newsletter last year, so there was no expense.

The submission process ran from about mid-September through late November, and then the calendar was printed and mailed to employees during the holidays, says Acadian’s Mallory Heun, who handled much of the project.

“People are pretty excited about it,” she says. “It was a good way for them to show off what they do outside work.” In addition to the 12 photos featured for each month, additional photos were included in a cover collage and some inside pages.

“They all really like seeing the calendar at work,” Heun says. “They’re proud, and some asked for more copies for their families.”

In addition to the printed calendar, the photos and photographer/employees’ stories are being featured each month on Acadian’s site and on Facebook.

“It was a huge hit,” Mahfouz says, and Acadian expects to continue the project in future years using different themes. The decision on a theme might be another sort of contest in itself, she adds. “We’ve thrown a bunch of ideas out so there’s no telling what it’s going to be next year.” 

See additional photos and details on Facebook: Share Our World: January; Share Our World: February; and watch Acadian's page for future updates.