Merry Merry Kromas!

‘tis the season, as they say. The season for celebrating that this wretched year is finally over and creating space to welcome in a healthier, happier, 2021.  If there ever was a reason to ring in the holidays, this is it! As tough as it’s been for so many people around the globe, many of us are approaching the holidays with a different mindset this year.

Sure, the celebrations may look a little unfamiliar this time around and we may be down for the count in the hugs category, but there is something afoot. This is a new feeling, one of simplicity, stripped down to its bare essence. And that’s gratitude. Thanksgiving calls upon us to formally acknowledge the day by proclaiming our gratitude, but that sentiment is likely going to be carried right through to the moment that the bell tolls and the ball drops to ring in the new year.

Here at Kroma.ai, we’re grateful. We began the year as SlideShop, assembled a new leadership team and changed things up. Every member of the team worked exceptionally hard to bring in new tools and and creative assets. Plus, we’ve got a new way of doing things. Thankfully (there’s that word again), the team rose to the challenge, embraced the hard work and did a fabulous job helping us evolve from a creative assets company to a creative assets company with an innovative design platform. And we’re not done yet. In fact, we’re just getting started. Just wait to see what we roll out in 2021!

YOU – our customers – motivate us to try harder, to try new things, to welcome change and to do more. We owe our successful transformation to Kroma to you; you kept us going, pulled us through 2020 and made all the difference. “Kromakers” are killin’ it out there! You’ve raised nearly $300 million with over 6,000 pitches, all knocked out on our expertly curated and brilliantly designed professional presentation and data visualization templates.

 

When YOU win, we win!

So, we’re thankful for that, too. As a way of giving thanks, in the spirit of the holidays, we’ve been giving gifts. Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been offering free templates, buy one gift one and other offers to help you close out the year perfectly poised to start winning in 2021 right out of the gate. Before we get to our newest offer, let’s take a look at some of the traditions that are celebrated around the world at this time of year.

Did you know that the first Christmas was reportedly celebrated in Rome in 336 AD? Historians cite pagans for helping create the festival that the holiday has become, offering merriment and cheer through colored lights and decorations to pull us through the darkest (literally) days of winter. Contrary to what many people believe, Christians didn’t embrace December 25 as Christ’s birthday until the fourth century; nearly 700 years after the first midwinter celebration. And, in the mid-1600s, Christmas was banned in England! Puritans protested the drunken revelry associated with the holiday and found a way to shut it down for 25 years. You can thank Queen Victoria for bringing the gift-giving tradition to the forefront: the year was 1850 when her children were given gifts on Christmas Eve.

Hanukkah also embraces the tradition of gift-giving as a holy festival of lights. Eight days honor the rededication of the second temple of Jerusalem dating back two centuries before the birth of Christ. Latkes, or fried potato pancakes, are a much-loved staple enjoyed by all during the holiday. Unlike other Jewish holy days, Hanukkah does not have the work, dietary and other restrictions that must be upheld to honor their faith.

Kwanzaa is a new holiday dating back only to 1966. It was inspired by Dr. Maulana Karenga, a professor of Black Studies at California State University. He wanted to unite African Americans as a community after the Watts riots in Los Angeles. Harvest celebrations, modeled after those practiced by the Ashanti and Zulu people, became the foundation of the celebration. Like Hanukkah, a candle is lit each night but in Kwanzaa, the holiday spans seven versus eight days. On each day, families celebrate one of seven principles which are all anchored in unity, self-determination, purpose, responsibility, creativity, and faith.

There are more similarities than differences amongst the three celebrations! For each, families are united to share in a feast, lightness triumphs over darkness, prayers and songs are joyous, gifts are exchanged, and there is an acknowledgement of a force that is greater and more powerful than any one of us as individuals. Of course, there’s a whole population that doesn’t celebrate any of these traditions, including group of fun-loving folks who keep Festivus (the Airing of the Grievances) alive and well. The made-up event first surfaced on an episode of Seinfeld on December 18, 1997.

Alright, that was a quick little tour into holiday traditions and to highlight how we’re all more similar than we are different. Plus, it was a great segue for our holiday offer. If you’re a consultant, an entrepreneur, a social media or marketing manager, this is the gift that will keep on giving! Buy it for yourself or buy it for someone you know. Start 2021 with a clean slate ready and on the path to winning.

 

Lead image is sourced from the creative assets collection of Kroma.ai.