It's a new year, and another Winter Bash is behind us. Let's relive some of the highlights, and finally get to the bottom of the mysteries of the secret hats, before we close the 2015 (year)book for good!

Another calendar year is ending, which can mean only one thing. It's time once again for the event that brings joy to all (with a slight helping of dismay for our friends in the southern hemisphere1): Winter Bash!

Stack Exchange Raises $40m

There was a time where it seemed like we barely even needed to talk about this: Joel had won the argument, the Internet agreed that private offices were the future, and only incompetent management (or a tight budget) was still putting developers in cubicle farms. A glorious future lay before us.

While testing hats before the start of Winter Bash 2014, a snowflake notification told me I'd earned the Treasure Hunter hat. After adjusting pirate paraphernalia to fit my head, I tried to remember what triggers this particular hat. As it happens, I'd just received a gold badge on Cooking that I would've totally ignored if not for the associated hat. Suddenly I understood why this time of year resonates with our most accomplished users. Earning cosmetic items, as silly as they are, temporarily reminds us of what it was like to begin participating on Stack Exchange months or years ago. Plus, hats look really cool.