Company Christmas Party

[street]

Today I ran into a lady that is married to a board member where I had worked. She was telling me that the Company was having their Christmas Party tonight.

While driving home I thought back at the party's the company had and I literally hated to go to them. To many people, to many trying to be who they were not, some just made donkeys out of themselves and some just trying to out do the next and it goes on and on. LOL I'm glad I'm not a part of those events anymore. I loved the people and all that but is wasn't for me.

How many feel the same way or is it just me that didn't care to attend those events?

 

[aaronc879]

I went to my first ever job-related Christmas party last week. It was a union party though, not thrown by the employer. We got a free meal followed by a drawing of names leading to everyone winning something from a $25 gift card to a $900 vacation. Then free beer and karaoke. I left when the singing started but it was good until then.

 

[RobbieB]

I loved the Co Christmas parties, we had big fun. They were always at a hotel, everyone had a room and the booze flowed like water.

 

[JoeWras]

First Megacorp didn't have them and prohibited them at the department level.

Kilocorp had a very nice party. Dress up, nice dinner and entertainment. Everyone was behaved. Those were the days...

Second Megacorp had crazy parties in the go-go bubble years. Out of control. Too many show offs and rude behavior. After the crash, no more except a department get together. I ignored my department get togethers because the bosses always use it as another status meeting.

 

[W2R]

I hated going to "holiday parties" at my work, too. I usually would go and then try to sneak out a little early.


"Oh I was there! Didn't you see me?"

 

[street]

I hated going to "holiday parties" at my work, too. I usually would go and then try to sneak out a little early.


"Oh I was there! Didn't you see me?"

LOL! Exactly!!!!!

 

[Red Badger]

I always viewed work related social events as "mandatory fun. It's just another part of w*rk life that I don't miss whatsoever.

We're expecting light snow north of Charlotte tonight. After dinner, DW and I will settle by the fireplace with a nice bottle of wine. Now that's my idea of of one of many forthcoming Christmas parties .

 

[Amethyst]

Working for Uncle Sam, you pay for Christmas cheer! Most parties are held at local restaurants, usually $35 per person, beverages extra. The employer may authorize a few hours of administrative leave for a "morale-building event." There's usually a white-elephant gift exchange. It's boring, the food is terrible, you can't hear the other people, and I stopped going to these types of parties years ago.

Depending on how much everyone likes each other, smaller groups may organize their own potlucks. I always enjoy these chances to mingle with people you already know and like. Either everyone chips in $$ and a couple of people buy all the food, or else everyone brings a dish (often quite good - you'd be surprised). No alcohol allowed if it's on employer grounds. Occasionally someone will volunteer their home, and then alcohol is at that person's discretion. Gift exchanges, trivia guessing games with candy prizes, Pin the Tail on the Boss's Picture (I know, lame, but funny) are the rule. Sounds like kid stuff, and it is, but I usually enjoy it for a couple of hours.

 

[NW-Bound]

Can't recall the megacorps where I worked ever had company-wide Christmas parties. Too big to do that, I guess. The only thing they had was a Christmas lunch during a work day, served free by a catering company in the cafeteria. Nothing luxurious which I do not mind, but without booze there was not much festivity mood.

There were occasional private parties hosted by the department heads, and I didn't always attend. They did usually have a departmental-level potluck.

My brother just changed job to a kilocorp. Maybe it's even smaller than that, I don't know. His wife just told us they are going to have the party at a 5-star resort. They will have a sweepstake, and the grand prize is $10K cash. Of course they are going to attend. I asked if they could bring along guests.

 

[H2ODude]

Sadly, one of the few things I do miss. Utility department with 300+ employees ranging from highly technical to in most cases laborers with some level of certifications. Holidays would have a large barbecue where all got together. Loved the camaraderie of shared experiences, in general good people. As this was gubment there was no drinking (well, in one city back in 70's there was) and at great risk we'd let them all go after lunch, in total violation of "paying" for work not done. This from the same folks that forbade us from using city funds to buy em donuts. Yeah, donuts. Bought em myself for safety meetings. Of course could run a $100 million budget, but damn if you could allocate anything for discretionary use to reward. Oh well. One of the reasons I ain't there no more.

 

[athena53]

Ah, does that brig back memories- mostly good/mediocre. I'm not a party animal but generally liked my coworkers.

My last employer was an insurance brokerage, so very much sales-driven and the sales types were the rock stars. The official party started at noon at a local hotel but most departments had a potluck in the AM- including booze. Then it went on to the hotel open bar, lunch, more booze. THEN there were after-parties in the many bars/pubs nearby. I skipped those- I didn't like my coworkers THAT much! The day before each of us was issued a tax voucher to use if we were too plastered to drive home. No stigma in using it- they really didn't want people driving drunk.

I don't miss those parties.

 

[MRG]

I didn't mind our group or team type parties. However the big corporate Megacorp things got out of control.

Then there's the ones the fund companies threw for Megacorp. Certain ones were obscene wastes of money. That's where their heavy fees went.

 

[Beldar]

Like others here, I skipped most of the company parties, too many showoffs and lots of bootlickers. I'm not a ring kisser, sorry. The last company I w*rked at did have nice raffle type prizes (airline tickets, etc), but that wasn't enough incentive for me (and others). Who wants to meet some strangers wife/husband and fake acting friendly.

Some department heads took their folks out for an extended luncheon for the holidays, that could be nice. My last boss was very misanthropic and never did anything for the group, even though there was budgetary funding for "morale" events. We returned the favor.

_B

 

[RunningBum]

I've liked the Christmas parties at the places I worked that had them. I hadn't even thought about missing them, but now I kind of do! Oh well.


What I never really cared for was the potluck lunches some places had. I'm the one who started the "picky eater" thread a few months ago. I go through the food line wondering "what the heck is in that?" and usually loading up on whatever I brought.

 

[athena53]

What I never really cared for was the potluck lunches some places had. I'm the one who started the "picky eater" thread a few months ago. I go through the food line wondering "what the heck is in that?" and usually loading up on whatever I brought.

Oh, I know! I actually enjoy a wide variety of food but avoid the cheese/bacon/sour cream casseroles that seem to be the basis of most potluck meals.

 

[ABQ2015]

As a government worker, my experience was similar to that of Amethyst where employees paid for their own meals at a restaurant. Usually a late lunch where employees were not expected to go back to the office. The Christmas luncheon was most regimented and the least fun when I worked in an office with about 100 people. The final group I worked with had about 40 employees and it was their tradition that all the supervisors pitch in and pay for the luncheon. When we reorganized, that went away. The last couple of years the few of us who were working the week before Christmas just picked a day and a favorite restaurant and took a long lunch - it was fun!

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Oh, the dreaded Xmas parties! Another reason to RE. I had ten or so employers in my engineering career, and while I avoided most, some were memorable.

Megacorp 1 in the 80s had a party every year put on by the employees club. Cost was 50 bucks in 1982 dollars and you had a reserved seat at large round tables, so everyone jockeyed seats at the “right” tables. I passed as a poor young man just out of college.

Kilocorp 2 had a party that included a sit-down stage show. Unfortunately half the employees were back in town from various field assignments and all we wanted to do was catch up with coworkers whom we hadn’t seen in a while. Another year, they had a surprise layoff in March, including the administrative person whose job it was to reserve the party venue. She figured if they wanted to know the status of the reservation they would have asked. Needless to say, when someone finally figured out there was no reserved hotel ballroom it was November, and the only space available was an indoor pool at a Holiday Inn. I passed on that one.

Microcorp 4 consisted of three partners and two employees and the party was at the president’s house. The head guy was a bit OCD, but we didn’t really appreciate how bad it was until we figured out after an hour or so that we were being herded through a schedule of events exactly on the half hours. Socializing, singing, dinner, a party game, exchanging presents, and “glad you came, here’s your coats, bye!” I actually made it a point to be gone by the next year’s party.

The only one I think I really liked was the year at millicorp 6 when times were lean and we simply couldn’t afford a fancy party (I was a shareholder there). The CEO wanted to do nothing, but we convinced him to invite the employees and families to the office after hours for a potluck. It was nice I think because it was so laid back.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

Full circle.

Originally, I started working for a sub-division of a megacorp and I always went to the xmas party which was separate from the main one. Great fun. We were a smaller, more entrepreneurial division and while some people got a bit stupid, all in all, a good time was had by all.

After a few years we got re-absorbed by Megacorp and I stopped going to the xmas party for about a decade. However, the missus didn't know my megacorp had a regular huge xmas party and found out as I was chatting with some coworkers. She wanted to go since she worked in the public sector and only got a xmas lunch. We actually had a good time and ended up going for the next 5 years. Mediocre banquet food but everyone dressed up, great decorations, live band, door prizes, etc.
However, megacorp hasn't been doing as great of late so the xmas party has been cancelled the last couple of years.

 

[GrayHare]

If the same type of megacorp Christmas parties I recall were held now, the next day few men would be left with jobs. Wasn't my preferred scene.

 

[Ian S]

Bored stiff at the S.O.'s Xmas party this year but there were drawings for prizes so we stayed until the end. S.O. wound up winning the big Kahuna prize at the end and it was definitely worth a little boredom. Interestingly, two names were drawn before his but you had to be present to win.

 

[timo2]

I vanpooled with a woman who, at her company Christmas party, upon meeting her boss with his wife, said to her boss something like: "so there is someone that likes you".

 

[Ready]

When I was the company CEO I not only had to attend the holiday party, but I was the host and had to give a speech, and make small talk with the employees and their guests. I dreaded it. I'm not a small talk person. And DH hated going about as much as I did.

For the past four years I've been working, but not as a CEO, so I got to just show up and make my presence known for a bit and then quietly slip out the door. That was better.

But now that I'm not working, this will be the first time in more than 30 years that I don't have to go to a company holiday party, and I couldn't be happier.

Oddly enough, my swim team is having its holiday party tomorrow night, and I'm looking forward to going to that. Nice people, nothing work related to discuss, and all of them are very pleasant to be around. And since I'm pretty much swimming the entire time I'm around them, I really don't know all that much about them, so I'm looking forward to actually have some non-swim time to catch up with them.

 

[Amethyst]

In Federal offices, employees pay for their own parties. In recent years, the agencies have started granting a few hours of administrative leave each year for "morale-building events," so at least people don't have to use their own time off to attend.

Alcohol is not permitted at work (I'm sure some agencies break that rule), so if people want to drink at Christmas parties, they arrange to have them at local restaurants. Attendance is generally kept at or below $35 per person (any higher, and nobody under age 45 would come) so you know it's not at the best restaurants. Plus, these big places are noisy and you can't hear the people around you. I haven't attended such a party in years.

I'm not one who needs a drink to have fun or be sociable, so I prefer office pot-lucks. At Christmas, employees who like working together will often hold their own party in the office "just for our group." Often, the food people bring in is very tasty, since people tend to bring what they themselves enjoy. I've had Moroccan spiced beef, Korean bulgogi, Polish pirogies. One of the best parties I ever attended was held in someone's large home. They had a game room in the basement, a gift exchange in the living room, and little groups taking food into other rooms and just chatting. We almost didn't want to leave!

 

[GalaxyBoy]

In Federal offices, employees pay for their own parties.

DW worked in state government so it was the same thing. They also had an “employee appreciation day” one time where everyone got A donut. She had to sign for it, too.

 

[lwp2017]

We encourage our employees to BBQ on company time. We have some really large wood fired pits on property. We have employees that are competition level BBQ masters and love to show off how good they can grill ribs, sausage, and brisket.

Company buys the meat, side dishes, plates, etc. Employees like to also bring their special desserts and side dishes to share with coworkers.
Supervisors and managers serve the food to the employees and eat last.
We schedule a very light work day only a few hours, our employees do the setup, BBQ team start very early in the morning.

No booze, no presents, we take about four hours for a leisurely meal and fellowship. Just Christmas music on a stereo.
We have union employees so we invite the union business agents and all their assistants. Our executives also try to attend.

It's a great morale builder, employees look forward to it.