Work Holiday Parties

[tvguy]

Used to love the off site, after work (for most) bring a date Christmas parties where you could dress up. Then about 18 years ago they switched to on site, during the work day parties for employees only.

 

[firefly_ris]

Husband works for my BIL's company and is in charge of organizing and executing the yearly shindig. Just had it last week. They rent out a nice place for the evening, pay for the full bar, dinner, hire a DJ. Formal attire. My husband runs one or two games and gives out prizes like $75 or $100 Amazon gift cards, stuff like that. Employees also each receive a gift and their bonus. There are typically 2 or 3 people that don't attend but out of the 36 (or around about there) employees that's still a good turnout.

I work for a really small company and so my boss doesn't throw a party, but the building our office space is in holds an annual luncheon for all of the tenants so we attended that yesterday. Low key and just an hour or two.

 

[Lord Manhammer]

Sounds better than the freezing cold office building I'm currently sitting in lol. I'm not even too sensitive to cold but it's like a frozen tundra in here.

Oh I can relate. My office has 2 windows and while providing nice views of the campus, it gets horribly cold. I have an illegal heater under my desk and gave one to my good friend in the office next to me as she suffers from cold office too.

 

[Praying Colonel]

There are 3 office holiday parties I could attend, but I only attend the one for our local office. It's a pot luck luncheon during work hours with a voluntary gift exchange with a max cost of $10. I really enjoy it.

The other 2 holiday parties are after work, cost a lot and I don't really know the people who'll be attending, so I don't do those.

 

[soccerdad72]

I forgot, the admistrative staff at our college had a dessert/cookie reception the other day in the afternoon where the President gave his holiday wishes, but it fell on a day I work from home, so I didn't attend that. I wasn't making a special trip out for that.

 

[Kennywood]

I've been to 2-3 Christmas work parties. I hated all of them. The parties were nothing more than loud music and an excuse to get drunk.

 

[disneychrista]

My employer wide Christmas party was this past Friday. I go out of obligation.

My department does a luncheon next week. We usually order in and then do what they call a white elephant with good gifts type exchange. I attend the lunch, again out of obligation, but no longer do the gift exchange.

 

[Moliphino]

My company's holiday party was on December 2nd. I have never gone to one in the 10 years I've been here.

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

DH and I work for a small family owned company. Less than 20 people including the family (funny thing is the non-family employees consist of 2 married couples, a set of twins, and a mother and son among a couple others so lots of close relationships). The owners usually take us all out to lunch, but this year they are catering lunch at the office on the 21st (we are closed on the 22nd). So we will probably have lunch and leave early. It's perfectly fine and we appreciate whatever they do.

 

[brockash]

This has been alluded to on other threads so let's have one dedicated to it. Work Holiday Parties. How do you feel about them? I have my second of three holiday parties tonight where I will be attending a reception thrown by my University President including trustees and donors. I will wear my best suit. I have another casual party on Friday. What about you? Will you be having a holiday party at work? If there was another thread dedicated to this, I apologise for the duplication.

Really dislike them, however since Covid, they've really kinda disappeared around here.

 

[fla4fun]

I am not a party person in general. They make me feel very uncomfortable. I didn’t attend the holiday party every year, but I would try to go about every third or fourth year so I wouldn’t be labeled as antisocial. I worked in the travel industry and we often had our parties at the theme parks, so I would go to the ones at WDW and skip the Sea World and Universal ones.

 

[prairie_girl]

My work party/luncheon is scheduled for this Friday between 12-130. I don’t think I’m going because 1- I’m really sick with a cold and possible ear infection and 2- it’s nowhere near me and would be pretty expensive to Uber there and back.

As it is, I’m waiting to hear if I can skip the mandatory in office work day tomorrow so I can stay home but keep working.

 

[DoryGirl1963]

Hate them! Just give me the money...never attended one unless it was mandantory, which is also ridiculous.

 

[1420Elexismc]

We will have a catered lunch brought in on 12/22...we haven't done a true party in quite a few years...my old job did a semi formal party every year

 

[CynBeth]

Thankfully since Covid hit we have been remote and no holiday celebrations. When we were in the office sometimes the company had an event outside of work hours I forget where it was held but I never went. Or there would be a pot luck lunch with everyone or just the people on our floor (we are on 3 floors of the building) and those I did participate in. Then the building we were in had a holiday party held after work for all companies located there. I went a few times but never enjoyed it.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I miss our old parties! We really don't do much anymore. Our company used to have these epic holiday parties. They'd rent out one of the big museums (art, science, etc) or pro-sports arenas (NFL, NBA, MLB) in our city and everyone got dressed to the nines. There were quite a few outside people who were desperate to be your +1 guest at these events. The food, drinks, and entertainment were just as spectacular as these incredible party venues. I was in my mid 20s the first time I attended one and was in complete awe. It was like something out of a movie...even from the time you pulled up to the valet service...especially considering the number of people who opted for limos. That year was at our Museum of Natural Science. There was a large bell choir welcoming guests in the museum's entry hall, additional musicians inside, servers were walking around with trays of canapes and champagne, there were smaller food stations with fun things like build your own mashed potatoes in a martini glass (options like caviar, smoked salmon, lobster, etc.), numerous very nicely appointed open bars with expert bartenders, a couple of highly decorated large food areas with big items like manned carving stations and signature dishes from some local fancy restaurants, the gem room of the museum had all kinds of entremet style desserts with some additional custom options, etc. I recall the year at the fine arts museum, we could get chocolate picture frames to make our own artistic desserts. The years at the sporting arenas, mascots and cheerleaders/dancers were present to help pump up the crowd and take pics. The company usually got us a discounted room blocks at a fancy nearby hotel and there were always after parties at the hotel's swanky club and bars. They scaled it back to division level parties for a while, at smaller museums and local historical sites, but it all went away in the mid to late 2000s.

These days, there aren't any parties. Our company's winter gathering is focused more on giving back and is aligned with our Adopt an Angel gift turn in date. The angel stuff was still huge back in the days of the parties as well, but now it's the central part of our holiday event. It happens onsite and food is only provided to those volunteering. So, big bags of gifts get turned in for underprivileged children, many of those children come to the office and meet Santa, local businesses have stations set up to sell their homemade goods, gift baskets are raffled off for donations to Ronald McDonald Foundation, and there's a cookie exchange.

 

[Kennywood]

As much as I hated my own company's Christmas parties, I actually looked forward to the parties given by my wife's company.

It would be an all-you-can eat dinner at a restaurant. (Fish and/or chicken) There was an open bar, for those who wanted to make use of it. But what was really special about the party is that it was a family event. People were encouraged to bring their kids. And the company made sure that every kid had a really nice gift waiting for them.

 

[_19disnA]

Work @ at large company so each department does their own thing for any type of holiday/Christmas lunch/party. Mostly depends on what the current boss prefers. I like a luncheon during working hours so you aren't required to attend something outside of working hours. Everyone has their own life outside of work and to assume everyone wants to attend something after-hours seems a bit presumptuous. It is always funny to see some co-workers who try to use these events as a chance to rub elbows with the leadership and attempt to impress them............LOL.

A few times we had a dinner at some local restaurant on the weekend. Since it was only for adults, you had to make arrangements for a baby-sitter if you had younger children. Those who were single/separated/divorced found the whole thing a big awkward when your spouse was also invited but they didn't have a partner to bring along. Clearly everyone knew their co-workers, but none had ever met any of the spouses previously. Think we only did that one time.

 

[SpaceMan5]

I worked for a small (30 ppl) blue-collar type company for 30 years and those parties were fun. We would close up early one day during the week so the swing and graveyard shifts could attend a function like go-cart racing, ax throwing, bowling etc. The food was catered and prizes were given away by the owners.

Now that we have merged with a larger company, 1,500 ppl, in Oct 22' it hasn't been so hot. Last year the party was held in a stale convention center room on a Saturday night. We were largely ignored the entire night. And not going to the party this Sunday afternoon.

I already know what most are thinking and it is true. At my small company we all knew each other and many of us had worked together for 15-30 years. Then going to a larger company and only know a few ppl for just a couple of months didn't help matters. Because I am in sales it is easy to make some small talk but it really was just me doing the talking.

Not giving up hope for 2024

 

[Mle8308]

Our party was yesterday evening for 2 hours after work in downtown Boston. I did not attend for a few reasons, one being I am the HR director and no one wants HR at a party with a bar (cash) and I don't want to be a direct witness to employees' drunken stupid behavior. Only one other person in my department was going and I'm not especially social with that person, I like them, but we are at different stages in our careers and don't have a lot in common outside of work. We are doing a small HR department brunch tomorrow during work hours, I will go in for that - plus I can park at that building and not pay $45!