S/O - best/worst company holiday parties?

[carmenere]

The thread on MM and seeing a holiday episode of The Office has me thinking about holiday parties past. What are the best or worst office parties you've been to?

Worst - Lunch at a Moroccan restaurant. I like Moroccan food but it's not an experience I wanted to share with my coworkers. There was godawful karaoke. And then the belly dancer came out, and the CEO was drunk and trying to tuck money in her bra and waistband. The HR person in charge of the party was about to quit when she planned it, and that was her final middle finger to the company.

Best - The year after that debacle, HR decided to skip the traditional party and got us tickets to Cirque du Soleil instead.

[liverandonions]

I worked at a restaurant and we had our Christmas party on a Dinner cruise boat on the river. It was fun. There was an underage girl though that was so drunk she complained her shoes were hurting so she threw them overboard. She then had to walk on all the cobblestone streets barefoot. That was funny to me.

[loira]

Worst: the marketing agency I worked for (run by 40-something dudebros) took us to a burlesque club in Camden. The food was awful and the entertainment was exceedingly inappropriate for a work function.

Best: A different and way better company took us out for dinner at the Savoy.

[icedcoffee]

Best: My first job out of college did Saturday night dressy events at a high end steakhouse downtown with significant others invited. Everyone drank a ton and we normally ended up at an after party at a bar with someone's corporate card. It was fun and I had a lot of good friends at this job.

Worst: Probably my last job. It was beer, wine, and catered mexican in the office. Potluck desserts. No significant others invited. Not bad, just nothing all that special. I also didn't really have a ton of friends at this job so less fun in general.

ETA:  My current job did it on a weekday at a bowling ally.  No significant others.  Lots of yummy bar food and open bar.  I really enjoyed myself, but it was neither the best, nor the worst I've had.

[starburst604]

I guess the best (for me) was when I worked for a horrible woman who was horrible to me and the other support staff. She planned the party at an upscale Italian restaurant and had about 5 too many shots of Grappa. We all went to a nearby bar after and she was dancing wasted with some sort of bra stuffing slipping out of the neckline of her dress. Then she gave a scandalous lap dance to our gay male receptionist who was completely mortified. Also punched and kicked an ATM machine when she couldn’t manage to make it give her money and it ate her card.

20 years later I’m still friends with the receptionist and we still talk about it fondly.

[wambam]

Our holiday party is always great! This year and last we’ve had it at this great restaurant that has a private-ish room. We have appetizers and drinks in the lounge area and then sit down for dinner. There’s a set menu, but there are lots of options. The food is great, seeing everyone’s significant others is great, the wine is great. But I work for a 9 person company, so that definitely colors my opinion here.

[game blouses]

Best was this year! We went to an escape room and it was really fun. Ever since we let the millennials plan the parties they have been really creative and enjoyable.

The worst was more due to the work - we had a huge project that had to be finished by the end of December, so the party basically turned into a meeting.

[shortstax]

Best - A drinky good time at a bowling alley. Seems low-key, but that group of people could have had fun anywhere!

Worst - I work in public higher ed, so for the last 8 years it's been a potluck in the conference room. They used to give us $20 giftcards to Target, but that was cancelled due to ethics compliance. Booooooooooo.

[notoriousmeg]

Ours are all at high end bars with lots of apps and open bar. We all generally get along, so it’s a fun night out.
Usually some funny stories the next day, but no horror stories.

[W.T.Faulkner]

I've never been to a bad holiday party.  Three years ago, I did throw up in a bar bathroom because a coworker bought me too many shots.


Philadelphia charter school employees party hard.

[cabbagecabbage]

My best was when I worked for a luxury hotel and we had an event in the ballroom with a big band, great food, open bar, the whole nine yards.

My worst was working for a tiny company that had the worst culture you could imagine. One boss was openly cheating and had private fights in front of us. The owner was always out of the country but would promise clients the impossible, leave town without contact info, and never tell us. The owner had all of us and our spouses to his country club big Christmas dinner which was a lovely event with ice sculptures and period dressed carolers, and crab legs the size of arms but it also felt so weird and foreign to me. My direct boss/the fighting cheater's wife was an alcoholic and she asked my husband about his tongue piercing and whether he got it for my pleasure ::wink wink:: in front of everyone. It was just uncomfortable and messy all night and everyone around us looked like Real Housewives cast members and I remember thinking I had to get away from these people.

Most of holiday parties have been much more boring and simple.

[sugarbear]

I teach, so our party is a prayer service (Catholic school) and a catered breakfast.
I also own a small company with my brother. Our party is catered BBQ dinner and then a party bus to a semi-pro hockey game. Note: I did not plan this and am not excited about the second half of the night, but I gather the employees are. My SOs are invited. My brother also asks each employee to complete a wish list and he buys a personal gift for each employee. Some guys go big and ask for power tools, others have asked for socks.

[Deleted]

I don't really have any horror stories. I've worked for the same corporation for the better part of my career but in different groups. All of the holiday parties are basically the same. They're during work hours, a buffet lunch, and a bar with limited drink options and only two drink coupons per person. I currently work in our home office in a nice part of Philly, and our party is pretty meh. Just appetizers, bar is open but since it's the middle of the afternoon for only 2 hrs there isn't a lot of time to really take advantage. Also, the location is boring considering where I work and all of the other amazing options we have in the area.

[zoomzoom]

Worst: company my H worked for rented out a reception type place but the large room wasn't large enough for everyone so we were relegated to a separate room. After the (shitty) buffet dinner, they required that everyone in the separate room join them in the larger room and stand while they handed out awards...for over an hour. After about 10 minutes, I said fuck this and went to the bar to wait for my H.

Also, I do not care for holiday GTG's on my personal time. If I wanted to socialize with CW's outside of work, I would. Otherwise, I do not like feeling obligated to attend. My H is the social one so he always insists that I go. Fine. One night. Whatever. Still don't like it. #grinch

[notoriousmeg]

Ours are all at high end bars with lots of apps and open bar. We all generally get along, so it’s a fun night out.
Usually some funny stories the next day, but no horror stories.

[wambam]

Dec 14, 2018 14:23:00 GMT -5 mofongo said:

Dec 14, 2018 13:34:17 GMT -5 game blouses said:

Best was this year! We went to an escape room and it was really fun. Ever since we let the millennials plan the parties they have been really creative and enjoyable.

The worst was more due to the work - we had a huge project that had to be finished by the end of December, so the party basically turned into a meeting.

An escape room party would be my worst! No thank you!

Really? We did one together for my intern's going away party. It was really fun!

[sangria]

I've only had a few non-conference room at lunchtime holiday parties and those were always fun. Drinks, dinner, music at a swanky hotel or similar.

When I went to my first holiday party at the most recent firm I worked for I got insanely drunk and threw up on the side of the freeway on the way home while our uber driver chatted with my H.

I do miss a good company holiday party, one of the big cons when you work for yourself.

[carmenere]

Dec 14, 2018 14:25:36 GMT -5 wambam said:

Dec 14, 2018 14:23:00 GMT -5 mofongo said:

An escape room party would be my worst! No thank you!

Really? We did one together for my intern's going away party. It was really fun!

I think it depends so much on the people and the escape room set-up. We did one for "team building" and the room was very elaborate with flashing lights and blaring sirens and it was so stressful. On top of that, I don't really like my coworkers. And we didn't escape 

[revolution]

Best: My first company out of college. They would host a dinner/night of drinking at a fancy NJ country club. They also reimbursed us for cab fare to/from the country club and for most of us, it was an expensive ride since we didn't live in that town. So much fun. Probably because most of my coworkers were my friends and we all hung out outside of work. So a free fancy dinner and drinks with friends was perfect.

Worst: buffet style lunch during working hours in the warehouse cafeteria during the lunch hour. they try to make it nice with paper table cloths and candle lamps.

[jinkies]

My first job was in hospital administration. All the admin offices were in a suite together, about 20 of us.

17/20 reported directly to the hospital Executive Director. The other 3 of us were one more layer down (our bosses reported to her).

Year 1 at the job, all 20 of us had a Christmas party together in a conference room.

Year 2 the ED said she wanted to do something nicer. So she cancelled the conference room party and took only her direct reports out to a long, expensive lunch. The 3 of us who didn't report to her got left behind and didn't do any sort of celebration that year. She did get small gifts for everyone, including the ones who did not go to lunch. I got a manicure set that had been opened and was missing pieces.

[lemoncupcake]

Dec 14, 2018 13:47:09 GMT -5 cabbagecabbage said:

My best was when I worked for a luxury hotel and we had an event in the ballroom with a big band, great food, open bar, the whole nine yards.

So does that mean that some hotel staff had to serve their coworkers? Bartenders, cooks, serving and hospitality staff, etc? I get that in some industries it’s not possible for everyone to attend a company party because of needing coverage at work, but that sucks for the ones that had to work!

[msmerymac]

Worst was at the community room of our HR manager's apartment building. It was 2009. We had lukewarm pans of Italian food. Oh, unless you count the year we were told we'd have a party "after the holidays" while we all had to witness management having their own party before the holidays, complete with $$$ door prizes. We never did get that party. (Different company.)

Best was actually the year before the community room party when we did a dinner cruise in the marina. I won a $100 pottery barn gift card that year, too.

[msmerymac]

Dec 14, 2018 14:25:36 GMT -5 wambam said:

Dec 14, 2018 14:23:00 GMT -5 mofongo said:

An escape room party would be my worst! No thank you!

Really? We did one together for my intern's going away party. It was really fun!

I thought I was going to hate the escape room, but I loved it.

[cabbagecabbage]

Dec 14, 2018 15:25:17 GMT -5 lemoncupcake said:

Dec 14, 2018 13:47:09 GMT -5 cabbagecabbage said:

My best was when I worked for a luxury hotel and we had an event in the ballroom with a big band, great food, open bar, the whole nine yards.

So does that mean that some hotel staff had to serve their coworkers? Bartenders, cooks, serving and hospitality staff, etc? I get that in some industries it’s not possible for everyone to attend a company party because of needing coverage at work, but that sucks for the ones that had to work!

Yes. I worked for the banquets department and a certain amount of us had to staff the event and, of course, the front desk and housekeeping and room service and everyone was up and running because the hotel was open. It was always held on one of the slowest weekends in late January.

[waverly]

1. Best- a bunch of parties in NYC with tons of food and drinks

2. Worst- There was a big fight peripherally around me on whether I was allowed to go to the staff party. My boss didn't want me to go because I didn't have the correct status in her mind, and her boss wanted me to go because she was being a super bitch. I am not sure if someone ended up covering my desk for that time (at max an hour) or if I just left and got there later because then I had to go because the director had fought for me to do so.  Or if the fight was that someone had to cover my desk for an hour (oh the horror).  I was supposed to be there until 7, but core business hours were until 5, so if we closed by 6 it would have been totally fine.  

My boss was very status driven and by status I mean the coding a person is in the system by HR. I was not allowed to give full service help to adjuncts or staff even if they taught because they were not full professors. I was not given the same rights as the regular staff because my listing in HR was different, but my job tasks were the same. My life was a lot better when she moved away. She was very toxic.

ETA- We don't currently have holiday parties. Our party is not tied to a specific time of the year.  I would rather have that or not have anything.  Our worst here is just that they broke out the games.  I like the play games but not with my co-workers by myself because my H is home watching the kids.  I would rather do a family picnic and do a totally casual event or do something fancier rather than fancy followed by game night.  

[spindle92]

My company work parties have always been just low key potlucks in the office.

As I mentioned in the MM thread, my bff wins the award though for best party attended.
This past Monday she flew to London for a week to attend her husbands black tie event.
Oh and to add a little something extra, they were surprised with tickets to Hamilton.
The entire trip is on the company dime.

[jigsy]

At my last office, boss would take everyone to a really nice steakhouse for a private lunch. The gift exchange was kind of wild though. Everyone brought one gift worth about $15. Boss went out and bought an additional 100 or so gifts. All gifts were placed on a table at the front of the room and everyone went up in turns to pick a gift. Everyone ended up with 3 or 4 gifts. Then, boss walked around with a pair of dice, everyone rolled the dice, if you got pairs or 7 or 11, you got to go steal gifts from people. You could steal one, or multiple, as long as the person being stolen from was left with one gift. We did 2 or 3 rounds of the dice game, and in the end, some people ended up with one gift, some people would end up with 7 or 8. It usually started to be all good-natured, but slowly it would start to get kind of mean. Maybe I just worked with some mean people.

[melsbels]

My company takes all employees and their families (about 600 people) to a resort in the mountains for a weekend every year. We have a casual party on the Friday, and a huge fancy banquet on the Saturday night. They even do a kids Christmas party and offer babysitting during the banquet. They used to do a big brunch on the Sunday too but they cut that out a few years ago. It’s sooo much fun! Such a big part of our company culture, and everyone looks forward to it every year! The gossip about the dumb shit people do during the weekend usually lasts us a few months too lol. People in my industry drink a lot.

Worst party would be the second last one I had at my old job. It was a gross, cold buffet in a dungeon-like basement banquet room of a hotel. I brought my sister as my date and we bounced as soon as possible.

[cville]

THIS WAS THE WORST EVER. Remember my horrible boss? She had her secretary plan a dinner out at a restaurant then when the check came, said "senior management" would pay. She did not tell me or anyone else on senior management that she would be doing that. So we split a check for 50 people 7 ways.

The only reason it didn't entirely break me financially is that everyone hated her, so it was entrees only, no drinks. People just wanted to eat and leave.


PDQ: she lost her job over a year ago (asked to leave) AND IS STILL UNEMPLOYED. Mwah ha ha.

[silvercrayon]

Ours are horrible. It is scheduled during our work day. Our boss orders our dept. lunch and we go into the conference room. We each get a gift of some type of kitchen thing. We talk about work during the meal. We are back at work within the hour. It's BAD! It's not a party, but our boss calls it a party.