S/O - best/worst company holiday parties?

[maudefindlay]

I'm a SAHM now, but years ago and fresh out of grad school at my first job. We were a small department and had holiday parties at each other's homes. This one lady hosted and while I'm no prude, having a nude on the wall is a little awkward with coworkers....the fact the nude was her was something else.

[notsopicky]

I work in a school, so it's usually at a person's house, and I don't go b/c it's invariably scheduled for my birthday weekend.

H's previous company, which was local, did a few and they were nice enough, but since switching to a new company, they do not do any parties.

Top Performers trips, however, are lit. Open bars, gourmet food, gorgeous settings (in 2020 it's in BALI, FFS), we had acrobatic performers at the last one in Costa Rica. I live for those.

[wildrice]

I've only worked for non-profits, so they haven't been anything fancy. 2 employers ago they did a nice buffet and 2 drink tickets during work hours, so it was pleasant but not exactly FUN. The department heads sometimes hosted parties for their groups, and I got to go for a couple of years to one that was quite nice. It was at her home and she had it catered, free alcohol, good people. Nothing crazy but it was enjoyable.

The best holiday party I went to was actually my XH's employer, which had rented out a hotel ballroom and had dueling pianos as the entertainment. I like that kind of thing so I enjoyed it a lot. I think it was unlimited drinks but he worked in a town 30+ minutes away (and before Uber was a thing) so I don't think we drank a ton. That must have been the Christmas before we divorced, because I only attended a party with that company once. I actually worked there briefly a few years later, but I was only a temp and skipped the party that year because I hated working there and didn't have any friends I wanted to see there.

I guess this is my first year in my professional life where there is no holiday party to attend. If my "department" is having one, I'm not aware of it. Even though I've rolled my eyes at certain staff events in past years, I have to say that I appreciate it when my employer and/or colleagues make an effort to make work more fun.

[patches31709]

Our party this year was at a store in Rockefeller Center across the street from the tree lighting. The store had never hosted a party before, and the associates were walking around trying to sell us stuff and there wasn't enough food or plates (but the drinks were flowing!) and nowhere to sit down. Then NYC delayed the tree lighting until 5 minutes after our party ended, but thankfully the store let us stay.
So it was the best and worst all in one.

[wildrice]

cville that is truly horrible. I probably would have burst into tears. WTF? I don't even really like paying for my own meal lol. I certainly don't want to pay for 8 other people I don't necessarily even want to be having dinner with.

[cville]

Dec 14, 2018 20:52:02 GMT -5 wildrice said:

cville that is truly horrible. I probably would have burst into tears. WTF? I don't even really like paying for my own meal lol. I certainly don't want to pay for 8 other people I don't necessarily even want to be having dinner with.

I liked 85% of my other colleagues. So a small selection of us cried together over wine and cocktails after. They treated. 🤣

[Deleted]

Worst: I was the employee's date, so not my company. Dinner was at a highly rated $$$ local restaurant. Open bar, food was amazing. Good conversation. Then the boss backhanded his wife across the cheek. The cops were called. And it interrupted dessert. Those of us not getting arrested wandered across the complex to Chili's for drinks.

Best: Every year they take us to a steakhouse that opens only for lunch for certain clients. Lots of booze and food and dessert, and then we get the afternoon off.

[UMaineTeach]

Bad: the pirate interactive dinner theater

Good: this year has potential, decent comedian, but we will likely not attend, as the baby will be close to born or a newborn. Baby could make a quick appearance at their typical apps and cocktails party, but you can’t exactly bring one to an auditorium for a show.

Best: overall they are good because it’s a late holiday party, weeks after the stress of the actual holidays.

[cjcouple]

I don't really have best/worst to be honest. last 3 companies (16 years) are all the same. They are always a Thursday night after work at a fancy place, they have cocktails and apps, followed by yummy dinner and awesome desserts. No spouses or anything. Done by 8. Perfect!! haha

[aprilsails]

Best: 2 years ago for company’s 50th year they booked hotel rooms for all employees who wanted to go to the head office in Montreal. Good dinner, good venue (art gallery/ performance hall) and open bar followed by rock karaoke with an amazing live band! It was set up as a competition between offices and departments and went very well. Afterwards we went to a bar and then had poutine at 3 am. It was my first overnight away from my 1 year old and it was glorious.

Worst would be when the local office decided to go big one year and booked a huge banquet room at an event hall. It was lovely, but we’re only about 50 people even with spouses/dates so it was a bit cavernous. The DJ was brutal though. My husband is kind of known to party amongst my office mates and he couldn’t even save the situation.

[penguingrrl]

I’ve never worked anywhere that did anything. Hs company lets each manager spend a certain amount per person to take the group out to lunch, but it’s not a long lunch and everyone goes back to work for the entire afternoon. That’s more than any of his previous employers did.

His company does a huge weekend long blowout in the summer and rent an island off Manhattan for it. It’s always our anniversary weekend and we have to drive over an hour to a ferry terminal to take an over an hour ferry ride to get there, so 4 hours of travel. So we’ve only gone once. It was basically like a standard fair and we didn’t run into a single person H knew, and I’ve never met his coworkers. So while it was nice it wasn’t worth going again. Also, you have to sign up months in advance or it fills up and you can’t go.

[skidunks]

My old office used to take us on a trip if we made our goals for the year. It was great other but if we didn’t make the goals we got nothing. No trip, no party, no raises. We went on cruises, to the Dominican and to Costa Rica.
Last year my office party was at my bosses house. We had a single bottle of wine to share between 8 of us and they served us cold PF Chang’s and then did a cookie exchange for dessert. Fail.

[stephm0188]

My school job? We don't really do parties. The principal caters a breakfast for us.

My part time job? This year they flew us to Disney World. We had cocktail hour at the hotel, then a private dinner inside Epcot, followed by a dessert party on a private patio to watch the fireworks outside. Open bar throughout.

[lilac05]

We just had my party last night. It reminded me that it’s not so much what you do, but who you’re with. It was at someone’s house (not big or fancy, just a regular house), everyone brought something simple to eat, there were lots of drink options, a white elephant exchange (which I usually despise, but was actually really fun), and caroling to a few neighbors’ houses. It cost the hosts very little and was honestly the most fun we’ve ever had at a holiday party.

[rosiebear]

UMaineTeach, I need to hear more about the interactive pirate theater.

I work for state govt, so at my last job we closed our doors for one 55-minute potluck party. It was still fun and people brought really good food. I heard the new department head canceled even that, though, because he is a total dick.

[UMaineTeach]

Dec 15, 2018 16:05:35 GMT -5 rosiebear said:

UMaineTeach, I need to hear more about the interactive pirate theater.

I work for state govt, so at my last job we closed our doors for one 55-minute potluck party. It was still fun and people brought really good food. I heard the new department head canceled even that, though, because he is a total dick.

Like a murder mystery dinner, except it was pirates. The cast came to the rented room at a catering company and preformed their show. Very amateur actors, the star of the show was the owner and writer. Each quadrant was assigned as a ship belonging to one of the pirates. There was lucky not serious audience participation. You were supposed to track clues on a sheet, but I couldn’t really follow the script. My table gave up and drank more. Still not sure how they arrived at a killer.

Best part was at the bottom of the page was a place to sign up for them to call you for an audition. I filled in a friend who couldn’t come and texted her a picture. Didn’t pass it in though

[lissaholly]

Best:
Has to do with my age at the time, probably. I worked at a chain restaurant in Wisconsin. Our GM arranged with another GM in another city, about two hours away, to trade staff so that the whole staff could have the part night off. I don’t remember the actual party, but I was part of the traveling staff and it was sooooo fun! They opened bar for us st the end of the night, put us up in a hotel afterwards, and it was so fun. We were all in our 20s, with nothing else to do that night, and got along well.

Worst:
Nice restaurant, small staff, no significant others- absolutley perfunctory and straight from work. It was a work environment that seemed to discourage socialization.

[isabel]

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!

At least in my experience, we always hired temp labor for that. When I worked in country clubs, we would find another club to swap with and we would have our party at theirs on a Monday (that their staff would serve) and then they would have their party at our club on a Monday (and our staff would serve).

But yes, there are always people who don't get to attend because they have to work. Hospitality orgs usually do holiday parties on Mondays or weeknights so that fewer people have to miss it.

[isabel]

Ours are generally fine. Nothing to write home about. This year it was in a banquet room at a steakhouse. The food was good and I walked away with a 5lb bottle of fresh, raw honey, so that was cool.

The best was probably two years ago. It was at a restaurant concept with tons of little starter restaurants in it and we basically just got to go around and order whatever we wanted. Plenty of alcohol too (though I was pregnant, so did not partake). I won a mini ipad that year, so that was cool.

I missed last year's party because we were out of town and I think I'm glad I did. They combined the party with another meeting and ended up spending an hour doing an awards presentation. On top of that, people were apparently just stupid drunk. And it was at a hotel, so I can't imagine the food was anything special.

[itsme]

I worked for a title company during the housing boom years and their parties were quite fun. The company took us to Las Vegas and paid for rooms at a nice casino. They provided party buses as well for the trip (we're in SoCal). The party included a slots tournament, fancy dinner, and great prizes.

I haven't been to a really bad party yet.

[nospaekae]

Worst: The company had a bunch of layoffs a few weeks before the holiday party. I was not one of the lay offs. Those that were laid off were still welcome to attend the party and many did. It was beyond awkward and depressing. Besides the lay offs, the party was held in like a Holiday Inn banquet room. Previous years it was a pretty $$$ affair at a local steak/seafood place. Based on the circumstances, I think we all would have been better off with the party just being cancelled.

Best: The company I worked for just out of grad school rented out the Boston Aquarium. Cool apps stations, open bar, wandering the exhibits. They also rented out a deck at Fenway and hosted a clambake during a game for our annual summer outing. Sweet perks, crappy pay.

[sent]

Best - Pre-kids, I went to the NYC party of the big 4 firm where my husband worked. He was cowering in a corner somewhere because he was based out of the NJ office so he didn't know anyone. It was at the Marriott Marquis and there must have been 1000 people in the room, so I started walking up to groups of young-ish looking people and saying "Hi, I'm Sent and I work in Internal Marketing." I even went out for some after parties with random people.

Runner up - I forgot about this one. I worked for a Russian boss and they took everyone + spouses to a Russian restaurant way at the end of Brooklyn every year. Everyone was drinking straight vodka or tequila, there were no mixers. Messy messy. 

Worst - that would be me trying to have a holiday lunch last year for my own employees. I set a time and date at the office that I figure would work with the full timers and part timers, and only 2/5 of them were there. This year I think I'm just going to give everyone $100 and call it a day.

[mactastic]

Worst: every year, my small, non-profit organization does a potluck. That part is totally fine. It's where the CEO and our old fundraiser (who has since retired, but comes back for this every year) bust out their guitars and make us all sing Christmas carols with them that it gets real weird. I've been here forever, so I'm used to it now, but the first year, I'd just been hired a week before. It's so damn awkward.

Best is my husband's work party. He works for a restaurant, and his boss rents out a brewery and a food truck, so free booze and food all night. They always have fun themes, and a secret Santa exchange. This year, we left at 2 a.m. and got made fun of for being "an old married couple," since at least 70 percent of the people were still raging. Our two set-ups could not be more different.

[mrsd2006]

Dec 14, 2018 12:36:55 GMT -5 liverandonions said:

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.

Was that in Savannah? 

[liverandonions]

Dec 20, 2018 15:48:07 GMT -5 mrsd2006 said:

Dec 14, 2018 12:36:55 GMT -5 liverandonions said:

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.

Was that in Savannah? 

No, not this drunk girl lol. Nor Cal

[skidunks]

My office party was tonight. We went to PF Chang’s where my bosses showed up 45 minutes late and the rest of us had been drinking already for an hour. They sat at my end of the table and just after we ordered all of my co workers got up and went to the bathroom together leaving me alone with the two of them. My bosses are pretty non social so that was awkward and super awesome. I’m still pissed at them.

[killercupcake]

I don’t think I’ve been to a bad one.

My school knows how to party. I’m only bitter I missed the BEST one they ever had the year before I got there. I guess they rented out the entire Ghost Bar at the Palms and raged all night. People are still talking about it 4 years later.

But yeah, they’re all fun. Educators have a good time.

[ellipses84]

Best: Black tie affair at the fanciest country club of a major city. Open bar. The street leading there was all mansions decked out with amazing Christmas decorations. The only occasion I’ve ever had to wear a ball gown.

Worst: Company with an extremely socially awkward ceo that made everyone else feel awkward + no alcohol policy at company events = no fun. We did a lunch time potluck with white elephant gifts, except the company purchased all the gifts to avoid inappropriate ones, so they were pretty boring things, like the $5 and $10 generic stocking stuffers from dept stores or Black Friday appliances. Honestly it wasn’t as bad as other people’s examples, but most of my other jobs had good events.

[meganew]

Dec 14, 2018 13:41:35 GMT -5 W.T.Faulkner said:

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.

This is the truest shit I’ve ever read on here. H worked in advertising for years, where the culture was similar to Mad Men in terms of office drinking. Then he came to a Phillies teacher appreciation game and watched my coworkers “pre game” well into the 7th inning and was like “Holy. Shit.”

[laurack]

Our holiday lunch this year was organized by me because the manager kept forgetting or whatever. Finally everyone said Monday would work but he didn’t send a formal invite. 2 people didn’t come to work. I went over at 11am and was like “uh are we doing the lunch? You didn’t send anything or reply to any of the emails ...” and he said “oh is that today? Yes let’s do it” I wouldn’t even have bothered but I like free lunch. Then he asked my coworker if he had a corporate credit card when the bill came and he was like “uh no” lol

Our holiday party is always at the same hotel and pretty nice. This year they had a bunch of layoffs so then they did a more frugal party at a different place. beer and wine only (normally a full bar) and apparently bad food. I wasn’t there though this time.

Normally the parties are fun, always a few people who get trashed (young people). I’ve gotten drunk myself but usually can hold it together until the after party when all the executive management has gone home lol