The flyers went out this week. Our work holiday party will be held on Dec 9 from 7-11. In a tent. In the parking lot. At work. There will be a band, light snacks, and soft drinks, and a cash bar. $10 per person.
In a tent. In the parking lot. At work. :rolleyes:
Damn the luck - that day is my wedding anniversary so I’ll opt to spend it with my sweetie. Not in a tent. Not in the parking lot. Definitely not at work.
Anyone have worse work-related festivities in the offing??
$10 per person? For light snacks and a cash bar? That better be one hell of a band. Or one hell of a tent. Anyway, it looks to me like someone took the annual personal goal “Identify and utilize new revenue streams” a little too seriously.
Yikes. Ours is pretty good. The food is excellent; catered, and there is a smidgeon (spelling?) of caviar involved. And warm brie. And many other varied delights. And booze. There’s a bartender. And a band.
On the down side, it’s on a Thursday night by tradition, and if you’re smart and can get away with it, you can book Friday off as one of your holiday days. (But then you miss out on the post-party gossip.) The other down side is that it’s held at the office, which although large and festively decorated, is still the darned office! And it gets hot and crowded.
But the food, the booze, and the band–can’t complain about that.
You could check out this thread.
That’s a pretty shitty office party situation.
We’re bringing snackie stuff in on the Friday before Christmas (the 23rd?). I like that. Work a little, munch a little all day long. Everybody is a lot happier with that than when we actually planned a night time event. Oh, and we close the office early that day too. Doesn’t take a whole lot to make us happy does it. 
<Joe Piscopo in Johnny Dangerously>
I went to an office Holiday Party once.
Once.
</Joe Piscopo>
We have several and I don’t look forward to any of them, but at least none of them are on my own time. The college wide one is at the main gallery up the hill. It used to be in the main dining hall and was catered by our dining services, so it has improved greatly since that has changed, but there is still a receiving line with the President and his wife so that sucks. The secret: get there very late and you’ll miss the line. There is a staff art/craft show at the party, which is interesting since not everyone is an artist who participates (this is an art school). It’s free.
Then we have the division party. There is some charge - $10-$15. It is either in a restaurant or some meeting space on campus and it’s a lunch. We do a Yankee swap. Every year I dread it and every year I have a lot of fun in spite of my self.
Then we have an office lunch. My boss pays and we go to a restaurant. Although we work closely together and have many fun conversations in the office, we tend to feel awkward at this lunch.
I feel like the luckiest chick in the world. I work in Atlanta and was just confirmed for the holiday party in Dallas. The company is picking up the costs of my airfare and hotel. I love the company.
Tent?
You get a tent? In a parking lot?
Why in my day, we stood naked to the elements knee-deep in a methane-seeping bog.
AND WE LIKED IT!
Lucky tent-dwelling bastards!
We had a big country club do last year (the owner owns a country club also) – band, open bar, etc. I don’t drink so it wasn’t too amusing to me.
Since they do that only every few years, I’m guessing this year management will spring for sandwiches and each dept. will be assigned an “etc.” (drinks, chips, desserts) for a quasi-potluck lunch. I usually grab food and head back to my desk.
At my job, our holiday party is going to work. WOO!!!
My boyfriend’s job has a pretty good one for people who like that sort of thing. Tons of good food. Only problem is that he likes to dance and is much more social than I am, so I get left alone while he socially butterflies it up. Screw that, this year he goes by himself. 
If I recall, you’re in Florida, yes? That wouldn’t fly here in NJ 
We don’t have a company-wide party. We get an extra day off at Christmas - Monday the 26th this year. It’s hugely popular.
VCNJ~
Now that’s a great idea!
No, I left Florida a year and a half ago. The site of the party is northeast Virginia. It’s gonna be freekin’ cold, I’m sure. Oh, and the base where I work is located on the Potomac - so it’ll be cold with a river breeze. But they promise the tent will be heated.
Yeah, whatevah…
At my old workplace, a courthouse, there isn’t an official holiday party, but there is a colossal holiday luncheon. Everyone brings in a dish, and this is the best spread you can imagine. Everything from humble home-cooking to the most gourmet meals you’ve ever seen – since everyone wants to show off their best kitchen skills to their co-workers. The entire luncheon takes a few hours, and everyone just hangs out in the jury room and talks and laughs and gives awards and eats and relaxes. Obviously no alcohol is involved, which leads to far fewer potentially-embarrassing situations. Nobody has to make plans to get together outside of work for some big forced event, since it’s all right there, during the work day, usually on a very slow Friday as Christmas draws nearer. I resigned a few weeks ago, but I’m still on good terms with everyone, and I was honored to get an invitation to this year’s party. To me, if you can stand your co-workers (and I loved mine), that’s the best kind of holiday party to have.
Years ago I worked for the best Christmas Party Company evah. They booked us for the weekend at a fancy downtown hotel, had a string quartet during dinner and then a DJ for the rest of the evening. Fabulous food and drink for free, and all the girls spent weeks picking out the perfect party dress. It was awesome.
Each job has progressively gone downhill in the christmas party department. Shame, really. I love a good party.
When I worked for a smaller county this was the usual party - every department would be tasked with one type of food (salads, desserts, hotdishes [this IS Minnesota, after all!]). We decorated our little areas of the courthouse, divisions were judged with prizes going to the most festive and the most creative display.
We would spend a good portion of the afternoon wandering around, stuffing our gobs, and just sharing in holiday cheer.
Now I’m back in Big County Heck. We have over 15,000 employees. They have a county party, but it’s expensive (last year $45/person, $80/couple) at a local hotel. Only the muckymucks go to that party - us plebes cannot afford to go. The cost is for dinner/dancing. Cash bar only - even for soda. My division doesn’t do anything anymore. They used to sponsor a holiday luncheon, but it became too expensive. Now we just have unit only holiday lunches, MAYBE, sometime in January or February. It must be done in conjunction with a unit meeting too. And it’s a pay for your own damn self deal.
I’m pretty much done with spending time with my coworkers outside of the office, so I don’t go to the party. I don’t care if everyone thinks of me as the office grinch. I kind of regret not going last year because apparently there was some kind of talent show (the party was planned by another unit in the building, so none of my own coworkers knew about this beforehand). I heard it was hilarious.
The company I work for throws some pretty good shindigs. Last year we all had rooms at a resort about forty miles away… open bar, gambling for fake money (which we could then use to bid for other shwag), and a darn good feed. I hit the sack kind of early, so I missed the big to-do of two employees’ wives making out in the bathroom and the resultant fight out on the dance floor. This year, I’m gonna stay up late.
My previous employer just took us all out to dinner - but swanky dinnner. With spouses, we never topped more than 24 attendees. They company picked up the entire tab - booze and all - with only common-sense limitations on the parameters (no, you can’t order the bottle of Opus One).
Last year, the president got hammered before we ate our appetizers (something like 5 or 6 martinis) and ended up getting sick … in the lobby on the way to the bathroom. He was taken to a nearby hotel and dropped off in a room (on the bed, minus his shoes, glasses, and sport coat). The conversation was quite subdued after that.