I'm curious how prevelant it is to have christmas parties in the workplace, How much does the company spend? a little? nothing? Is it an amazing steakhouse? or a potluck in office during a 'team meeting?'
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For those people that work for companies that have Christmas Parties? How are they?
- Thread starter BringBackSonics
- Start date
Just had my Christmas party this past weekend. About 400 people at an event center here in saskatoon. Dinner was nice and there was some good prizes (didn't win shit though) but man was that crowd rough. Party was supposed to kick in after the prizes and awards but I don't think there were more than 8 people on the dance floor at any given time.
My table tried so hard to get people into it; played rasputin, footloose etc. But fucking nothing. At that moment I threw in the white towel, bought a bottle of wine for myself and drank the rest of the night.
My old company's last year was so much better.
My table tried so hard to get people into it; played rasputin, footloose etc. But fucking nothing. At that moment I threw in the white towel, bought a bottle of wine for myself and drank the rest of the night.
My old company's last year was so much better.
We have them.
We need to pay a deposit of around £10 to join, and we get access to a menu which normally costs around £40. As for location, it used to be at zizzi's, but now it has been moved to a nearby pub/restaraunt.
There is a lot of alcohol. Like a lot. Bottles after bottles of free wine. Most people leave hammered.
We need to pay a deposit of around £10 to join, and we get access to a menu which normally costs around £40. As for location, it used to be at zizzi's, but now it has been moved to a nearby pub/restaraunt.
There is a lot of alcohol. Like a lot. Bottles after bottles of free wine. Most people leave hammered.
I'd rather not go but our company does put on a nice event at a local restaurant. I always end up having more fun than I thought I would.
Free alcohol, food and prize giveaways. I enjoy them as long as enough people from my department show up.
Ours are pretty fun, lot's of free drinks and they give away a shit ton of cool stuff tv's, gaming systems etc.
We just had ours, there was about 3400 people there. They gave away thousands of dollars in door prizes and had a buffet and live bands. The drink tickets were a little pricey but they paid all the cab rides home after.
We had a mixed one this year with a number of different offices at the same venue, normally each site/office arranges their own. We normally get around £35 per head to spend and the directors will buy everyone a drink. This year though they put loads of money behind the bar so I don't think I bought a drink once in there. Result!
My department has them. They always involve going out to lunch at around 11:30am or so, followed by an outing of some sort. We've done escape rooms and gone axe throwing in the past. We don't come back to the office afterwards.
ETA: They always pay for all of it, including drinks and we get the whole day paid.
ETA: They always pay for all of it, including drinks and we get the whole day paid.
I work for the government so we get jack shit, end up organizing a dinner on our own, after work hours that we all have to pay for. Fucking sucks but I have a small office and you look like an ass if you don't go, so between that and my wife's Christmas party (teachers, same deal with paying themselves) we'll be in the hole for like $120, pretty dumb.
Last year our party was at a fancy ballroom with a multi-course meal, in a convenient location, with various activities and such. I'm not a big party person and am very introverted but I went anyway and it was a decent time.
This year the party is at some small location far from the office, is only serving snacks and drinks, and has only limited activities. I was part of the informal planning group for the party and repeatedly objected to these changes but got overruled by the person who was in charge of planning. Many people have since complained about the scaled-back party. A lot of it was probably budget cuts since we have a new company owner. I'm not going.
This year the party is at some small location far from the office, is only serving snacks and drinks, and has only limited activities. I was part of the informal planning group for the party and repeatedly objected to these changes but got overruled by the person who was in charge of planning. Many people have since complained about the scaled-back party. A lot of it was probably budget cuts since we have a new company owner. I'm not going.
I've gone the gambit.
My first "real" job in my 20s rented out a hotel ball room for 3-4 hours.
My wife's smaller bro-tech company rented out a hotel and the presidential suite of the nicest hotel in Austin and wilded out. Like, people puking on a desk that belonged to LBJ and literally trying to hang from a chandelier. They went bankrupt and both owners are divorced from their wives for things that began that night with employees of theirs.
My second "real" job in my late 20s rented out the back room at a nice steak place and did a multi-course meal that went on all night. They went out of business less than 6 months later.
Deutsche Bank rented out a really nice steak place but was like a happy hour timing and no spouses could come.
Goldman Sachs literally just had a 1 hour get together in the conference room with beer.
Seems the profitability of the company was directly disproportional to how much they spent on the party.
My first "real" job in my 20s rented out a hotel ball room for 3-4 hours.
My wife's smaller bro-tech company rented out a hotel and the presidential suite of the nicest hotel in Austin and wilded out. Like, people puking on a desk that belonged to LBJ and literally trying to hang from a chandelier. They went bankrupt and both owners are divorced from their wives for things that began that night with employees of theirs.
My second "real" job in my late 20s rented out the back room at a nice steak place and did a multi-course meal that went on all night. They went out of business less than 6 months later.
Deutsche Bank rented out a really nice steak place but was like a happy hour timing and no spouses could come.
Goldman Sachs literally just had a 1 hour get together in the conference room with beer.
Seems the profitability of the company was directly disproportional to how much they spent on the party.
My old company was great. Open bar, good conversation, music, food. I loved it.
My current company? Extremely meh.
My current company? Extremely meh.
We just had our second Christmas party at work since we merged with another company with a nearby office, which - from chatting to the people who plan them - gives them an interesting balancing act; our office leans a bit older and quieter, more introverted, while their office are very much the more upbeat, banter-y, sociable group; last year we had separate parties simply by virtue of the fact that we couldn't find a happy medium that appealed to both offices.
This year we had a reasonable compromise; nice hotel meal, also renting out a conference room for a disco late into the night after the event.
Back at Rebellion for two years running we'd buy out an entire cinema screen for that year's LOTR release, followed by a restaurant meal. Was quite a nice way of doing it, given the nature of the company most employees had at least a passing interest!
This year we had a reasonable compromise; nice hotel meal, also renting out a conference room for a disco late into the night after the event.
Back at Rebellion for two years running we'd buy out an entire cinema screen for that year's LOTR release, followed by a restaurant meal. Was quite a nice way of doing it, given the nature of the company most employees had at least a passing interest!
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We have very lavish black tie affairs in really great venues with tons of food and drink and stuff to do, which is definitely an awesome benefit. The only issue is that the video game industry is filled with nerds who are often too nervous to dress up or go to a nice party
Ours used to be lavish black tie events at places like the Air and Space Museum, Museum of Natural History and others, and the museums would actually be open for us so we could walk around. Elaborate dinner and a band and open bar of anything you wanted. Oh and you could call a black car service to get you to the venue and back on the company's tab.
Then we downsized quite a bit so downgraded to just renting out a restaurant on a Friday afternoon for a few hours.
This year is the first year we're back to what some are calling a "real" Christmas party. It's going to be at a building that's just a huge observation deck with panoramic views of DC. Dinner and all that.
We'll probably never go back to the old extravagant ones.
Then we downsized quite a bit so downgraded to just renting out a restaurant on a Friday afternoon for a few hours.
This year is the first year we're back to what some are calling a "real" Christmas party. It's going to be at a building that's just a huge observation deck with panoramic views of DC. Dinner and all that.
We'll probably never go back to the old extravagant ones.
Only been to a few, but my company rents out a place with something to do. Bowling, arcade, driving range, etc. Catered with decent food.
Small office too so it doesn't get too crazy.
Small office too so it doesn't get too crazy.
We always have it at the owner's big fancy house, but luckily it almost always falls on the premiere day for a Star Wars film and this year is no exception. So I never go. It's always on a Thursday to try to convince people to not get blackout drunk and stay late, which is just dumb.
Our company rents out an estate/resort in North GA each Christmas and has a band play. Open bar from 6-8PM too :D
I don't even want to know how much it costs. Probably $30k?
Could argue it's better spent being given as a bonus to office employees but it's a fun party, for sure. Hilarious seeing fellow co-workers getting loose.
Def. not our parties.... /shrug
I don't even want to know how much it costs. Probably $30k?
Could argue it's better spent being given as a bonus to office employees but it's a fun party, for sure. Hilarious seeing fellow co-workers getting loose.
Def. not our parties.... /shrug
We went all out at a firm I used to work out. Owners would rent a private room at a nice restaurant. Open bar, no restrictions. Huge feast. Shots. Raw sexual tension. We had around 15 employees and everyone was friendly.
Now I work at a non-profit and we're definitely not doing shit for the holidays. We are poor.
Now I work at a non-profit and we're definitely not doing shit for the holidays. We are poor.
Our has a nice venue, good food, loads of free drink(unlimited soft drinks, one kind of beer and wine each, and coffee. Two drink tickets for other stuff per person.. Transferable tho) . Was loads of fun last year, about 200-250 people, really casual and fun, later on with DJ and dancing and all that.
The company my dad works at had a few hundred people attending and spent upwards of 1000€ per person. I think they rented a football/soccer stadium for that.
The company my dad works at had a few hundred people attending and spent upwards of 1000€ per person. I think they rented a football/soccer stadium for that.
I work in a large (10k+ employees) tech company and they're fairly lavish. Themed, entertainment, as much free booze as you can handle.
Last year we rented out a space at a local country club and had a pretty nice dinner catered for us. There was a DJ and open bar, but it was a Thursday night and I had work the next day so I didn't want to get drunk or see anyone else too drunk so I left early-ish.
This year it's at a pretty upscale bar this Friday. I think it should actually be fun.
It is cocktail attire normally, so sports jackets and button-downs for guys and dresses or a nicer outfit for women.
This year it's at a pretty upscale bar this Friday. I think it should actually be fun.
It is cocktail attire normally, so sports jackets and button-downs for guys and dresses or a nicer outfit for women.
The company I last worked for didn't do Christmas parties, but the main engineering group I was in (roughly 150 people) would rent out an entire screen/showing of whatever the big movie release was at the time and pay for essentially free access to the concession stand. I'm not there anymore, but I assume they'll be doing the same thing for The Rise of Skywalker this year.
They're fine and usually have good free food and alcohol but I kinda hate the concept of doing something related to work on the weekend even if it's not work. I went last year but I'm skipping this year
Old company had them every year, we would go eat and drink what they would pay for. Then they'd just tell us to go home early after which we'd inevitably just go to the bar next door and commence with getting hammered.
Can't be overstated. Even if you think they're lame, you should go.
I work at a medium size company, and their spend usually fluctuates if they plan to host the party, or if they go off site.
If on-site, its well catered with tons of food and open bar, DJ, Dancefloor, playroom with adults to look after the kids.
If off-site, like this year, its in a nice part of the city, with tons of open room and food options. They make sure all the food/drinks are paid for and just want you and your family to have a good time.
Its a big thing for my company, but I dont generally go for more than an hour, because there are just too many people around
If on-site, its well catered with tons of food and open bar, DJ, Dancefloor, playroom with adults to look after the kids.
If off-site, like this year, its in a nice part of the city, with tons of open room and food options. They make sure all the food/drinks are paid for and just want you and your family to have a good time.
Its a big thing for my company, but I dont generally go for more than an hour, because there are just too many people around
I only worked at one company that had them, and they were a gong show.
It was basically you either drank enough to have a fun time, and ended up regretting it on Monday, or you didn't drink enough to have a fun time and end up regretting being there. I usually opted for the former.
I think the last one I went to...it was bad. Every table got a bottle of wine and some drink tickets, and well, at the end of the night there was like half a bottle of wine left on a bunch of tables, so our table went around stealing and drinking the rest of the bottles. I can't remember exactly how the night ended, but I was told that apparently they locked all the bathrooms at a certain point, and I really had to piss, so I guess I went in an alcove in the hotel lobby....luckily the people I was with were cool af, but man...that could have gone really bad.
It was basically you either drank enough to have a fun time, and ended up regretting it on Monday, or you didn't drink enough to have a fun time and end up regretting being there. I usually opted for the former.
I think the last one I went to...it was bad. Every table got a bottle of wine and some drink tickets, and well, at the end of the night there was like half a bottle of wine left on a bunch of tables, so our table went around stealing and drinking the rest of the bottles. I can't remember exactly how the night ended, but I was told that apparently they locked all the bathrooms at a certain point, and I really had to piss, so I guess I went in an alcove in the hotel lobby....luckily the people I was with were cool af, but man...that could have gone really bad.
Usually at another brewery so we don't have to drink our own beer. Usually some gift that's pretty good, last year a company branded Topo backpack.
They rent a large space and have different themes each year, music a some dancing, Free drinks and catering. It's black tie thing. I went last year but I'm not sure I would again, it was kinda boring, the food was bad, and lines were long. I've heard they did better jobs in previous years but when you mess up like that nobody wants to go anymore and most of my co-workers do not go after the first time.
Used to be awesome. Off-site parties with prize giveaways, nice dinner, drinks, etc. Then we got acquired and now we have pot luck or catered turkey in the office with no alcohol. Everyone just grabs food and goes back to their desk. HR at least hands out a small gift to everyone, which is a nice gesture.
Taco Bell of all places would do one once we closed down the store. They usually devolved into a load of managers getting drunk, their girlfriends fighting with them, then we would dos shitty yankee swap where for 2 goddamn years in a row I wasn't given a gift, but everyone else did.
I heard someone brought cocaine to one after I got fired, and he was let go basically immediately
I heard someone brought cocaine to one after I got fired, and he was let go basically immediately
I've missed the Christmas party at my company every single year for the 13 years I've been there because I always start my Christmas holidays too early. As I understand, it's a Dutch buffet (stamppot, etc.), beer, a raffle, and it takes place in the company canteen in the afternoon. That's all I really know.
That's what we had as well (new company now with remote position so no more parties for me). It was okay. I usually just showed up with an hour with my gf as an excuse to drses up and then left to go to dinner reservations.