NancysSummerSip
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Today's Mood: Full of piss and vinegar
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Post by NancysSummerSip on Dec 4, 2019 19:32:36 GMT -5
It's that time of year again. As if some of us don't see these people enough, we are faced with the opportunity to socialize with them outside of work. What about y'all? Is your office having a party? In the office or at a remote location? Boss paying or potluck? And if you have any, well, memorable stories to share from past events, do tell. Our office shindig is at a local gourmet market/food hall, boss is giving everyone cash to eat and drink as they wish, and you can bring a +1. Problem: boss is inviting back former employees, including a few he fired. Yeah, I know.
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Dec 4, 2019 20:05:49 GMT -5
We have about a week and a half of activities. Two potlucks in the office, a few competitions (ugly sweater, decorating), and a volunteer opportunity in the new year. No one is paying, because public sector. I get pretty grinchy this time of year. But I don't have hours dedicated to decorating. And with my classes, and entering two weeks of sheer hell because of all the extra kid activities, I don't have time to fart around at work and then work at night after the kids are in bed..I don't expect my coworkers to completely understand, but I shouldn't have to feel bad because I'm choosing to get work done during work hours...
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Dec 4, 2019 20:10:24 GMT -5
I don't miss work or its parties.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Dec 4, 2019 20:18:16 GMT -5
we are having a holiday lunch tomorrow, but I'm going to miss it. WFH so that I can remove the dogs for the hour or so I need the house empty for a showing.
I've got some solid stories from my first employer though.....wow. not the corporate parties, the department ones. we were an engineering group in a young biotech company that was making money hand over fist as we grew in the early 2000s. we used to rent out the VFW in my hometown, and many cars were left there in favor of shuttles to the hotel up the street to sleep off the good pours. hookups, "home wreckers" and all of the shenanigans that used to be regular occurrences while we were on the road. the coworkers that used to leave their extra hotel key on my laptop (which were never used...) used to try to pull the same shit at these parties, with their wives around. it was nuts.
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Happy prose
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Post by Happy prose on Dec 4, 2019 20:23:20 GMT -5
We have the big office party at a restaurant. I don't go. It's after work, $75 food/open bar. I don't drink. I don't know how anyone enjoys these parties. I was forced to go one year (I was getting the award), and couldn't wait to get out the door. Very clicky, lots of drama to talk about the next day. I'm happier eating dinner at home in my pjs!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2019 21:13:42 GMT -5
Way back in the way back, the dog and pony shows at Christmastime were very formal. Gowns, gloves, tuxes. receiving lines. OMG, I hated those things. We were required to be there, stand in the receiving line, grip and grin, maintain the proper decorum. In other words, be snobs condescending to mix and mingle with what corporate considered the hired help. I bet the hired help hated it, too.
Those parties weren't fun, and I never did get how they were considered parties. Nobody would have dreamed of cutting up, getting shit-faced, hitting on somebody else's DH or DW.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2019 22:52:04 GMT -5
I am retired this year so no more.
However, back in the day local businesses used to donate the food. One year the restaurant apparently didn't realize how large our faculty was. Halfway through the serving line, they ran out of burritoes. We were told, "Cut your burrito in half and share!". I kid you not.
The last few years we each brought a side dish, the administrative staff bought the ham and turkey, and the PTA provided drinks and desserts.
Much better arrangement!
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msventoux
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Post by msventoux on Dec 4, 2019 22:53:42 GMT -5
We have two office locations. The larger office either has a catered holiday lunch or goes out to lunch. Nothing is ever done for our smaller office. Our office is invited to drive in. Spend two unpaid hours in traffic for a relatively quick lunch? No thanks.
It’s a similar story for our after busy season party. I’ve never gone to any of them. I’ve just spent a brutal 3.5 months or more working insane hours. I spent more waking hours with coworkers than I do with loved ones and friends. At that point I’m exhausted, my house is a wreck, and every single coworker and client is getting on my last nerve and I’m over life in general. And now you expect me to spend my first free evening in ages driving two hours round trip to spend even more time with daily coworkers and distant coworkers I hardly know? No.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2019 22:59:02 GMT -5
We have a holiday dinner sometime catered sometime next week at work and we usually have a pot luck the week or two before Christmas, but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess this year we skip it as everyone is just so busy trying to catch up from the 3 weeks of down time we had.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Dec 4, 2019 23:28:58 GMT -5
We are going to Medival Times, during work hours. Sounds better than working.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Dec 4, 2019 23:41:01 GMT -5
We had potlucks on the nursing units, which I loved. It was a veritable United Nations of food.....adobo and pansit, jerk chicken and curried goat, labneh and fesenjan. The union parties were bacchanals, and were a lot of fun until management was invited. I stopped going. The hospital's Christmas Galas were about $50. They were....meh.
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flamingo
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Post by flamingo on Dec 5, 2019 9:05:37 GMT -5
I work for a public university, so our holiday party is potluck luncheon. Then if we want we can participate in a gift exchange and ornament exchange. It's alright, sometimes the food is decent, but not everyone is as good a cook as they think they are, LOL. But, it's nice that it's a lunch so I don't have to socialize with anyone outside of work. I barely want to work with these people M-F 8:30-5, I sure don't want to socialize after hours with them!
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Dec 5, 2019 9:06:50 GMT -5
this is when I'm really glad I have one full time employee. We go out to lunch. Sometimes her son comes with us, he works part time doing filing, light typing, etc.
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on Dec 5, 2019 9:07:22 GMT -5
DH’s office has an annual a Holiday party at a local hotel with food, dj, and a cash bar. The food is usually pretty good. They also get donated items that are used as door prizes. Each person gets a ticket and drawings are held throughout the evening for prizes.
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raeoflyte
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Post by raeoflyte on Dec 5, 2019 9:19:12 GMT -5
Since I'm remote I booked a hotel room for the night of the holiday party. Dsis will come up with me and stay with the kids and I'll uber back to the hotel after the party. I'm looking forward to it. I have great coworkers and while we wouldn't pass an ask a manager test for being work appropriate all the time it makes for fun parties.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Dec 5, 2019 9:25:33 GMT -5
We go out for lunch and get the rest of the afternoon off. Last year was kind of a debacle with the location. This year we are going back to the usual spot. Their food is good, they have lots of variety on the menu and they handle our group of 30-40 well. Everyone pays for their own meal.
We used to go out and have a potluck lunch or dessert party. The guy in charge at the time I started decided we couldn't have both a year or two after I started. We chose to go out.
Bringing stuff in can be difficult with the security screening. I wouldn't mind a dessert thing but I'd have to coordinate it. And for the past four years or so, I hold a monthly birthday celebration with cookies and cupcakes. So we already get dessert once a month anyway.
Scheduling is difficult. By the week of December 16th, people will be going out on use or lose leave.
My boss usually does a separate lunch out with his team. Usually before Christmas but we've also gone out in January due to schedules and timing. Everyone pays for themselves for this too. It started one year when a couple people missed the office wide party due to training.
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saveinla
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Post by saveinla on Dec 5, 2019 9:44:36 GMT -5
We have one departmental lunch, one Women in IT event and one company wide holiday party. All 3 are fun and we don't have to pay for anything. The first 2 happen during the day and the last one in the evening at a nice hotel.
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Dec 5, 2019 12:42:09 GMT -5
I missed the company luncheon because it was on one of my WFH days. Division luncheon was on Monday. Team party and department party are next Wednesday. The team party is an in-house lunch (we order catering with our team celebration funds) and we do a white elephant. Department party is the only one that is off site and it's at the Mütter museum this year. Can't wait!
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Dec 5, 2019 13:00:34 GMT -5
We have little potlucks and lunches at work pretty routinely.
My wife's bank has a holiday party every year that has some pretty good food but is always near the home office about an hour away, and always runs entirely too long after eating (it's a small family-run bank and there's at least an hour of people "presenting" other members of the family awards that nobody outside of the family cares about).
My company always has a big dinner on a Saturday and then brings in entertainment (magician, comedian, etc). It's a party, not an awards ceremony. People eat and drink, then the entertainment is in another room and people come and go as they please into it. They also pay a pretty significant portion of anyone's hotel room that wants one (it's always in a hotel conference room and then rooms upstairs). We skipped this one last year because we had a newborn, but we'll definitely go this year. It's a pretty eclectic group since it's a bunch of folks who work in a manufacturing plant plus a handful of folks who work in the office. I also like it because it's not during the actual holidays, it's in mid-January (we wont' go to my wife's this year because it's in mid-December when we're traveling for multiple Christmas celebrations plus trying to get our son's birthday party done).
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Dec 5, 2019 13:25:33 GMT -5
Our company party is Saturday night at a downtown fancy private event space. No cost for dinner, drinks, parking. Drinks are unlimited and they offer free taxi home (that could be interesting!).
Will have to see if I can convince DH to go.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Dec 5, 2019 15:43:51 GMT -5
I don't miss work or its parties.
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sesfw
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Post by sesfw on Dec 5, 2019 16:51:57 GMT -5
The very small company I work for has less than 40 employees .... and several of them are remote.
We always have a very nice dinner party at a local golf club and families are invited. The golf club has a nice area outside the dining area for the kids to play for a while.
Dinner is paid for by the company, and me being a non-drinker, don't know about the payments at the bar. We always have door prizes and drawings after dinner. Last year DH won a $100 bill and that went into our gambling fund.
No one gets rowdy or out of control and it's usually over by 9pm. Being manufacturing it's nice to see people dressed up for the holiday dinner. Just before Thanksgiving all of us were given a $50 gift card from a local grocery, and just before Christmas we'll probably have a pot luck luncheon.
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raeoflyte
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Post by raeoflyte on Dec 5, 2019 18:56:55 GMT -5
Everyone should go read askamanager.org for a fantastic holiday party story.
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oped
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Post by oped on Dec 5, 2019 19:08:15 GMT -5
We are going to Medival Times, during work hours. Sounds better than working. This sounds like an episode plot of the actual The Office...
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Dec 5, 2019 19:48:39 GMT -5
I actually got invited, yes last minute, to a party tomorrow night. I’m seriously thinking of going
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plugginaway22
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Post by plugginaway22 on Dec 5, 2019 19:51:08 GMT -5
Ours is just a luncheon during work hours and owners hand out milestone anniversary gifts.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Dec 5, 2019 19:56:50 GMT -5
Everyone should go read askamanager.org for a fantastic holiday party story. that's amazing 🤣
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Dec 5, 2019 20:58:29 GMT -5
We are going to Medival Times, during work hours. Sounds better than working. This sounds like an episode plot of the actual The Office... Maybe that is where they got the idea.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Dec 5, 2019 21:12:46 GMT -5
Since I’m new I asked some coworkers about the dress code. They said this is first year it is being done at the site. So one asked the HR manager and was told “slutty casual”. WTF 😯. So checked with 2nd level HR and was told business casual to cocktail attire was fine.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2019 0:47:24 GMT -5
My company has their annual party in January each year. I attend the minimum amount possible, I did my first year with the company and I'm probably stuck going at my 5 year anniversary in a couple years. I already spend over 2080 hours with these people a year, I don't feel like spending an additional Saturday night with the same mindless office chit chat about peoples kids, sports and weather.
They actually have the senior execs cheerleading and putting pressure on people when the RSVP's are coming due so there isn't an embarrassing turnout, the feedback I have gotten is people don't want to waste a Saturday night.
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