Larry W.
Comedians and Speakers Agent for Corporate Meetings and Special Events; Author of Funny Employee Awards
Is your company still having a Christmas Party this year or canceling it due to the economy?
Is your company canceling this year's Christmas Party? I've become a source for journalists on the growing trend of companies canceling this year's event since my post "The Company Christmas Party - Another Casualty of a Tough Economy" (www.funnyemployeeawards.com/blog)
If your company is canceling this year's Christmas party:
* How do you feel - indifferent, angry, relieved?
* Is this the first year that you can recall the party being canceled?
* Is your company doing anything as a "substitute" for the party (like having a small in-office social during work hours)?
If your company is not canceling this year's Christmas party:
* How do you feel? Do you think of it as wasteful spending in this tough economy, or is the office party important to you and your coworkers?
* Has the party budget been cut at all, or is it as big - or bigger - than ever?
* If the budget has been cut, let me know how you're saving costs (cheaper location, less food, no free drinks, etc.)
By the way, these questions apply to Christmas parties, holiday parties, end-of-year parties, annual meetings or whatever you company calls the event.
Answers (12)
One company I used to work for charged for the annual Christmas party...in a good year. It was crazy, barely anyone showed up and the management were ridiculed for it. The next year they didn't charge and almost everyone showed up and a good time was had by all.
My theory is, if you have had an annual Christmas party in the past, continue to have it, but tone it down if budget demands. It is not a wasted expense, company morale is more important to productivity than the money spent on the party. If you never had one...don't worry, you're employees don't expect one. If you only have one when the manager remembers....um....well....if you have a manager that forgets Christmas...why do you still work there, they obviously don't care about their employees.
Hope that helps,
Jason
Although it's not official, word on the street is that the holiday party -- usually dinner at a higher-end restaurant -- will be scaled back this year. We'll have something catered either here in the office or in someone's home.
We're a small business, and this happened once before during a previous lean year. I don't mind, since I'd rather the funds stayed within the organization for more critical uses. No sense fiddling while Rome burns.
We have not gotten word that our Christmas party will be cancelled; we don't think so as it should already be paid for in the budget. However, our site-wide activities for Halloween (we bring kids on campus to trick-or-treat) were cut back this year due to financial considerations (snacks instead of lunch, for example), so it is possible that the party may be scaled back down to departmental events or something like that.
This is my first year here, but all year my team has ridiculed the Christmas party, because of the alcohol policy. The party is held in the early afternoon, and alcohol is available, but if you drink, you have to leave campus and not return back to your desk to login or do any work, because you are "impaired." Instead, you have to leave campus -- that is, drive home, which they consider more dangerous. They think the company should either not allow alcohol, or let people stay on campus for a few hours to get the alcohol out of their system.
Gary L.
Capitol District Commercial Sales Manager at ADT Security Services
Best Answers in: Small Business (2), Starting Up (1)
Been quite awhile since there has been any Christmas parties due to the implied liability and "lack of funds".
Think that most larger corporations did away with those back in the "80's".
Bill N.
Content Creator and Technical Writer
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We are not cancelling. Given the budget, I don't find it wasteful, as our staff is distributed across many client sites. The budget has not been cut. I think we're doing a cruise around Manhattan.
We've had a good year, so this does not seem like an anomalous way to spend time, in my opinion.
Our company isnt doing a company wide christmas party but rather if you want to do a christmas party you can have it on your own, which is what some of the branches are doing. It makes it easy when the branches earn money on things that they do well it helps pay for those little parties everyone wants to have every once in a while.
Peggy I.
Human Resources Consultant and Trainer
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Larry,
Two large Orlando law firms have announced that they are not holding their holiday parties this year. Instead, they will distribute the party budgets to several local community services.
A bunch of years ago, I chaired a women's business networking group. We decided to stop doing the $10 gift exchange. Instead, we chose a local community service (usually women or children-oriented), found out what was on their wish list, and each of our members contributed something from the wish list. We invited a rep from the community agency to come to our party, tell us about the work the agency did, and accept our gifts to the agency.
None of us needed another $10 whatnot, and the people served by the agency needed so much more. We felt we were doing more for our money, and many of our members spent more for the agency than they would have spent on a member-to-member gift exchange.
Peggy
Bob G.
Looking for a Social Media opportunity
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Beats me
but I am gathering coal for the heater
since I can afford oil
Send an invite to connect if you like
We will definitely celebrate at Christmas time.
I strongly want to caution anyone against cancelling a celebration for economic reasons. We need to keep a spirit of celebration!
Celebrating wins is a critical skill of good leadership, and it is part of deliberately flying in the face of "bad times".
