One of the nicest parties I’ve ever been to: A Christmas Story
As an employee, you see Xmas Parties one of the two ways: Something you have to do. Something you want to do.
I have been to both kinds. I ‘d rather talk about one of the best company Christmas Party I’ve ever been to. Having attended previous job Christmas Parties at usual boring restaurants, the location of Greenliff Christmas Party caught me off-guard. It was at the Sorell, a slightly upscale nice Hotel.
“We had to find a facility that could accommodate our 60 guests and a place where we knew the food was good, and we would be well taken care of”, said Corina, the colleague responsible for the organization.
Amazingly our partners were more than welcome to the party. I haven`t seen that in many other companies before, so appreciate that very much. I met my colleague who worked in Bern and 3 of us strolled in and couldn’t believe we were in the right place. It was a legitimate Christmas Party with all the attendees dressed so much more beautiful than they usually were (at work). It was in festively decorated private and cosy Banquet Hall.
Markus, our Managing Director, welcomed us like family and we greeted our peers with handshakes and hugs instead of saying casually “hi.” Furthermore, there was a table of appetizers and a waitress who was generous with the Glühwine.
We wanted to have a fun game to get to know each other a little better at the party. Childhood photos of all the employees were hanging on the wall with numbers, and each of us got a paper where we were supposed to write the right amount against each name. It was a very well-organized fun game called “Guess who’s who!”
After an hour of talking up good cheer, we took our seats. There were few round shapes nicely decorated tables with stunningly beautiful candle stands in the middle. Like actual adults, most of my co-workers, that I usually saw in jeans were in ties now with their girlfriends present, so such a formal event seemed almost spiritual. The gourmet food was served on our tables starting with a delicious soup and salad with some excellent Sardinian Italian wine followed by a delightfully rich Dessert Buffet which was hard to resist. We all conversed a lot, and everyone was in a blissful state of mind.
Once the dinner was over, Markus gave us a very emotional speech. He said “We do have nice Christmas Parties every year. Sometimes we celebrate at our home, and sometimes we celebrate at an outside facility. Each year we try to have something memorable for the employees to show our gratitude”.
So really, next year when you throw your company Christmas Party… be the employer that wants to do it, wants to show appreciation, wants to pat on the back to last another year.
Ok, you know what, I can’t think of a way to end this whole thing. Just throw an awesome Christmas Party. Bottom line: be kind for a better bottom line.
Merry Christmas!
