Is This Thing On?

Last Friday was my company's Xmas Party. Don't even try and call it an 'End of Year Function' to try and be PC. Call it what it is.. or in this case what it should have been.

Things had changed this year in comparison to the previous functions:

1. Stand up party with buffet and finger food vs sit down meal;
2. A venue that seperated people rather than a large room combining them; and
3. bad accoustics

I can understand the first 2 points are due to a combination of financials and room availability. The last one is beyond me.

Every year during the xmas party the state manager or one of the senior managers gets up and does a brief presentation on how the year has gone, thanks a few people, draws the winning tickets for the fundraising raffle and wishes everyone a merry xmas. That's it. 5 minutes. Then back to it.


At a more formal sit down dinner this is achieved easily as everyone is about to sit down to the main meal. It is also quite obvious if there are groups of people not sitting and they tend to shut up as well. In comparison at a Cocktail style party where everyone is standing and:

a) 80% of the people are drunker than the state manager;
b) 60% of the people are taller than the state manager; and
c) 92% of the people don't give a shit;

then it becomes a little bit more problematic. Imagine 300 odd people who had been ushered from another area, all standing around talking amongst themselves while a short man with a microphone tries to talk over them. Not much respect commanded or given.

It was very strange seeing a man laughing at his own jokes when he was the only one who could hear them. A man who had prepared notes on a few things that no one heard.

It truely a level of management.

That aside it was a reasonable night. Food was ok, beer was ok, room was ok. None of which were outstanding but serviceable. After the drinks finished at midnight a large number ventured to a nearby club where the latest I heard anyone got home was 5:30am. My time was 2:30am.