Work Xmas Parties

[cup of tea]

Are they even a big thing anymore?

I remember in the 90's and early 00's being London office based this was the one event a year you would look forward to for the free food and booze and the inevitable stories the next working day of someone calling a director a cսnt or trying it on with the office tart amongst other horror stories.

Personally, the worst I done at a works Xmas party was (well, 2 things rolling in to 1) was spewing in a hotel reception where the party was being held but carrying on drinking after and then getting the train from Liverpool St to Colchester (so I thought) but falling asleep and waking up in Norwich with no trains back and wandering in to Norwich city centre looking for a hotel at around 2am, of course they weren't any being Xmas so ended up huddled in a bus shelter with not so much as a hot drink for 5 hours before the first train home.

The last Xmas party I went to was around 2018 but it was utter shit, by this time HR were getting all funny with behaviour and limiting the company spend on booze so it ended up being boring as fuck and the hardcore amongst us just left and fucked off to the pub, since then I have been WFH and getting £50 to spend on what I like so my Xmas 'party' these days is an Indian takeaway - how times change!

So come on then, are Xmas parties as raucous as they once were or are those days done?

Let's here some of your stories of bad behaviour etc.

[Hammer and Pickle]

Probably the case here with all the big multinational pharma companies already. The locals don't seem to have noticed yet though

 

[aldgate]

I run my own firm so it's tiring taking on the dual role of pissed-up worker/outraged boss

[Bungo]

Long-standing client of mine is marketing specialist at a big pharma producer here so she organises and attends work parties as part of her scope of duties. Says there radical differences in medical profession party culture that reflect the broader professional picture. So cardiologists are absolute booze and sex animals while anaesthesiologists are, no surprise, bang on the substances with NO and ket being standard fair. Pulmonologists, obstetricians and orthopaedic surgeons like a knees up but on no account will she attend psychiatrists’ or clinical psychologists’ “events”. Makes her excuses and leaves early to avoid a bout of black depression, she says.

This at least is nice and simple here in the UK. The industry rules are so tight now that there is zero contact with any HCP at anything that could remotely be considered a party or a social event. 

They can attend appropriate clinical meetings/conferences that we organise but the list of dos and don'ts is enormous. Even the venues are stringently vetted so they can't be held at hotels with golf courses or spas attached for example.

That’s dull. So how do people let their hair down if they’re not psychiatrists?

Anyone can do whatever they want, but separately and at their own expense.

We don't pay for anything that could even be considered incentivising prescribing.

[Hammer and Pickle]

Long-standing client of mine is marketing specialist at a big pharma producer here so she organises and attends work parties as part of her scope of duties. Says there radical differences in medical profession party culture that reflect the broader professional picture. So cardiologists are absolute booze and sex animals while anaesthesiologists are, no surprise, bang on the substances with NO and ket being standard fair. Pulmonologists, obstetricians and orthopaedic surgeons like a knees up but on no account will she attend psychiatrists’ or clinical psychologists’ “events”. Makes her excuses and leaves early to avoid a bout of black depression, she says.

This at least is nice and simple here in the UK. The industry rules are so tight now that there is zero contact with any HCP at anything that could remotely be considered a party or a social event. 

They can attend appropriate clinical meetings/conferences that we organise but the list of dos and don'ts is enormous. Even the venues are stringently vetted so they can't be held at hotels with golf courses or spas attached for example.

That’s dull. So how do people let their hair down if they’re not psychiatrists?

[Bungo]

Long-standing client of mine is marketing specialist at a big pharma producer here so she organises and attends work parties as part of her scope of duties. Says there radical differences in medical profession party culture that reflect the broader professional picture. So cardiologists are absolute booze and sex animals while anaesthesiologists are, no surprise, bang on the substances with NO and ket being standard fair. Pulmonologists, obstetricians and orthopaedic surgeons like a knees up but on no account will she attend psychiatrists’ or clinical psychologists’ “events”. Makes her excuses and leaves early to avoid a bout of black depression, she says.

This at least is nice and simple here in the UK. The industry rules are so tight now that there is zero contact with any HCP at anything that could remotely be considered a party or a social event. 

They can attend appropriate clinical meetings/conferences that we organise but the list of dos and don'ts is enormous. Even the venues are stringently vetted so they can't be held at hotels with golf courses or spas attached for example.

[Hammer and Pickle]

Long-standing client of mine is marketing specialist at a big pharma producer here so she organises and attends work parties as part of her scope of duties. Says there are radical differences in medical profession party culture that reflect the broader professional picture. So cardiologists are absolute booze and sex animals while anaesthesiologists are, no surprise, bang on the substances with NO and ket being standard fair. Pulmonologists, obstetricians and orthopaedic surgeons like a knees up but on no account will she attend psychiatrists’ or clinical psychologists’ “events”. Makes her excuses and leaves early to avoid a bout of black depression, she says.

[Bungo]

Come On You Irons

Your former employer sounds (reads) like a callous and toxic workplace, culturally

 

Standard in my industry across various companies I have worked for.
High expectations and high levels of delivery required.
No room for passengers or for those who don't make the grade.

I didn't realise flipping burgers in MaccyD's was so demanding...

You'd be surprised.

[Come On You Irons]

Come On You Irons

Your former employer sounds (reads) like a callous and toxic workplace, culturally

 

Standard in my industry across various companies I have worked for.
High expectations and high levels of delivery required.
No room for passengers or for those who don't make the grade.

I didn't realise flipping burgers in MaccyD's was so demanding...

[Bungo]

Come On You Irons

Your former employer sounds (reads) like a callous and toxic workplace, culturally

 

 

Standard in my industry across various companies I have worked for.
High expectations and high levels of delivery required.
No room for passengers or for those who don't make the grade.

[greenie1]

Back in the 90's I also got in trouble by putting brussels sprouts in pulled xmas crackers and chucking them like hand grenades. I had to pay out for a few items to be dry cleaned as it had knocked a few drinks over.

[Come On You Irons]

In these WOKE times, work Christmas dos are proper dangerous territory. The BLM/ANTIFA/femi-nazi/hard left brigade will find any opportunity for perceived transgression to find ways to get unwanted staff (usually white, middle aged males) off the payroll.

My LinkedIn feed this week has been full of 'suggested' posts 'warning' of the dangers of getting pissed up and making a fool of oneself/ acting inappropriately at work Christmas do (sacking, disciplinary, legal proceedings etc.).

No wonder most people sack them off these days as they aren't worth the hassle in these puritanical times we live in.



 

 

I can only speak for the companies that I worked for, but anyone sacked after a party/conference had publically behaved in a way that would have made it impossible to keep them on and maintain any credibility. If they were there in the first place, then we definitely didn't want them gone. It was the line manager's responsibility to keep an eye on their people and 'red card' them if necessary. If this failed then the manager would have to answer some hard questions as well as the miscreant.

Anyone that we actively wanted to get rid of was gone before they would have been allowed to attend any company event, especially if there was an increased risk of deliberate disruption.

Likewise people's email was shut off whilst they were in the process of being fired so no subsequent misbehaviour with that was possible.

Your former employer sounds (reads) like a callous and toxic workplace, culturally.

[Council Scum]

I worked near Mount Pleasant Post Office and on a lunchtime we'd go to a pub, knock back a few pints and watch the strippers.

 

Was that the Old King Lud at the bottom of Ludgate Hill?

Used to frequent that pub lunchtimes as a teenager when working off Queen Victoria Street, and again, in my early 20's when working on Wood Street (when I didn't fancy a few beers over London Wall on the podium - a favourite haunt of the telephonists).

Should have been rebranded as The Minger's Arms, given the state of the strippers.

We used to pop in The Griffin at lunchtimes when I worked in Grays Inn Road, no idea if it's still running. 

[Mike Oxsaw]

I worked near Mount Pleasant Post Office and on a lunchtime we'd go to a pub, knock back a few pints and watch the strippers.

 

Was that the Old King Lud at the bottom of Ludgate Hill?

Used to frequent that pub lunchtimes as a teenager when working off Queen Victoria Street, and again, in my early 20's when working on Wood Street (when I didn't fancy a few beers over London Wall on the podium - a favourite haunt of the telephonists).

Should have been rebranded as The Minger's Arms, given the state of the strippers.

[Bungo]

In these WOKE times, work Christmas dos are proper dangerous territory. The BLM/ANTIFA/femi-nazi/hard left brigade will find any opportunity for perceived transgression to find ways to get unwanted staff (usually white, middle aged males) off the payroll.

My LinkedIn feed this week has been full of 'suggested' posts 'warning' of the dangers of getting pissed up and making a fool of oneself/ acting inappropriately at work Christmas do (sacking, disciplinary, legal proceedings etc.).

No wonder most people sack them off these days as they aren't worth the hassle in these puritanical times we live in.


 

 

 

I can only speak for the companies that I worked for, but anyone sacked after a party/conference had publically behaved in a way that would have made it impossible to keep them on and maintain any credibility. If they were there in the first place, then we definitely didn't want them gone. It was the line manager's responsibility to keep an eye on their people and 'red card' them if necessary. If this failed then the manager would have to answer some hard questions as well as the miscreant.

Anyone that we actively wanted to get rid of was gone before they would have been allowed to attend any company event, especially if there was an increased risk of deliberate disruption.

Likewise people's email was shut off whilst they were in the process of being fired so no subsequent misbehaviour with that was possible.

[nychammer]

The 90's was a great time to be working ion London, not just the Christmas parties and summer balls, but pretty much every lunch hour.

Then Blair got in. 

 

It really was. The older fellas in my office used to go to the pub and sink four or five pints every lunch time.
Seems insane to imagine that happening now, but I haven't worked in the city since 2006.

Friday nights in the city were also wild. 

Last Thursday of the month, the boardroom was an open bar for two hours. Thursdays were always decent as well. 

Thursday night out in the city back in the late 90s / early 00s - miss those days

[nychammer]

I work for a bank and they used to do fabulous Christmas events. Black tie, champagne flowing, some posh venue, car service home, even hotels, hand some really blinding and sometimes messy times!. Had that in both London and New York but it all ended abruptly in 2008, when it no longer seemed right for bankers to be seen out partying. 

Nowadays, we have one event funded by our department, usually something very unimaginative, in the office at lunchtime, dull food, no alcohol and over in an hour - pretty much going through the motions

Then we arrange one on our own dime - a lot more fun, dinner and boozing after, much more like it.

[Hammer I am]

great when you're young with a good crowd, Would rather just watch TV now!

[Council Scum]

The 90's was a great time to be working ion London, not just the Christmas parties and summer balls, but pretty much every lunch hour.

Then Blair got in. 

 

It really was. The older fellas in my office used to go to the pub and sink four or five pints every lunch time.
Seems insane to imagine that happening now, but I haven't worked in the city since 2006.

Friday nights in the city were also wild. 

Last Thursday of the month, the boardroom was an open bar for two hours. Thursdays were always decent as well. 

[Takashi Miike]

"My LinkedIn feed"

cսnt

[Come On You Irons]

In these WOKE times, work Christmas dos are proper dangerous territory. The BLM/ANTIFA/femi-nazi/hard left brigade will find any opportunity for perceived transgression to find ways to get unwanted staff (usually white, middle aged males) off the payroll.

My LinkedIn feed this week has been full of 'suggested' posts 'warning' of the dangers of getting pissed up and making a fool of oneself/ acting inappropriately at work Christmas do (sacking, disciplinary, legal proceedings etc.).

No wonder most people sack them off these days as they aren't worth the hassle in these puritanical times we live in.

[greenie1]

In 2002 at a works do, I was drinking After Shocks and Southern Comfort. Break dancing in front of the Directors, pinched a woman's arse, who then put me in a headlock. Ran to Liverpool St to get the last train, chucked up in a Burger King paper bag, it held, chucked up again, the bag split, puke went everywhere, people looking at me in disgust, so I got up casually and move to the next carriage. That was the last time I got shit faced at a works do.

 

[Dick Shaftsbury]

Generally try to avoid them now, drinking heavily with your colleagues is a bad idea IMO.

But back in the 90s when I was working in the city, I was seeing a bird from the office but it was hush-hush. At the xmas party, I ended up snogging the girl who sat directly opposite her and she had her hand down my trousers. 

She never spoke to her ever again, even though they continued to sit opposite each other. The atmosphere in the office was so awkward for months. I left not long after.

[Far Cough UKunt]

I'd love to get right on it at a work Christmas party with Gazza.

[Bungo]

I was in a role for a couple of years where I was partially responsible for designing and organising company conferences and Christmas parties. These mostly passed without incident but we would get the occasional idiot, usually a newish arrival, recently transitioned from being a poor student, totally overwhelmed by a free bar. I would then have to preside over ‘HR court’ the next day clearing up whatever problems that had occurred and dispensing appropriate justice.

Worst we had was one national conference that resulted in three separate sackings including one massive numpty that tried it on with the CEOs wife that then realised what he’d done, and compounded it by banging on his manager’s hotel room door in the early hours crying and asking for forgiveness!

I was delighted to be shot of it. No thanks, and a positive outcome was when nothing went pear-shaped!

[Far Cough UKunt]

I worked near Mount Pleasant Post Office and on a lunchtime we'd go to a pub, knock back a few pints and watch the strippers.