Worst / Best work Christmas parties

whiskeyman

Back in the craziness of the Celtic Tiger, I heard of mates being flown abroad for their Christmas Parties to European cities. One even had theirs in Vegas!
Soon after the downturn, many places totally cut back and had no parties... others just scalled down for a few pints in the local.

So, what has been your worst and / or best Christmas work party?
Has there been times your employer totally let go of the budget and lavished you all with the best food / booze / entertainment etc?
Or did you have to make do with a dominos coming into the canteen on the Friday as you break for the festive holiday?

My best was a black-tie event in town in a top class hotel with free bar, great band / DJ and lots of prizes. It was like a great wedding without the speeches, and it costs me next to nothing!

Worst was when they just hired a room upstairs in a pub and did feck all else. Didn't stay long for that one!

anncoates

I never got an overly lavish Christmas party, just a run of the mill hotel bar.

Maybe that's why I'm still employed.

leggo

Gigged for a large British company based in Ireland earlier this year. Not only did they pay my team €100 more than I quoted them, they gave away flatscreen TVs and a rake of other quality prizes on top of paying for the meal and the function for over 80 staff. Absolutely mental in this day and age.

As for worst Christmas parties, this past Saturday is up there for me after I drank a full 70cl bottle of Captain Morgan's before I realised what I had done. Not that I remember much of it. Have to go in and face the music now.

The Backwards Man

Last Christmas party I was at was in primary school.

Mr. Manager

If anyone here ever worked for Pocket Kings they can confirm they were the best parties. Rented out Kilkenny castle and put up the entire company (bar a few who remained in Dublin to run the place).

Free booze. Hand rolled cigars on the night. Free meals. $30,000 online poker free roll for all the staff. Next year was in Dublin (D4 hotel I think). Same story with free booze, food, hand rolled cigars on the night all this for about 800 people. Single table poker tournaments with €1,000 for free up for grabs.

Black tie event.

Unreal.

UBERTILT

I Love PPPP Longtime wrote: »

If anyone here ever worked for Pocket Kings they can confirm they were the best parties. Rented out Kilkenny castle and put up the entire company (bar a few who remained in Dublin to run the place).

Free booze. Hand rolled cigars on the night. Free meals. $30,000 online poker free roll for all the staff. Next year was in Dublin (D4 hotel I think). Same story with free booze, food, hand rolled cigars on the night all this for about 800 people. Single table poker tournaments with €1,000 for free up for grabs.

Black tie event.

Unreal.

Beat me to it. The Cigar rollers were flown in from Cuba apparently. Don't think you could beat these parties.

I Love PPPP Longtime

I Love PPPP Longtime wrote: »

If anyone here ever worked for Pocket Kings they can confirm they were the best parties. Rented out Kilkenny castle and put up the entire company (bar a few who remained in Dublin to run the place).

Free booze. Hand rolled cigars on the night. Free meals. $30,000 online poker free roll for all the staff. Next year was in Dublin (D4 hotel I think). Same story with free booze, food, hand rolled cigars on the night all this for about 800 people. Single table poker tournaments with €1,000 for free up for grabs.

Black tie event.

Unreal.

Came to post that :P

Was clontarf castle though that they flew the dude in from cuba for I think (unless they did it again?) Four seasons the following year.

Mr. Manager

I guess we were all co-workers at some point

Nope - just knew the right people to get a +1 from :P

Mr. Manager

Deleted User wrote: »

Nope - just knew the right people :P

Those staff events were worth a one night stand with whoever it was :pac:

Summer parties were just as good to be fair.

smurgen

best was a Christmas party in Hotel Kempinski in Geneva when I was working in a private bank there. Free drink/food for the night in the poshest setting I was ever in. Caviar, champagne etc with dinner.We went to Java, the nightclub under the hotel after dinner, a ridiculously overpriced club frequented by billionaires. 39 chf or roughly 34 euro for a bottle of Carlsberg in there! we ran up a bill of 30k between about 28 of us in the club alone and one of the partners in the bank picked up the tab.

worst was a one in Cork when I was on work experience in an accountants office.the boss was a fat little psycho who bullied me and the only other employee all the time. for the night out he asked his wife and her twin sister to come along.His wife told him she was pregnant just before the meal and he had a complete meldown. stomed out during dinner and verbally abused his wife during the meal. he came back towards the end and apologized. it was so awkward I decided to get plastered which turned out to be a smart move because thigns got worse! We went to a club after food and the boss gout stuck in several people in there and I had to stop a bouncer from smashing his face in too. outside the club he started to get stuck in his wife again at which time I decided to do a runner and leave them all sort it out!it was completly car crash!

Menas

Best: Chartered train from Dublin to Westport with a catering crowd brought in to keep us fed and wined.
From Westport some coaches took us to ashford castle where we had a meal and stayed the night.
The following day was reversed. Ah, the days of being a lucky +1.

Worst: room above a pub with TWO drink vouchers and cocktail sausages for 'catering'.

razorblunt

Worst: Place I worked as a teenager, nice enough party out in Blarney Woollen Mills, 120 prizes in a raffle, 124 people there.
Was one of the 4 chumps not to get anything.

Irishcrx

Hire a section in a bar, get the crew together and have a few free pints...that does me tbh.

Not into anything over the top, been to a few before, overhyped and a waste of money. Sure the point is getting hammered and having a few laughs with the people you've worked with that year, so just get to the pint/point!

leggo

Irishcrx wrote: »

Hire a section in a bar, get the crew together and have a few free pints...that does me tbh.

Not into anything over the top, been to a few before, overhyped and a waste of money. Sure the point is getting hammered and having a few laughs with the people you've worked with that year, so just get to the pint/point!

You're not wrong. When I think back to good Christmas parties, it's the craic I think back on and not how many courses there were or how many stars the hotel I was in had.

AnonoBoy

What the hell did Pocket Kings do? Sell cocaine?

wildlifeboy

AnonoBoy wrote: »

What the hell did Pocket Kings do? Sell cocaine?

c'mon use your noggin its not that hard to work out

BraziliaNZ

Our one is in the Emirates stadium on Thursday with a 3 course meal and free booze etc but as it's a f*cking Thursday I don't really want to go so still in 2 minds as I'll get drunker than anyone else as usual and have an absolute 'mare at work the next day, so watch this space!

AnonoBoy

wildlifeboy wrote: »

c'mon use your noggin its not that hard to work out

Kinda like jokes then, yeah? :pac:

December2012

AnonoBoy wrote: »

What the hell did Pocket Kings do? Sell cocaine?

http://businessetc.thejournal.ie/fears-for-dublin-jobs-as-poker-site-is-labelled-a-global-ponzi-scheme-232781-Sep2011/

Captain Farrell

last year for my company's 20th anniversary i flew the staff from Ireland and Denmark over to the UK where I had hired a country club for the day. There were spa treatments, golf (mainly driving range as the course was unplayable), quad biking, 5 course meal and entertainment by comedians, after dinner speaker and a good covers band to get everyone going. A great night and day out.

This year I'm just giving each office a couple of grand to do as they please. I think they're all having their parties on friday but I will be in NYC for the weekend with my wife and kids. I like doing it this way in alternate years, sometimes they need to let their hair down without the big boss being present.

80s Child

Captain Farrell wrote: »

last year for my company's 20th anniversary i flew the staff from Ireland and Denmark over to the UK where I had hired a country club for the day. There were spa treatments, golf (mainly driving range as the course was unplayable), quad biking, 5 course meal and entertainment by comedians, after dinner speaker and a good covers band to get everyone going. A great night and day out.

This year I'm just giving each office a couple of grand to do as they please. I think they're all having their parties on friday but I will be in NYC for the weekend with my wife and kids. I like doing it this way in alternate years, sometimes they need to let their hair down without the big boss being present.

Will i just forward you my CV now......Sir

Brego888

Most of my xmas parties over the years have involved getting bloato drunk, arguing with some dickhead colleague, and chancing my arm with one of the hotties I've been flirting with throughout the year. All with varying degrees of success.

BillyMitchel

wildlifeboy wrote: »

c'mon use your noggin its not that hard to work out

Made the pockets for snooker tables?

sadie06

Best: A weekend away in Dromoland Castle with a small company I spent 5 years with. We lived in each other's pockets for those 5 years - it was like being in a bubble. That weekend was amongst the hardest partying I have ever done. Good times!

Worst: A night away with another company in some strange little hotel in the back arse of nowhere, during which a major row broke out amongst 5 or 6 people who had trusted the company dipso with the transport of all of their recreational drugs, which they had just found out he had hoovered up all by himself. The row went on all night, whilst us drinkers just sat back and laughed.

jester77

Best was a weekend bash in Amsterdam, was totally mad. There was even a private tour of the red light area included.

Weirdest was an xmas party in a sex museum.

Pyr0

With a new company the past two years and the employees have collected for a Christmas Party both years, we're talking 150+ people. Not a penny handed out to help towards catering, venue, prizes etc

I doubt anyone is really expecting anything mad for a Christmas party. At the end of the day, if a room was booked with cheap drink or a few drink tokens + finger food that'd be grand!