View from the Mountain: The annual holiday party

Things certainly have changed over the years when it comes to holiday parties both in neighborhoods and at the office.

When I first joined Apple in the eighties, holiday parties tended to be black tie affairs that I avoided. Moving to Roanoke when our office was in Columbia, Maryland just made it easier to avoid the party.

Another benefit was that we had wonderful neighborhood parties that often involved caroling until lights would start going out along streets as we approached.

I think we hosted the second one in our neighborhood. Close to one hundred people showed up and the last person left at far too many hours into the early morning.

Our neighborhood got bigger, and eventually no one raised their hand for the party. December was too cold for a cul de sac party so people started having their own smaller parties often as potlucks.

Eventually I ended up in charge of the Reston, VA Apple office. It was great fortune to get to that point when Apple was at its lowest point. I can remember the first year, and there was no longer money for the $800 Christmas tree that someone had authorized for the previous few years. I donated an old artificial tree that we had gathering dust at home. It served us well for many years, and we had fun decorating it each year.

We did manage to get enough money out of Apple for a catered holiday lunch each year. I always took my team out for another lunch and came up with a gift for everyone. For as long as I was a manager at Apple, the gifts had to come out of your own pocket. Mine varied from beach towels to pocket leathermen. When you have over twenty employees and are spending close to $20 per person it can get very expensive quickly. Most of the later years, there was nothing from Apple in the way of a holiday gift or bonus.

I was with a start-up for a time, I attended one of their Christmas parties. It revolved around food, beer, and a good time. It was a young company, and there was certainly nothing wrong with that.

Last year our real estate firm had a very fancy party with lots of great catered food, a band. It was fun but not really my cup of tea.

This year since real estate is as bad as anyone has ever seen it, our party was a potluck brunch at a sales meeting with an anonymous $10 gift swap, trade, steal event.

The brunch went over very well, and we had a lot of fun with the present swap.

However, I have this nagging feeling that maybe we should have done something better with our ten dollars.

I think there were thirty-five presents so that was roughly $350. I wonder how many turkeys we could have purchased for that money. In these times I doubt we would have had much trouble finding a home for them.

I am going to try to remember to make that suggestion next year.

Comments

I still use my blue & green beach towel every summer in Rehoboth, my green fleece blanket in my basement couch, and I have bought refills for my Tournado pen.

Thanks for some very thoughtful gifts.

Posted by: Stephen | December 13, 2008 at 12:39 PM