Help me plan a belated office holiday party
January 9, 2018 10:04 AM Subscribe
My workplace has a holiday party each January. I've been tasked with planning a holiday party to be held this month. Please help me think of ideas, given certain constraints.
I work in a professional office of 18 people in a city on the east coast of the U.S. We range in age from mid-20s to mid-60s. Our work is highly seasonal and the holidays are a busy time for us. Accordingly, we always have our office holiday party in January. I've been tasked with planning a party to be held later this month.
The party customarily spans a few mid-day hours on a day during the traditional work week. It almost always includes a group lunch and a group activity. We typically conclude our day an hour or two earlier than usual (at around 3:00 pm; we usually close at 5:00 pm) to provide everyone with a small amount of "extra" time off. We've learned that this approach is a good compromise between those who want a meal and activity, and those who want as much "extra" time off as possible. I'll therefore be expected to adhere to this structure. If I wish to deviate from it, I'll need to have a good (and cost-effective) reason for doing so.
As far as I can tell, the hallmarks of a successful holiday party for this group are (1) to enjoy each other's company in a relaxed setting, (2) eat a nice meal, (3) enjoy a non-competitive "family-friendly" activity that isn't passive (such as watching a movie), and (4) head home early.
Recent successful holiday parties from prior Januaries:
- Catered Mexican lunch in the office, followed by an escape room. Go home circa 3:00 pm.
- Sit-down lunch at a combination restaurant/bowling alley, followed by an hour of bowling. Go home circa 3:00 pm. We've done this twice in the past 4 years.
A recent not-so-successful example:
- Sit-down lunch at a restaurant, followed by a tour of a historic home. Go home circa 3:00 pm. Many in the office expressed the sentiment that the activity should be more fun and less overtly educational.
I'm not wild about the suggestions that I've received thus far, and the reasons I'll share might give you a sense of some of the challenges I've encountered in the planning phase:
- Lunch & bowling, again. It's fine, just tired.
- A catered lunch in the office, followed by a magician performing, also in the office (held on-site apparently to keep the magician expense manageable). Some, including me, find this activity too hokey even for our "family-friendly" approach. I also think that holding the entire party on-site doesn't feel special.
- Laser tag. Too competitive for some, too much physical activity for others, and too violent for others.
Cost is very much a factor. In fact, we had the lunch catered in the office last year in order to be able to afford the escape room tickets. The budget this year tops out at about $50/person. I could maybe go as high as $1,000 for the entire event for something original and innnovative.
Alcohol has never been a point of emphasis at this party. We may choose to have an alcoholic drink if we have lunch off-site, but that's it. Any brewery tours or the like are off limits.
If I can't come up with a viable activity, I'm open to suggesting a fairly upscale and expensive off-site lunch for the group, followed by simply leaving for the afternoon. I don't know if this will fly, but it is a consideration.
I'd prefer for as much of the party to be held outside the office as possible. I really liked the collaborative nature of the clue room activity in one of the prior years, so I was OK with having lunch on-site that year. Generally speaking, though, I think it's best to be off-site as much as possible. The party feels more special that way, and I think we're less likely to be drawn into work-related conversations if we are off-site.
Thanks in advance for any party ideas that fit these constraints!
I work in a professional office of 18 people in a city on the east coast of the U.S. We range in age from mid-20s to mid-60s. Our work is highly seasonal and the holidays are a busy time for us. Accordingly, we always have our office holiday party in January. I've been tasked with planning a party to be held later this month.
The party customarily spans a few mid-day hours on a day during the traditional work week. It almost always includes a group lunch and a group activity. We typically conclude our day an hour or two earlier than usual (at around 3:00 pm; we usually close at 5:00 pm) to provide everyone with a small amount of "extra" time off. We've learned that this approach is a good compromise between those who want a meal and activity, and those who want as much "extra" time off as possible. I'll therefore be expected to adhere to this structure. If I wish to deviate from it, I'll need to have a good (and cost-effective) reason for doing so.
As far as I can tell, the hallmarks of a successful holiday party for this group are (1) to enjoy each other's company in a relaxed setting, (2) eat a nice meal, (3) enjoy a non-competitive "family-friendly" activity that isn't passive (such as watching a movie), and (4) head home early.
Recent successful holiday parties from prior Januaries:
- Catered Mexican lunch in the office, followed by an escape room. Go home circa 3:00 pm.
- Sit-down lunch at a combination restaurant/bowling alley, followed by an hour of bowling. Go home circa 3:00 pm. We've done this twice in the past 4 years.
A recent not-so-successful example:
- Sit-down lunch at a restaurant, followed by a tour of a historic home. Go home circa 3:00 pm. Many in the office expressed the sentiment that the activity should be more fun and less overtly educational.
I'm not wild about the suggestions that I've received thus far, and the reasons I'll share might give you a sense of some of the challenges I've encountered in the planning phase:
- Lunch & bowling, again. It's fine, just tired.
- A catered lunch in the office, followed by a magician performing, also in the office (held on-site apparently to keep the magician expense manageable). Some, including me, find this activity too hokey even for our "family-friendly" approach. I also think that holding the entire party on-site doesn't feel special.
- Laser tag. Too competitive for some, too much physical activity for others, and too violent for others.
Cost is very much a factor. In fact, we had the lunch catered in the office last year in order to be able to afford the escape room tickets. The budget this year tops out at about $50/person. I could maybe go as high as $1,000 for the entire event for something original and innnovative.
Alcohol has never been a point of emphasis at this party. We may choose to have an alcoholic drink if we have lunch off-site, but that's it. Any brewery tours or the like are off limits.
If I can't come up with a viable activity, I'm open to suggesting a fairly upscale and expensive off-site lunch for the group, followed by simply leaving for the afternoon. I don't know if this will fly, but it is a consideration.
I'd prefer for as much of the party to be held outside the office as possible. I really liked the collaborative nature of the clue room activity in one of the prior years, so I was OK with having lunch on-site that year. Generally speaking, though, I think it's best to be off-site as much as possible. The party feels more special that way, and I think we're less likely to be drawn into work-related conversations if we are off-site.
Thanks in advance for any party ideas that fit these constraints!
Lunch and an onsite paint party
Custom Scavenger Hunt
Murder Mystery lunch
A group class You could probably find people to come teach a dance, improv, flower arranging, etc. class.
posted by shesbookish at 10:24 AM on January 9, 2018 [3 favorites]
Custom Scavenger Hunt
Murder Mystery lunch
A group class You could probably find people to come teach a dance, improv, flower arranging, etc. class.
posted by shesbookish at 10:24 AM on January 9, 2018 [3 favorites]
Similar to the paint party, we have a company that will come on site and tailor crafts to your specifications. We've had a lot of fun with it: Pop Craft
posted by librarianamy at 10:27 AM on January 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by librarianamy at 10:27 AM on January 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
What about a combined event? Like a cooking class that at the end you all get to eat the meal?
Like this looks pretty amazing: Southern Menu
posted by librarianamy at 10:35 AM on January 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
Like this looks pretty amazing: Southern Menu
posted by librarianamy at 10:35 AM on January 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
Our company party includes a "Dirty Santa" Gift exchange - the company (me) buys gifts for the employees and we draw names and the gifts are exchanged/stolen via the Dirty Santa scheme. I've been doing this for a while, so I have a good idea of what goes over well. You might take your entertainment budget to do something like this.
To make it easier on the gift buyer - stick to a theme - like all "As Seen on TV" gifts, or gift cards. I include a couple of high value items in with the gifts, like sporting tickets and/or a cash prize. It's a little more work for you (including the wrapping), so be sure you put something you particularly want in the mass of gifts - and remember what you wrapped it in!
posted by sarajane at 12:51 PM on January 9, 2018
To make it easier on the gift buyer - stick to a theme - like all "As Seen on TV" gifts, or gift cards. I include a couple of high value items in with the gifts, like sporting tickets and/or a cash prize. It's a little more work for you (including the wrapping), so be sure you put something you particularly want in the mass of gifts - and remember what you wrapped it in!
posted by sarajane at 12:51 PM on January 9, 2018
Paint party. It is surprisingly fun. It is also neat to see what everyone creates, even our curmudgeons participated.
posted by gryphonlover at 1:05 PM on January 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by gryphonlover at 1:05 PM on January 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
My workplace also does a January "we survived the holidays!" party. We did an escape room last year and it was super fun. We're planning another for this year.
posted by basalganglia at 5:10 PM on January 9, 2018
posted by basalganglia at 5:10 PM on January 9, 2018
We have a similar holiday party formula, and mini golf was a big hit.
posted by gatorae at 6:17 PM on January 9, 2018
posted by gatorae at 6:17 PM on January 9, 2018
Our office has a trivia contest after dinner with teams, and a small prize for the winners (gift card to the local nice lunch place, board game or silly desk toys for second place.)
posted by tchemgrrl at 6:43 PM on January 9, 2018
posted by tchemgrrl at 6:43 PM on January 9, 2018
Check Groupon/local/things to do and that should give you some idea of whats available to do where you're at. Whenever they send me a discount code, I take a look around and am always surprised at what's on there. Maybe you're luck out and find a deal.
posted by stray thoughts at 8:57 PM on January 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by stray thoughts at 8:57 PM on January 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
Mini golf. Ice skating. Bocce/croquet or some sort of lawn bowling. Cooking class. Pottery class.
posted by emd3737 at 3:42 AM on January 10, 2018
posted by emd3737 at 3:42 AM on January 10, 2018
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone. We will likely go with a glassblowing, pottery, or painting workshop. Your answers were really useful in guiding my searches.
posted by cheapskatebay at 9:19 AM on January 10, 2018
posted by cheapskatebay at 9:19 AM on January 10, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by librarianamy at 10:18 AM on January 9, 2018