Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Boozy, rowdy office parties falling from favor nationwide

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 14:50:40 -0500

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Business & Technology:
Saturday, December 07, 2002

Information in this article, originally published December 7, was corrected December 9. A previous version of this story on holiday office parties omitted part of the name of a Federal Way public relations firm. It is Brandner Communications. Also Owen Media, which has eight employees, not 50, is hosting an office party for 14 people.

Boozy, rowdy office parties falling from favor nationwide

By Shirleen Holt

Seattle Times business reporter

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It's an hour into the party, and the guy tending the hard-liquor bar is standing idly, hands behind his back, while the guests swarm the buffet lines, loading up on deviled eggs, pigs-in-a-blanket and Rice Krispies squares.

BBFM Creative, one of the few Seattle marketing and advertising firms to have kept growing in the recession, went with a retro theme for this year's combination office and "client-appreciation" party — a homage to the early 1960s held, appropriately enough, in the Space Needle.

But the Wednesday evening reception (it was scheduled to end at 8) not only pokes some fun at that innocent era, it's also part of its revival.

This is the new office party: polite, wholesome and mostly sober.

A stagnant economy, fear of lawsuits and a public backlash over corporate excess have tamed the wild and lavish parties of years past, when the settings were extravagant, the liquor flowed liberally, and co-workers got loose enough to be embarrassed Monday morning.

"They're not having these full-blown bashes where everyone gets a hotel room and just parties," says Kim Flin, an Issaquah-based caterer. "People are not drinking any more at these things, or if they are, they're just having a glass of wine."

Indeed, today's holiday office parties are mild enough for children, who are now frequent guests. Instead of hosting dinner-and-dance affairs, many companies these days are holding weekday luncheons, short receptions or potlucks in the conference room.

The 30 employees at AccessVia, a Seattle software company, will have dinner at a board member's house and a reception at the office for families.

Owen Media, a marketing and PR firm, invited its eight employees to dinner at the Frontier Room in downtown Seattle.

Nextel Partners in Kirkland is hosting a buffet at the Stimson-Green Mansion on First Hill and encouraging employees to bring a gift to donate to a local charity.

The muted local events mirror a national trend. Only 56 percent of the companies polled by the career site Vault.com said they are having a holiday party this year, compared with nearly 80 percent two years ago. One-third of those still celebrating are scaling back, holding their parties at their offices.

AOL Time Warner's America Online division was known for throwing extravagant holiday parties at hotel ballrooms for its 4,000 employees but has canceled its bashes this year, opting instead for a 90-minute afternoon "social."

It's a long slide from a few years ago, when cash-rich companies, particularly the dot-coms in Silicon Valley, spent an average of $50,000 for an office party and booked such acts as Elvis Costello or Cirque du Soleil to entertain. Enron reportedly spent $1.5 million on an office party that included an executive who rode in on an elephant.

The money was flowing from companies around Seattle as well.

"The sky was the limit," recalls Lisa Dupar, a Redmond caterer. "We had people call us for 1,400-person events, and they didn't even ask how much it cost. Now it's 'Wow, how much does that plate cost?' "

Dupar's business has improved over last year, when the terrorist attacks made for a somber holiday season. But the groups are smaller now, between 50 and 100 people, and more of the parties are being held in private homes, she says.

Yacht cruises were a favorite for holiday parties, costing $1,500 to $4,000 for three-hour cruises. Seattle's Ledger Marine Charters, though, has seen its business drop by half in recent years.

"We've had people who have been fairly consistent who are not here this year," says manager Robey Banks. "But it's been falling off for years, not just this year."

Let's par-tay? Maybe not

Although the economy can be blamed for this year's low-budget celebrations, the no-holds-barred office party has been nearing extinction for several years, the victim of lawsuits and changing social values.

For some companies in the 1970s and '80s, the holiday party was a par-tay, lubricated by lots of free liquor and in some cases illegal drugs.

"One of my clients wanted to pay me with cocaine," says Dupar, who has been a caterer nearly 20 years. "I said, 'You've got to be kidding.' "

Flin recalls working one party where the guests threw off their clothes, jumped over a fence and went skinny-dipping in the hotel pool.

At another, drunken bash, partygoers danced on speakers or stripped on the dance floor.

"Oh, my God, it was so wild," Flin says.

To be sure, many companies never tolerated naughty conduct at office parties, and others haven't toned down their bashes one bit. In general, though, businesses are more aware of the risks associated with after-hours socializing.

Many states now have "social-host liability" laws, which can hold employers responsible if a worker leaves an office party and gets into a drunken-driving accident. Washington doesn't have that law, but hosts are being careful nonetheless.

"Servers are much more aware of overpouring," Dupar says.

Companies also can be sued if their employees make racist remarks or grope a colleague who doesn't want to be groped during an office party.

Pierce County paid a $140,000 settlement in 1996 to one employee in the Medical Examiner's Office who complained that the department's off-hours socializing — which included some wild office parties — created a "sexually charged work environment."

Likewise, workers who step over the line are more apt today to be disciplined or even fired. An article in HR magazine, a publication of the Society for Human Resource Management, outlined the kind of party behavior that could get employees in trouble, including salacious flirting and drinking to the point of wobbling — conduct often tolerated in years past.

"Even if (employees) don't do anything problematic legally, it certainly may change the perception of their co-workers," says Joni Johnston, a California consultant in workplace dynamics.

Jerry Razwick, president of Technical Glass Products in Kirkland, remembers going to one company party (not his) years ago where tables were piled with hams, roasts and half-gallon liquor bottles. The guests played high-stakes poker and were entertained by strippers.

His own company parties reflect the changing times. Razwick insists that a chartered bus take employees to and from a Christmas boat where they'll have dinner and exchange gifts.

"There's a new twist this year," Razwick says. "What would be the best way not to have a guy overindulging? We're inviting the wives."

Not everyone, however, is celebrating the new decorum.

Pat Moraski, an Eastside caterer, misses the old-style bashes.

"There was a lot more dancing, a lot more drinking, a lot more fun."

Wholesome morale building

With over-indulging passé and risky, some workplaces stage elaborate party games to build morale.

Employees at Brandner Communications, a PR firm in Federal Way, never know what their holiday party is going to be until they show up at the appointed hour.

One year they were picked up in a limousine and driven to the mall to buy ornaments for a gift exchange, then taken to a mansion for a surprise dinner. Another, they boarded a dinner train.

Trying to crack the secret has turned into its own game for employees, who have even scanned company credit-card statements looking for clues.

When a reporter called Kimberly Brandner, director of marketing and client services, to ask about this year's party plans, she suspected that snooping employees were behind the call.

"They're not beyond that," she says. "They called my sister one year because they thought I'd told her."

At BBFM's Space Needle retro party, held in the lower SkyLine level 100 feet up, the emphasis was on the entertainment — a mock "Let's Make a Deal" game hosted by former MTV V-jay Kevin Seal, who now lives in Seattle.

The woman who picked Door No. 1 got Play-doh; the one who went for No. 3 got tickets to the zany dinner show Teatro ZinZanni.

These are just trinkets. Ray Araujo, who started the 40-employee firm seven years ago, says the big prize is a $10,000 check that BBFM will give to charity.

"The philanthropy thing is really important to our (firm's) culture," he says.

The room has swelled to 200 guests. The man working the hard-liquor bar leans forward expectantly as a guest squeezes by. She doesn't stop, though. She's headed for the Ding-Dongs.

Shirleen Holt: 206-464-8316 or [email-masked].

Copyright © 2002 The Seattle Times Company

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