Christmas party blunders

I don’t know how this year’s series of Christmas parties will compare to last year, but from the looks of it many people and corporations are once again committing the same mistakes that can take away the Christmas joy, as well as ruin some relationships.

I hope it’s not too late, but here are some suggestions that I hope may save you from blunders or at least make you realize if you screwed up yet again!

First of all, if you have a small business community or circle of associates who will probably talk or post things on Facebook or Twitter, try to make sure that you invite everybody or make it known why you only have a select few on the guest list. Invitations may be the privilege of the host but failing to invite certain people could be disastrous for you in the future.

In this day and age when people not only comment about the parties they attend but even post images of the food, the giveaways and the entertainment as well as the raffles, you can only imagine how miffed some people can get. Imagine if you were one of those who always get invited to the business matters but never get invited to the parties or the trips, how would you feel?

Among motoring journalists, this has become a common occurrence and some of us have simply written off a couple of brands as elitists or “selective” as in “namimili” or user friendly, meaning they are only friendly when they want to use you.

Next on the list of blunders are PR firms and corporations that send invitations in the form of TEXT messages instead of calling or sending invitations in email form or post. In terms of social etiquette, this speaks of poor social grace or conduct. Invitations are suppose to be special or personal. Don’t send out text invites like you were making a “Cattle call” especially to people who help build up your business.

Aside from the Cattle call texts, one real blunder is to invite people a day before or on the day of your Christmas party. Considering several hundred companies are also having their Christmas parties through the month, it is actually impolite to invite so late.

It leaves people with the impression that they were an after thought or that you felt obligated to extend the invitation. It also messes up people’s schedules or priorities especially if you represent a multinational company or a large corporation. Making such an obvious blunder often puts you on a hit list, not a return the favor list.

You should also follow up or reconfirm if the person received your invitation. By doing so you might discover your invite never reached the intended guest and the follow up emphasizes your sincerity.

No matter how bad the economy, don’t host a “One size fits all” party where you dump complete strangers from different business concerns and expect them to “have a party”. I have been to a number of these and I have no plans of joining them ever again. The reason people go to a party is because someone they know or like invited them.

Christmas parties are supposed to be happy special occasions where you get to spend time with friends and not total strangers.

What is a Christmas party without Christ in it? Everybody wants the raffles going, the food served and the drinking started, but even the hosts forget what Christmas is all about, as well as the Christmas spirit of remembering those no longer with us, or in difficult times!

What kind of Christmas party are you having if you’re not even playing or singing Christmas songs? I’m all for the sing-along and stuff, but considering were only having Christmas once a year, can’t we at least sing good old Christmas songs?

Speaking of games and raffle prizes, one major blunder that repeats itself is how companies either try to have huge major prizes or multiple junk prizes for compliance sake. Some companies try to create bragging rights by having only a few prizes but worth several hundred thousand pesos. Others try to give everybody a prize but give out useless or worthless junk.

Try to find the middle ground. One party I attended this week paid about a million pesos in entertainment, then half a million in prizes, not to mention several hundred thousand for the venue. If they just had their own fiesta and had a river of raffles or a two-day bingo bazaar, a lot of people would have had so much more and not less!

As far as parties go, compliance giveaways are such a sin. Those who receive them simply give them away, but if we simply had great food, great fellowship and then decided to give the money to the poor we would all be feeling a lot better!

Finally, my friend Charmaine of Petron recently posted on Facebook a word of caution about that “one for the road” drink. Her friend came from a Christmas party and slammed into an electric post. The accident didn’t kill him, the hospital did. But at the end of it, several people will die this Christmas because they, like many others will be thinking, “it’s Christmas, let’s drink”.

Christmas is about life and not a license to drink to death. It’s also not license to eat to death, stress to death or depress to death because things are not working out. The biggest blunder in this season would be to die partying!