Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Cheap bastards

Last year’s company Christmas party impressed me.  They rented out an entire banquet hall at a Marriott hotel, had an array of buffet tables all over featuring various yummy gourmet foods, and had lots of raffle prizes like ski trips and iPods. This year, I have no idea what happened. Some frickin’ cheapskate must’ve been put in charge, because what they “organized” this year was completely off the charts in lameness.

First of all, there was no space rental. No hotel, not even a stupid lecture room in the building somewhere. They decided to hold it on one of the three floors that the company occupies in this building. It’s full of offices. From what I heard, everyone was crammed into the receptionist lobby and meeting room like emperor penguins in the middle of a blizzard.

Secondly, food was seriously lacking in quality and quantity. My coworkers, who went right when the thing started, said there were about two cookies left when they got there. They were just the cheap holiday cookies you find at the front of any grocery store (and no doubt full of trans fats). They called it the “dessert reception”, which to me means they had volunteers handing out one item per person, but they ran out anyway because sombody couldn’t figure out how many people actually work at this location.

And the cherry on the sundae? They give everyone gift cards to Target… worth $15. Fifteen dollars, wow! Maybe now I can get myself a T-shirt! What the hell? I don’t get it. How does one go from fun, lavish banquet to… this? Bear in mind that this is a global corporation, and one of the top-ranked financial services companies in the WORLD. How is it that there was just no room in the budget for a decent Christmas party this year? Yes we must cut expenses wherever possible, but I doubt robbing employees of their annual celebratory fun is going to help maintain one’s global position in the world of finance.