I didn't go to last year's. This year's is in January ( don't ask ) and it's called a holiday party not a Christmas party as certain people in the office don't celebrate Christmas.

Fine I said, they don't have to go. I'm an atheist and I celebrate Christmas. Surely other non religious, non lovers of little baby jebus, non christo's aren't so hyper sensitive.

Oh well. Doesn't really matter I suppose as I no doubt will not be attending whatever they call it as the office parties are not my scene.

i just had to cancel ours due to some idiot sending almost half my crew to Edmonton .

Pity as we were going all out this year to a half fancy resturaunt for a change

http://www.magnumandsteins.ca/en/

" . . .Oh well. Doesn't really matter I suppose as I no doubt will not be attending whatever they call it as the office parties are not my scene. . ."

In many Canadian companies, as in the UK, it is very much frowned upon not to attend the annual end-of-year party.
What is it that you don't like about them?

Magnum and Steins used to be our favourite place to eat in St. John's but last couple of experiences have been disappointing. So you're not missing that much!

Our works do was at the Sheraton last Saturday. Surprisingly good food considering they were catering for 350 odd. Better than the Delta for sure.

I'm very much "meh" about the larger works Christmas parties. I spend the evening not remembering peoples names or worrying about not remembering their names. The Mrs and I usually make a discrete exit after the meal. Doubly so this year as we had to leave my office Christmas party and go to hers the same night!

I misread the thread title as " worst Christmas party"

Then again maybe the two are the same thing !

I won't be going to mine , I have no desire to socialize with half the people I work with. Last year I was frowned upon by attempting to mingle with the faculty, apparently us staff should know our place !

Sounds good, i really like the name

I was thinking the same thing. I don't particularly enjoy them either but in fear of being ostracized, I go.

My (limited) experience of xmas parties in Canada = no or limited booze, and everyone goes home by 4. Xmas parties with the same company in the UK and Thailand were completely different. I don't really know why they are so lame here.

We had a team Christmas lunch in a Thai restaurant. The Thai and Laotian in the crowd took a new approach to the chopsticks/knife and fork dilemma by asking for spoons and shovelling with those. There was almost no conversation but then it's a computer department, silence is the better option, the other being gibbering geekery.

Chopsticks dilemma? Spoon and fork is the way Thais eat.

Oh not out here in the Far East. Party starts at 6:30pm and runs til 1AM easily. Generally held in a swanky(ish) hotel the booze prices are a problem so inevitably the parties move to the various rooms that people have booked for the night and brought their own booze too. In my previous employment, the hotel got quite upset with the drunken debauchery occuring at various rooms in the hotel. Of course I was long gone by that point in the evening.

Our place is having a dinner, dance, at a large venue with a FREE bar.

Imagine having a FREE bar in the UK. Now that would cost a fortune. Not the same here, they all still drink reasonably.

Get really pissed and shag the boss's wife. No surrender!

We have never been to OH's work do, he says he spends more than enough time with them at work to not want to waste an evening with them - fairy nuff.

Last year EB xmas party was a strange affair, I went on my own, others brought their OH's, it was appetizers at Appleby's - weird, just weird. Imagine a table full of people that don't know each other and don't like each other (although we do all get on) Weird. I missed this years one - too poorly.

I will be going to the Country Cupboard's one, although that is already sounding weird. We are a small team (4 of us worked together at EB). It's at the owners house on Sunday and it starts at 5pm. OH WILL be coming with me, I'm kind of hoping we'll be home by 9pm.

Seems that there are no hard and fast rules. Probably depends upon how puritanical the owners are.

With the first company that I worked for in Calgary, it was a software company that was owned by a Calgarian who also owned a number of bars in the city. It was generally accepted that if you could remember any of the party that you were working for the wrong company

Then it was bought by Americans and the Xmas party became an hour of soft drinks and a few nibbles mid afternoon before going back to work.

Not hard to guess when the company started going downhill.........