Company Parties for As Few As Two
By Patty Sachs

Just as large corporations are throwing their huge holiday galas, complete with orchestras, lavish meals and elaborate decorations and presentations of special bonuses and gifts, your small or home-based business can have its own end-of-the-year celebration. Indeed, you might choose to scale down the band and the buffet (perhaps, eliminate them from your plan completely) but you and your staff can still enjoy a fine time of acknowledging the season and your past year's accomplishments. With just a little creativity and careful planning you can treat your valued employees or associates, groups of two to ten, to mighty big fun.

Small groups can enjoy a celebratory outing by taking the party out on the road with one of the following:

Dinner Train Excursion: A quaint and quality meal served in the dining car of a special event train is a wonderful mini get-away and a great way to show your guests that they are "important and appreciated." Suggestion: Bring the still and/or video camera to capture the event for a super trip replay to be enjoyed over coffee a few days later.

Progressive Dinner Limousine Ride: Hire a luxurious stretch limousine and map out a tour around the city, with a stop at a different place for each meal course. This "Miles of Smiles" event will be savored and talked about for months. Suggestion: Schedule a stop at a small gift shop where special token gifts have been selected and wrapped to await your guests.

Entertainment Plus: Include attending a great new movie, comedy revue, mystery theater, ice show, circus, play or concert in your party plan. Top it off with après performance dessert and coffee at a new-in-town restaurant or bistro. Suggestion: When you buy a table for a local fund raising event you not only provide a gala for your guests, but you also support the cause and give everyone a good "helping" feeling, too.

Adventurers Activities: Transport your "party animals" to the bowling alley, game arcade, ice or roller rink, nearby ranch for a hay ride or to the local billiards hall. Follow up this frolicking with down-to-earth diner food like burgers and "dogs".

Bonus: Getting your people out of their business suits and into these casual settings will result in new bonds, loads of fun and prove to be a well-received special occasion.

Party in Your Store, Office or Plant
To make your small company holiday gathering more festive organize a lovely open house and encourage each employee to invite 5-10 of their favorite people (not necessarily clients). 

• Plan a simple but inviting buffet of delicious finger foods, set up a wine/beer bar and/or punch bowl or limit the menu to designer coffees and a dessert bar.

• Avoid sending machine copies as invitations. You can create marvelous "requests" on custom printer papers or purchase colorful and elegant ready made styles inexpensively. Add even more spirit by using holiday stamps and rubber stamp art on the envelopes. Enlist the help of your company "crafter" for a neat result.

• Hire a live musician, such as a guitarist or pianist, for an up-scale touch.

• If your work space is too small for an event, search out a unique venue such as an art gallery, retail store, private dining room or apartment party room. Consider having your party as a joint effort with another business that does have a suitable space.

• The holidays are a perfect time to do something for those less fortunate as a part of your celebration. Collect holiday meal ingredients for underprivileged families, toys for children or items such as books, stationery or photo frames for seniors.

• Make yours a "kids only" event complete with clowns, music, fun food and a timely visit from Santa. Include gift distribution and photo opportunities.

Wherever two or more are gathered, you can commemorate the holiday season and the new year with your important business staff and associates in a meaningful, memorable and economical way. The effort and expense will be more than balanced by the resultant rise in morale, enthusiasm and the next year's productivity.

Too Busy to Party?
You can reward your treasured staff members by presenting them with gift certificates to be enjoyed personally or with their families and friends when the seasonal rush subsides leaving more leisure time.

Popular Gift Certificates:

• Activities such as bed and breakfast stays, plays, concerts, sports events, classes or tours.

• Services like photo sessions, picture framing, shoe repairs, house cleaning, yard work, plant maintenance, beauty treatments, exercise or massage sessions.

• Products from gadget shops, special interest collectibles stores, popular discount outlets or even grocery stores.

• Dining at favorite spots from fast-food to gourmet or pizza delivery.

• Subscriptions to books, newsletters, magazines, or computer software.

• Suggestion: Make an attractive package of gift certificates along with a token item that represents the gift. Examples: Add after dinner mints with dinner certificates, popcorn with entertainment tickets, shampoo samples to accompany a gift of beauty service.

Don't Wait...Celebrate!
No matter what size your celebration--for two or two hundred--the most important facet of your plan is to treat each guest as a VIP, concentrating on personalized items such as name tags, place cards, take-home favors and gifts. Remember, a real gift bears the recipient's name, and one that bears the giver's name, might be viewed as a billboard...take care in this area.

Plan a less-stress event by getting help, being fully organized and keeping it as simple as possible. The secret to a successful gathering is more in the way you treat the people and less in the elaborate decor and lavish refreshments. The most vivid memories taken away from an event are those of the details that were planned to show guests just how important they are.

Patty Sachs is the author of the Complete Idiot's Guide to Throwing a Great Party, Pick a Party: The Big Book of Party Themes and Occasions, and Don't Wait Celebrate!

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