The Big B Bash

[hrj]

Wow. I must say I have never been to an all-out corporate party like this one. It was like those parties that Genentech or Google throw that get mentioned in the society columns (except we didn't have celebrity entertainment). To be fair, the excuse for such a big bash was the 20th anniversary of the first use of our product in patients. They assure us that we won't get this elaborate a do on a regular basis.

I took scotica as my date -- and it was definitely more fun taking a date because then you have an instant script for interacting with people as you make your way around the event. We took BART over from my place and found the event shuttle from the Civic Center station by means of spotting the large crowd of elegantly dressed folks standing around on the sidewalk on Market Street. (They'd been standing there a while, it turned out, because the shuttle company had changed the pick-up point to around the corner without telling anyone, but that got sorted out.) We get dropped off at the event site and there are colored spotlights projecting the company name and logo on the sidewalk and a unicycle rider juggling lighted clubs welcoming us. (The main entertainment was a cirque-style acrobatics group.) From guest-list checkoff and coat check you move on the the first of multiple bar stations where you can redeem your drink tickets and move on to the first of four buffet stations creating fresh appetizer-sized food items as you browse (Mexican with made-fresh tortillas and various fillings, "American" with mini-burgers and salad cups, Asian with an assortment of steamed dumplings and sushi, and the dessert buffet). In addition to half a dozen bar stations, there were several espresso stations making hot drinks to order. The ultimate bar station was the one up on the mezzanine where the bar itself was one big ice sculpture with the Big B logo on it.

There were a couple different bands playing: one in the main stage/dance area at the far end of the venue, and another just inside the front door. For the first part of the evening, the main stage area was where the aerialists and rhythmic gymnastics performers were doing their thing to live music. The bands were, of course, much too loud, especially when the speeches had been taken care of and they switched over to dance music. In addition, the entertainment featured a history display and audio-visual tour of the manufacturing process, pool tables, a wii-games area, masseuses, caricature-sketch artists, henna tattooists, fortune tellers (I think the last group were part of the "circus" theme), and -- of course -- the fun of seeing one's co-workers all dolled up in fancy clothes.

We bumped into thread_walker w/husband pretty much right after walking in the door (and she was looking stunning in a beaded bodice and foofy black skirt). Then it was simply a matter of slowly working one's way through all the offered delights, stopping to exchange formulaic introductions when bumping into someone I knew well enough to introduce, and trying to figure out which instance of all the multiple food stations had the shortest lines. (We're all so inured to line-standing for food at corporate events that the wait staff had to keep pointing out to us that each station had 4 or 5 identical sections and that there was really no need for everyone to line up at the first one!)

It took most of the evening simply to work our way all around the perimeter and check everything out. When we ended up next to a short-line massage station up on the mezzanine we both took advantage of it and then decided to call it an evening. On the way to the door, I met up with another co-worker who had just arrived -- too late to get properly checked in and given free drink tickets, so I handed off the 3 (out of 4) that we had left. Oddly, I only bumped into two other people from my department at the party, although we also ended up chatting with my boss on the shuttle back to BART and hanging around at the station. But then, it was a big party. [*]

Wow. I feel like I've arrived somehow.

[*] I feel that it's only just to note that the financial arrangements for the party had been finalized before all the recent global financial hoo-ha, so despite superficial appearances, this isn't a case of fiddling while the economy burns. It would have cost almost as much to cancel the party as to go ahead and hold it. Besides, we're stimulating the local economy, right?

Comments

[trystbat.livejournal.com]

Ditto on the [*] note. Parties of this size are booked at least 6 months in advance, sometimes farther out, & the deposits are huge & probably nonrefundable. And it really is the least a big company can do for the employees (not to mention the 100s of ppl employed to put *on* these parties!).