Of course, some companies, even before the pandemic, were trying to avoid raucous or alcoholic celebrations. Roy Bahat, a venture capital investor at Bloomberg Beta, has hosted a startup party since 2014, called Startup Festivus, on the first Friday in December from 3 to 6 p.m., so people can return home to their families.
“We want to have Christmas parties where next Monday everyone shows up proud of who they were,” Bahat said. “We all know the story of someone who goes to a Christmas party and ends up doing something that causes a big breakup.”
At Conductor, a New York-based software company, CEO Seth Besmertnik decided that what his employees would like most this year would be to take a week off at the same time in late December and then have a party in February. once the year-end deadlines have expired. This month there was a casual happy hour at a wine bar in Midtown, which started early, at 5:30 p.m.
“We went from working five days a week all the time and going to late-night events to the other end of the spectrum, which is, ‘I don’t want to come to the office, I want to get all my travel time back.’ for me,’” she said. “When you organize an event to inspire people, motivate them and reward them, do it on terms they would appreciate.”
“Even I personally want to get home sooner,” he added. “I don’t want to be out all night.”
Of course, not all employees are willing to leave the noisy old days behind. Kerrie Shakespeare, chief purpose officer at O2E Brands, which offers services to care for people’s homes, such as painting and trash removal, said her company held afternoon parties this year, after having held evening parties in the past.
The staff consensus was clear, he said. “The response was that people liked the late-night party.”
