The answers to the question “When will the Christmas party be held this year?” in the springtime are “Planning a Christmas party? I have not had the time to deal with it at the moment.” or “There is still time until Christmas, let’s talk about it in October”.
Actually, planning a Christmas party should start as early as possible. Often, the most popular rooms have already been booked by spring. Many companies book the desired rooms for the next year right after the Christmas party. Location is one of the most important things when organizing a successful party.
LOCATION!
In addition, the most popular artists and event managers will be booked almost a year before. There are people who are free later on, but are they the ones you had in mind? And if you were to organize something, then make certain that you have the people who are the best for entertaining you and the employees of your company.
In autumn, after the place and the desired artist have been booked, you have time to determine the rest of the details.
Set a certain date early!
A date set early will likely increase the participation percentage of the employees. Notifying a month in advance of the date of the Christmas party may not be enough for people. We recommend setting a certain internal communications plan when planning the Christmas party.
December, filled with events, is one of the busiest months of the year. In addition to meetings summing up the year and to deadlines at work, there are Christmas parties at kindergartens and schools, concerts and many other events.
If you wish to have the Christmas party in December or already in November, then the message should reach the employees in October at the latest. Send people event invitations (in Outlook, Facebook event, etc.) and use various activities of internal communication to keep the Christmas party in the minds of people and keeping the interest in it high.
Idea!
In Scandinavia, there is a trend to organize New Year’s parties instead of Christmas parties. This gives everybody a good opportunity to enjoy the holidays. There is also less work in January, generally. At a New Year’s party, it is possible, to sum up the previous year and set a focus for the new calendar year. Therefore, one event has a bigger value.
There are several big companies in Estonia who have gone along with such a trend. According to the management, the employees are very satisfied with such a solution. The percent of participants has increased and the company saves money on the organization of the party; the saved money can be used, for example, for developing personnel or motivation packages.
Planning a Christmas party to be held in December may be considerably more expensive.
A large part of the party venues, performers and decorators ask bigger sums during the high season. The period in January is quieter and the service providers are more flexible when negotiating prices. Planning an event early or outside the high season allows saving money. You can get cooler solutions for a smaller sum!
Therefore, do not make your employees choose between family and work events. We recommend holding the Christmas party in January!
In January 2018, we organised an awesome New Year’s and birthday party for Valio in the Estonian National Museum. See what we did here.
Write to us (we will reply within 24 hours) and come for a free consultation. We will find the best solution for organising the Christmas and New Year’s party of your company.