tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4230990064500569489.post7214138626481649454..comments2023-09-24T04:12:33.881-04:00Comments on AE on the Verge: The Office Birthday PartyCindy Buttshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05573258402483105450noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4230990064500569489.post-38588227381611164942010-07-10T22:54:31.942-04:002010-07-10T22:54:31.942-04:00I'd eliminate the office birthday party comple...I'd eliminate the office birthday party completely if I could. In our office (there's about 30 of us), they regularly celebrate the birthdays of 10 staffers. They're the managers, HR people, and the close friends of the managers. They don't celebrate the birthdays of the rest of us. It's not a fancy shindig - just lots of food and everyone is expected to attend, lest you be labeled anti-social.<br /><br />Even for us that don't really want a birthday party at work, though, it does make you feel kind of bad that other people get balloons and presents and cake, and you get nothing. For my last birthday, a coworker was going to take me to Disneyland (since they had that free admission on your birthday promo) but then she made last minute plans to do something else so we didn't go. She did treat me to lunch and that was nice, but I ended up getting yelled at by my boss (who didn't know it was my birthday, and yells a lot anyway), so it was a pretty miserable day.<br /><br />Some places have a birthday celebration system similar to what kids do at school - if it's your birthday and you want to celebrate it, then you bring in cake and/or other food. If you don't want to celebrate, then you don't bring in anything. Nobody feels slighted - nice and simple.Cassienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4230990064500569489.post-14485391346427147222010-06-10T13:45:41.082-04:002010-06-10T13:45:41.082-04:00Yeah, the forced reciprocation gets out of hand. O...Yeah, the forced reciprocation gets out of hand. Our company throws once-a-month cake parties, but they're as lackluster as the party in <i>Office Space</i>. The cakes are usually dry and not worth the calories anyway. Birthdays are personal to me, so I'd rather celebrate them with people who really care about me, not with coworkers who merely want an excuse to stuff their faces w/ cake.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4230990064500569489.post-35196295257090719032009-09-03T15:17:04.511-04:002009-09-03T15:17:04.511-04:00Very wise to eliminate it altogether. My office n...Very wise to eliminate it altogether. My office normally did not celebrate regularly, just an occasional celebration when someone felt like it. This year, however, a couple of people started doing it regularly...card signed by everyone, treats, maybe balloons. From Jan.-Aug., 5 birthdays were celebrated this way in my dept. My birthday came up in Sept., they didn't do anything except say "Happy Birthday". I'm really hurt, I thought we all liked each other & got along well. Guess they just didn't "feel like it" this time. Do it for everyone or not at all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4230990064500569489.post-7922578027231222632008-05-30T18:39:00.000-04:002008-05-30T18:39:00.000-04:00Building Community is what it's all about....and a...Building Community is what it's all about....and a monthly celebratory<BR/>function does that trick really well.<BR/>But it's an inexpensive way to build that personal togetherness....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4230990064500569489.post-46852847670011850512008-05-27T17:30:00.000-04:002008-05-27T17:30:00.000-04:00We have 20+ employees, so we cut out B-day parties...We have 20+ employees, so we cut out B-day parties several years ago. It seemed like we had one every week. Now we recognize Bdays and employment anniversaries once a month at our "all staff" meetings. We buy bagels or other goodies and recognize (quickly) everyone. It works well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4230990064500569489.post-79114793039742403122008-05-26T23:03:00.000-04:002008-05-26T23:03:00.000-04:00I use to work for an association with a staff of 1...I use to work for an association with a staff of 15. Once a month we had an all day staff meeting, that involved the association buying us lunch. We would celebrate the birthdays for that month at lunch. No gifts, a card, and desert off the menu.<BR/><BR/>I now have a one person shop, me so I take myself out for my birthday.Mark Bledsoehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03550950755304443407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4230990064500569489.post-74670292270546858522008-05-26T20:13:00.000-04:002008-05-26T20:13:00.000-04:00Frankly, the idea of demanding that everyone "chip...Frankly, the idea of demanding that everyone "chip in" for meals, cakes, and gifts just seems crazy to me. But not acknowledging birthdays at all seems equally bad. Isn't there a middle way (which has been the path adopted by most of the non-insane placed I've worked)? The organization pays for a cake once a month (or once a quarter for small offices) and all birthdays that fell in that time period are celebrated together. That way, "the organization" neither ignores an important personal day/event nor turns into a collection agency.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com