Company Holiday Parties

Saturday I wrangled an invite to the Microsoft EXG party (so eHome, XBox and Zune) at Pier 30:

EXG Hosted on Zooomr

And it was quite the party. Free valet parking, numerous open bars, ice sculptures, air hockey, foosball tables, photo booths, three large rooms, food and Eagles of Death Metal played:

Eagles of Death Metal Hosted on Zooomr

But of course like the other large Microsoft party I went to two years ago only a few social butterflies from eHome showed up.

Social Butterflies Hosted on Zooomr

Which is sad because the people I ran into at this party are the people I usually either go out with or run into when I’m out. What I’d prefer is to get a chance to socialize with all the people who normally don’t go out but when there’s a big party they seem to all stay at home probably afraid that the space for the party is too large and they won’t bump into the people they work with. And so even though this party was bigger and more extravagant than last year’s eHome only party I don’t think it was nearly as good because it didn’t bring the eHome employees together. Now it did bring the eHome and other groups together in one space which I’m sure the vice presidents believe will create greater ties between their groups but really there was little meaningful interaction between the groups.

(Begin tangent)

After the party we went to a house party at Jeff and Chris’s place where I discovered that Jeff has a serious Lego addiction:

Jeff’s Lego Collection Hosted on Zooomr

Check out this condo he built:

Jeff’s Lego Condo Hosted on Zooomr

(End Tangent)

Compare this to our Redfin company party last night at Glenn’s house where nearly everyone showed up:

A Blurry Redfin Christmas Hosted on Zooomr

And we had a great time eating, drinking and socializing (though we tend to all those things at work too.) I’m sure next year’s party will be much larger and won’t be hosted at Glenn’s house!