Five work events I’d rather not attend

 23rd January 2013    PR Guru 

Our offices might not the most exciting place, but we have a lot more fun sitting at our computers, updating Twitter and even doing spreadsheets, than we do at some of the “glamorous” and “exciting” events we are expected to attend.

We like to drink champagne as much as the next person, but surely it is meant to add to the excitement, rather than be needed to numb the pain?

Here is my list of loathsome work events:

1. Trade fairs/Auto expos. Need we say more? Have you ever enjoyed one? How did you manage it, were drugs involved perchance?

2. Award functions. Sometimes there is a Bollywood star to entertain you, but more often there isn‘t. Then you have to spend two hours clapping. That’s why we still smoke, gives us a chance to escape outside.

3. Bollywood product launches. First there is the madness of the product launch. And then the special pain of handling whatever celeb wants to kick you around and the legions of demanding fans – which may just include your client!

4. Cricket/Himalayan car rallies/Corporate golf events. Many clients are actually women. Many women hate sporting events and we do too. If it’s your cup of tea, do it in your own time, don’t waste ours.

5. Team-building outings. Aarrghh! Probably the worst of the lot. The days we’ve lost doing “fun” things such as shooting each other with paintballs. It has never made a tiny bit of difference to how people work with each other in our experience. The minute they are back in the office, its same old, same old.