Well, I wasn't going and given the current state of affairs over there....
"Holiday parties losing some of their fizz" by Rebecca Greenfield Bloomberg News December 01, 2015
The economy is recovering, companies are spending more on benefits, employee satisfaction and retention are being monitored. And the holiday party is declining.
Could it be that people don’t like it?
With wages stagnant, one 2010 survey found, many employees said they would rather receive money or gifts than stand around in awkward circles drinking —when the economy contracted, many once-lavish parties retreated to office break rooms. In 2012, with memories of the recession still raw, Wall Street took its parties underground.
Meaning the pre$$ agreed not to report the lavish avarice in the face of a full-blown depression for the rest of us.
As the Society for Human Resource Management’s data show, most employers are still throwing a holiday party.
As for the decline, it’s possible that more companies are simply shifting away from big bashes, leaving end-of-the-year celebrations to individual departments....
That's not helping the economy.
--more--"
They even removed Christmas from the invitation.
UPDATE:
"Like many other papers, USA Today is grappling with a decline in business. According to recent Gannet filings, circulation revenue at the paper fell 12 percent in the third quarter of 2015."
