#2013alive: Are You Planning a Party?

Party on!

If having fun is good for us, then throwing a party must be just the ticket for improving our health. If there’s any doubt about this, just plan your own party—and feel the stress evaporate as you enjoy the fun and laughter.

Here are some of the memorable ways alive staffers have partied—and laughed.

Sandi Gauvin, Senior Editor:

My most memorable party was one that a former employer threw for employees—just because! We were all told to go home at noon the day before and come back the following morning (a Friday) ready to party.

The entire building (two floors of office and meeting room spaces) had been turned into the Love Boat (complete with Captain Stubing and all his crewmates). When we boarded, we each received towels, water bottles, and sunscreen as well as play money. We were then invited by the cruise director to participate in the gambling, entertainment, and other cruise ship offerings that had been set up in different offices.

We were also issued passports to have stamped at each port of call—at least half a dozen offices had been turned into cruise destinations, where costumed staff served us (Fidel Castro, Carmen Miranda, Che Guevara, Bob Marley were all there!) At each port of call, we were served special drinks and ethnic foods.

Needless to say, we were all very happy passengers/employees!

Amanda Pentland, Graphic Designer:

Who doesn’t like a good party? If you have a group of eight to 16 people and you want to spice up the party, I recommend a game I call “things in a box.” It always gets the laughter going. Some of my favourite party memories are of playing things in a box. All you need are:

• at least 10 strips of white paper about half an inch by three inches for each player and about 30 for “things”
• a pencil or pen (all the same is best)
• 2 hats or boxes—one to hold the “things” and the other to hold the answers
• someone to keep score

Before the party or game begins, write down at least 30 different “things” on individual strips of paper and place in one of the boxes. Here are some examples:

• things you wouldn’t want to find under your bed
• things you should never say to a police officer
• things you shouldn’t order online
• things you wouldn’t want to hear your mother say
• things that would make a very bad first impression
• things you should never use twice

Here’s how to play:

• Choose a reader (a different one for each round) who chooses one of the “things” from the box and reads it aloud.
• Everyone (including the reader) then writes their answer on a strip of paper and places it in the other box.
• After mixing up all the answers, the reader begins to read them aloud—twice each.
• Once they’ve all been read, players take turns making their guess about who wrote the answer (the reader doesn’t guess).
• The scorekeeper keeps track of who guesses correctly.
• Anyone whose question is correctly identified loses a chance to make a guess on that round. (This motivates players to create some really hilarious answers!)

Karla Gursche, Advertising Account Manager:

My favourite party is one that we used to do in our old neighborhood. We called it a safari party. Each couple signed up for an appetizer, main course, or dessert. There were about 24 different couples.

On the evening of the party, we would go to each course at different homes and host your course in your own home, but we did not know in advance which other couples would be attending each course. It would be different for each. At the end of the dessert course, we all met at the coordinator’s house for a big party. So much fun!

Leah Payne, Editor:

I love Christmas. No, I really love Christmas—especially the lead up to it, with all of the anticipation, excitement, and preparation that goes into it. I know I should begrudge the consumerist commercials and songs, but I just can’t do it. Instead, I usually start shopping mid-August and humming carols under my breath late September. (Yes, right now I’m about halfway done gift shopping, no joke.)

So it’s probably not surprising that every year I throw a tacky-themed Christmas party for my friends just before the big day. We wear ugly Christmas sweaters (as a good host, I also wear Santa earrings), eat lots of delicious food, and I even put together trivia games (with prizes!) that test our knowledge of Christmas songs, stories, and pop culture. Clearly I have very sophisticated friends, because when I once suggested to change the theme to a more classy (i.e., “boring”) Christmas party, they were outraged, which made me very happy.

@Jenniedublar on Twitter:

@Jenniedublar shared this story on Twitter: We had an Olympic party during the Vancouver games. Complete with opening ceremonies, games, and medals. 54 people came.

What’s your party plan?

Do you have any party plans percolating? We’d love to hear all about them. Maybe you’d like to share some past experiences you’ve had with great parties. Just drop us a line via blog posts or Facebook comments, or by using the Twitter hashtag #2013alive.