More Firms Planning Parties

Companies may still be trying to trim costs, but there’s one area where they’re loosening belts a bit -- year-end holiday parties.

Out of 271 U.S. companies surveyed by human resources firm Hewitt Associates, 75% are hosting a holiday party, up from 68% last year.

They are being more lavish too -- spending on average about $48,000 this year, up 23% from just above $39,000 in 2003, Hewitt data show.

Some companies have clearly decided to seek to boost rank-and-file morale through a holiday mixer rather than a bonus, analysts said.

“If they’re going to spend to boost morale, they feel they’d rather do it through a party than spending it on hams and turkeys,” said Ken Abosch, a senior consultant at Hewitt.

Corporate party planners say their business is the best it has been in years.

“Companies are freeing up more of their dollars,” said Meryl Hillsberg, owner of Impressive Events, a Montclair, N.J.-based event planning company. Hillsberg’s business has doubled from last year, she said, and client party budgets have for the first time recouped the declines suffered after the Sept. 11 attacks.

User traffic is up 50% this year over last at BizBash.com, a 4-year-old website that companies and event planners use to link up for corporate events, said Nicole Purmal, marketing director for BizBash Media.

“There’s more money out there, and planners are putting more time into developing their corporate clients,” Purmal said.

A survey of 484 U.S. employees released Nov. 15 by careers website Vault Inc. showed that 62% of companies were planning parties this year compared with 55% last year.

But not everyone agrees that the good times are back. Another survey released by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. shows that although 70% of employers are planning parties, 22% are trimming their party budgets -- some by as much as 20%, with only 11% increasing their spending.

“[Business] is up as far as the quantities of parties happening, but the budgets are down,” said Jason Grenier, a partner with Party Planners New York.

Among the first things to go on a slim budget: decor and entertainment.

“Instead of three-piece bands and jazz quartets people are just going for a boring deejay,” Grenier said. “A lot of companies are doing wine and beer instead of a full, top shelf bar as in years past.”