How important is it to make an appearance at the office holiday party? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Junior associate and this is my firm's first office party since COVID. How important is it to show up? Does it look bad if I just show up for an hour? My office isn't particularly tight knit if that makes a difference.

[Anonymous User]

Also curious, but office under 100

[Anonymous User]

It doesn’t matter.

[Anonymous User]

Doesn't really matter, but there's some marginal benefit to showing face (especially to have just said hi to the partners who are senior in the group you work with so you're on their radar as a person who goes to things). The difference between not going at all and showing a little is negligible but existent --- once you've shown face, though, the difference between staying 1 hour and staying all night is truly zero.

[Res Ipsa Loquitter]

If there’s even a small chance you’ll get drunk and do something stupid, I’d recommend staying home. Otherwise, could be worth showing up for an hour.

[Anonymous User]

Also curious, but office under 100

I would ask around a bit but when I worked at a small firm the holiday party was a major event and it would have been very strange for anyone to skip.

Getting a little time to have seniors/partners interact with you outside work and ideally like you on a social level has huge benefits while really taking minimal effort, so I would just show up and not risk the blowback.