Around Wall Street last holiday season, the mammoth size of the shrimp served at investment bankers’ parties was a sure sign of a stock market bubble.
High-tech IPOs paid for a lot of bloated shellfish, not to mention lavish blowouts by Silicon Valley companies.
Here in the heartland, a region that came late to the Internet party and frowns on excess, the scene is different.
Many Chicago start-ups are too small even to fill a banquet table, let alone rent a hall. Even among those performing relatively well, bowling alleys are vying with ballrooms as the venue of choice. And, no surprise during this season of sad tech-stock tidings, comfort food is on the menu at some struggling enterprises.
Tuna casseroles are showing up in abundance at modest holiday potluck celebrations hosted by companies that, post-layoffs, can’t justify any spending.
Pink slips and pink crustaceans, CEOs reason, would be a recipe for indigestion.
Indeed, office potlucks are the holiday party of choice at companies as diverse as upstart online retailer EthnicGrocer.com and publicly traded global Internet consultancy Lante Corp.
At Commerx, a once-hot IPO prospect whose employees toasted their good fortune last year at Wildfire restaurant, this year found their IPO and their business model turned to toast.
The revamped company celebrated with drinks and snacks in the office.
MarchFirst, an Internet consultancy that laid off 1,000 last month, catered a holiday dinner at its Michigan Avenue office. It marked the first year in at least a decade that employees of MarchFirst’s predecessor, Whittman-Hart, haven’t enjoyed a “Breakfast with Santa” party.
Still, not everyone is scaling back. In a world in which fortunes shift quickly, any occasion can be an excuse to party.
Some companies still prowling for money to get through next year are spending $10,000 or more on holiday parties to buy cheer and goodwill.
Says one CEO, “That amount isn’t going to determine the outcome of my business. But the way my employees feel does make a difference.”
Some upstart tech firms feel they have reason to celebrate: If nothing else, they’re still in business.
Which brings us to bowling alleys–a popular venue this holiday season for those who feel they have plenty of game left in them.
Four-year-old software firm Click Commerce, whose stock is up 60 percent since its June IPO, outfitted 200 employees with gold-and-purple bowling shirts and entertained them at Marina City Lanes.
Year-old BlueMeteor, which develops and manages Web-based networks for corporate clients, rented a heated tent at the Lincoln Park Zoo for a dinner dance.
Perceptual Robotics CEO Paul Cooper dressed like a gangster for a murder-mystery theme party for his firm’s 60 employees at the Como Inn.
UNext.com, a Deerfield-based online learning company, celebrated at a Westin Hotel ballroom with a dinner dance to the tunes of the six-piece Fat Time band.
So, tuna casseroles aside, not everyone is in mourning. There are more parties this year than last because more people are working at technology enterprises.
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Tech Bash 2000 at Navy Pier’s grand ballroom drew more than 2,000 early this month, grossing $462,000 for charity.
On Tuesday night, more than 400 people joined a raucous free party sponsored by networking group BigFrontier at Drink, a West Loop watering hole.
That same evening, some 50 Internet senior executives gathered at the House of Blues for a mellow holiday party hosted by invitation-only networking group Orbis Forum.
“A year ago we were pinching ourselves and saying, `I can’t believe how easy it is to make money,'” David Tolmie, Yesmail.com’s outgoing CEO, reminded the group. “Now we’re saying, `Ouch, I can’t believe this hurts so much.'”
Jumbo shrimp or tuna casserole, bowling alleys or ballrooms, the holiday spirit persists even in a tech meltdown.
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