Throwing an end of year Christmas team party

End of year work functions can be the ideal way to finish the year on a connected note.

I love this opportunity to say 'thanks' to my team who have supported me tirelessly over the year. It is also a great chance to give a few special awards and mentions to particular people who have gone above and beyond in making a real contribution to the ongoing success of my company. 

Here are my top 4 ways to create an unforgettable work Christmas function:

1. Dress to a theme that has relevance and a meaning to your company

This year we choose China as it was our 20th anniversary and China is used to mark this in marriage terms.

Every year we plan our parties around a theme. Each year is different (Island girl, 1940s, wild west) and the girls love getting together in the hours before the party to get themselves dolled up for a fabulous night out. The only problem is some of the costumes are so good it's a mission to pick the prize for best dressed… yes, we do award this.

2. Eat, drink and be merry

Really show your team your appreciation by splashing out on the best your budget will allow (if you don't have a lot of money, get creative). I love introducing my retail team from around the country to the amazing cuisine the Waikato has to offer and always look for a new premise each year. Think outside the square. They are worth it!

Watch the newcomers, it can be a little nerve racking for them and they can over-indulge in the festive spirit … drunk at the xmas do is not a great look!

3. Entertainment for the evening

It is a must that everyone in attendance has a great time and you may have a wide variety of ages - whether they're drinking or not. Some of our best team parties have included a karaoke night (where everyone dressed up as the performer of the song they sung) and the catwalk fashion show to celebrate the move into our new building that we put on at our Head Office. There are so many more options out there then hiring a Santa to give out a few lollies. And don't forget to look around your team and see who has a talent to share and ask them to give a special performance. This year one of our warehouse team members choose to do a wonderful solo Indian dance for us all... Just fabulous!

4. Prize giving

Use this gathering as an opportunity to show outstanding members of your team your appreciation with a special mention or award. Each year I give out trophies for Employee of the Year, Miss Personality, Sales Superstar and Most Improved Store etc. as well as a range of smaller prizes for particularly worthy people.

Don't go in with a Scrooge Mcduck mentality. This is the time to acknowledge and celebrate, no matter what has happened throughout your year. Look forward as to what you can be - never backwards as to what you have been.

Annah 

(Here are a few shots from our latest China themed Christmas party...)

Dogs subjected to lethal doses of party pills... Come on NZ! Stop this insanity. Please have a voice!

A plan discovered in documents obtained by media at the beginning of the month have revealed a proposal by the Government to rush through legislation allowing for the testing of party pills on dogs and other animals without any public consultation.

The proposed testing regime included discussion over employing the controversial LD50 testing method, where doses of a drug increase until half the test group dies.

Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne, who has headed the Government's crackdown on party pills, initially said animal testing was "unavoidable to prove that products are safe for human beings" and "it is an unpleasant but necessary reality".

But after huge public backlash Dunne has apparently ruled out the use of LD50 and said no decision to use other testing methods involving animals would be made without a thorough consultation period.

However, a discussion document the ministry sent to Health Minister Tony Ryall and Dunne - featuring a sub-heading "Draft for comment - not Government policy" - says: "Consultation will be narrowly targeted to industry representatives and scientific experts, and will not be open to the general public.

Emails by Ministry of Health officials working on the project, obtained under the Official Information Act, also suggest public consultation was not planned.

The proposed party pill testing regime would be applied to any brand of party pill or other synthetic high before it was allowed to be sold legally in New Zealand.

The draft discussion document sent to Ryall and Dunne said animals would ingest the intended "legal highs" in the same way future human consumers would - in pill form.

SPCA Executive Director, Bob Kerridge has said the proposal is "barbaric. product that has no benefit to humans and will cause considerable harm to dogs and other animals. There is no beneficial outcome whatsoever".

Fashion Designer and avid dog lover, Annah Stretton has created a campaign to ensure the proposal does not go any further.

"We must stop this testing that will subject dogs and other animals to lethal doses of chemicals until half the test group dies. PLEASE HELP ME ESTABLISH A VOICE." 

To add your support visit and like http://www.facebook.com/pages/Annah-Stretton-against-Animal-Testing/130947600396291

Or sign a petition form at your nearest Annah Stretton or Annah.S store. www.annahstretton.com

To read more visit http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8025166/Dogs-facing-death-for-legal-highs

She’s leaving on a jet plane …

She's 24 years of age, worried about getting old and has finally left a job that she loved to bits and boarded a jet plane as the first part of her big OE.

Never mind that the first leg of her journey saw a five hour departure delay at Auckland airport (as storms assaulted our beloved country last week) and two of these hours were experienced from the confines of the plane. She's done it; she's left the country for the adventure of her life.

And me, how do I feel in that for the first time in 24 years I will be having Christmas without my kids? (The other one is in Australia enjoying the heat and higher wages).

Hmmm isn't that what Christmas is all about? Sure, it will be cheaper, but perhaps not given that I'm certain I will still get international requests for support during the year! I know that it’s certainly made me a lot more focused on Christmas with my mum as there is nothing like not having something to make you realize what you do have and what is important.

For 24 years I have loved her and endeavoured to create a values platform for her to live her life from. I suppose my job is almost done. Our last few days together, yes she came home with all her bits and pieces (even wanted to keep a few of her beloved frocks, the ones she has secured from her hours of opp shop buying, in our in-house library) and we hung around together for three days.

We went out to eat, she cooked for me and we laughed out loud as we tried to pack within the 23kgs of luggage weight that she had been allowed, all her special bits acquired over her 24 years. I know I will miss her; she has so many of my traits it’s almost like looking in a mirror, but she's also her father’s daughter in so many other ways.

As she heads to the Cayman Islands to look for a hospitality job and join her step-sister's life of party and sun, I am truly envious rather than remorseful. Departure day arrives and we head to the airport, endure our last McDonalds together (we have always had common food ground in cheeseburgers) wondering how we will react at crunch time. We take one last photo at the departure gate and much to her disgust, I couldn't get the look right; she likes to take a great photo. We laugh as she deletes all that is left of this last moment together. Through the departure gate she goes.

I text that I love her (as if she doesn't know) and walk back to my car. The storm is approaching; I head down the motorway and the music plays ... yep you guessed it, there’s always a moment that is unexplainable in music-land in conjunction with the relevant moments in your life and this one was no exception. On comes ‘Living Next Door to Alice’. For 24years I’ve been living next door to Alice and I guess I'll never get used to not living next door to Alice. She is so much a part of me. I have watched her grow, shared her successes and her sorrows, laughed at her obsessions and her insecurities, knowing that she will always be loved and supported as long as I draw breath. She starts another part of her life’s journey and the one thing I do know is that it brings her closer to coming home and maybe working alongside me…

The Luna Park Mirror affect

I have just spent the last two days working on the floor in our Adelaide store in Norwood and whilst I thought I knew and had seen it all re the behaviours of women when endeavouring to purchase a new frock, now I'm not so sure. The South Australians really have it over the NZ girls as to having such a love/hate relationship with their body. What the hell is this about girls? Why is fat such a feminist issue? Either love and embrace what you have or change it. Only you can do this.

If it has to be it is up to me!
Sure, as we age and often even before that, we start to see the inevitable change that happens to our bodies... the flabby arm bits that still continue to move long after the wave goodbye has been completed and the muffin top that lovingly wraps around our middles.
If you really care that much, do something about it as there are plenty of people that will be happy to take your money and support you.
If not, get on with it and accept what you look like that and frock accordingly. There are so many great styles that will make you look fantastic. Believe that not all shopping experiences mean the 18 year old, don't give a damn shop assistant. Just work harder to find your shopping fit. It is out there.

Do not come out of the changing room supporting the new frock and grizzle about the mirror image. I swear, you all see yourself as if you are looking in a Luna Park theme mirror (the wonderful terminology that came from the mouth of my Adelaide manager).

 And what's with all the hidden purchases? The stuff that you remove the tags from so you can bring it out at a later date exclaiming 'oh this old thing', as your partner comments on your look. Surely as a grown woman you are allowed to purchase a frock for yourself. The last few days in store have shown me that we are still very much in a man's world. Whether you contribute to the household or not, his voice is prevalent in so many of your purchasing decisions. I mean, we even have you ring us to tell us you have to return the garment because he hates it. Shouldn't that make you more determined to wear it? What has happened to us?
Come on ladies, we are not an extension of a man. We need to fall in love with the body we have. It's about healthy living, not obsessing as to every little kg. You will always deserve a new frock. It's not just about occasion, it's about celebrating who you are every damn day. And stop looking in those Luna Park mirrors. They are for the theme park only and don't exist in the real world.

REPEAT AFTER ME... I LOVE WHO I AM!