Christmas Party and Leaving do clash

[leslie1955]

At the beginning of November, I volunteered to organise my department’s Christmas party, which will be open to about 200 people. A suitable venue has been booked and over 50 people have accepted the invitation. Quite a few people haven’t responded yet but based on last year’s turnout I was expecting around 100 to turn up a some point in the evening. There will be a free bar for a few hours and a buffet.

Since then there have been some resignations in the department and 4 of them have decided to have a joint leaving do at a different venue on the same night. They were fully aware of the clash. 2 of them actually accepted my invitation to the party.

Rightly or wrongly, I am very upset about this but really don’t feel there’s much I can do about it. Traditionally, leaving do’s at my place mean lots of free drinks so they will probably get a decent turnout plus there are a few miserable so-and-sos that don’t like Christmas parties.

Has anybody ever encountered a situation like this before and if so what was the outcome ?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

They are rude.

They are not just being rude to you, but making life difficult for their colleagues who will have to choose between parties.

On the plus side, you won't have to see these rude people again.

There's not a lot you can do about it now - people will have made plans around the party you organised.

I think people will probably go to the Christmas do early, drink the free bar dry and then go on to the leaving drinks.

In my experience most people go to both but spend more time anywhere that has a free bar for longer.