So where are the reports? Once again, I missed an opportunity for a get-together, and so I was looking forward to reading about the party - it was either too bad to report on, or so good that theya re still recovering. Come on - put me out of my misery - tell me it was rubbush!
I've moved this thread to the Social Reports area so those in attendance last night can give their two cents worth on the festivities. Here goes mine to give you an idea on what the party was all about. (Pictures thanks to Dean)
Richard and I were working from home on Friday, and had planned to leave around 5pm to drive to Crawley when we got a mail from Dean (Wolves27) and Mat (FozzyO), who had won tickets last night when a redraw took place. They had a logistical nightmare ahead in terms of getting down from Wolverhampton to Crawley in several hours but after some deliberation, and the offer of bed and board at Chez Mannion, they had decided to go for it and do the mad dash to our house in Oxford so we could all arrive together. Traffic being its usual stationary self meant that we did not arrive at Manor Royal until half past eight. A further ten minutes to find a car park space, and a quick walk past the offices of the Premier Team had us entering the Virgin Atlantic Christmas Party. Richard noticed Steve Ridgway outside, chatting away on his mobile.
On arrival we all registered, showing our invitations and FC cards in return for a paper wristband and food and drink vouchers. There was quite a queue to the cloakroom but once we had safely stored our 'outer wear' we headed off in search of food, fun and frolics, with food being the priority. The marquees were arranged to have a few separate areas, a smoking area outside where the toilets were, a chill-out area with kareoke and several bars. Music was very modern with a live singer to chart classics, although i did have to laugh at the PA shouting out 'alright you sexy people'.
There were a few food 'stations' serving a variety of things to eat, fried chicken burgers, Chilli-con-carne and pizza from memory, for which you exchanged a food token for your chosen meal, and Krispy Kreme's were also being handed out for free to those who wanted them. We all plumped for a Chicken burger which did the job. There wasnt a lot of seating so it was a case of eating on your feet, but we were all so hungry that we didnt mind. After filling our tums, the search for drinks commenced. We headed over to a chill-out area that was concealed by a beaded curtain. Plenty of couches and places to sit were at the side of a soft drinks only bar. Richard took the opportunity to get himself a diet coke, then we all went in search of alcohol for the remaining drinkers.
The several drinks bars offered a choice of Red Wine, JD and Coke, Cobra beer or Grey Goose Vodka with Cranberry Juice. Queues moved quickly but the bar areas were extremely busy, so i plumped for two JD and Diet Coke's to save queuing again, Dean had the Vodka and Cranberry Juice and Mat the Red Wine. We took up camp near the bar, had a good chinwag about our upcoming trips and did a spot of people watching. I found it quite an odd notion for VS to open up the staff Christmas Party to, in essence, 'customers', but everyone seemed to be having a good time.
We didnt spot any other V-Flyers, but the part was extremely busy, you could hardly move for people in some areas. We had a wander around to look at what was on offer, but we did feel that there was something missing, a focal point if you like, either that, or we felt a bit odd as we didnt know that many people there. Another round of drinks was the next order of the day, and i switched from JD to the Cranberry juice and Vodka offering, a little sweet for me but hey, i'll still drink it!
After going for another round of drinks we grabbed a free table and made a bit of a camp next to some of the fantastic Premier Team who were a delight to talk to. We totted up our drinks tokens and realised we had far more than we were likely to drink, and we all had a left over food voucher too, so we ended up leaving them behind on the table for others to make use of. It was now past midnight and we decided to call it a night as we had a long drive back. Overall, it was very nice to be invited to the party but i dont think we all got into it as much as the VS staff did. We were fortunate to have V-Flyer friends to share the experience with, and also having the pleasure of putting faces to names of some of the fantastic people at Premier that we had all spoken to, but i wonder if other non-staffers that arrived in ones and two's and did not know anyone else there may have felt more like spectators of the event and perhaps a little isolated? We all had a good time though, hopefully next time we will be able to have more of the usual V-Flyer crowd in attendance.
Thanks,
Sarah
Richard and I were working from home on Friday, and had planned to leave around 5pm to drive to Crawley when we got a mail from Dean (Wolves27) and Mat (FozzyO), who had won tickets last night when a redraw took place. They had a logistical nightmare ahead in terms of getting down from Wolverhampton to Crawley in several hours but after some deliberation, and the offer of bed and board at Chez Mannion, they had decided to go for it and do the mad dash to our house in Oxford so we could all arrive together. Traffic being its usual stationary self meant that we did not arrive at Manor Royal until half past eight. A further ten minutes to find a car park space, and a quick walk past the offices of the Premier Team had us entering the Virgin Atlantic Christmas Party. Richard noticed Steve Ridgway outside, chatting away on his mobile.
On arrival we all registered, showing our invitations and FC cards in return for a paper wristband and food and drink vouchers. There was quite a queue to the cloakroom but once we had safely stored our 'outer wear' we headed off in search of food, fun and frolics, with food being the priority. The marquees were arranged to have a few separate areas, a smoking area outside where the toilets were, a chill-out area with kareoke and several bars. Music was very modern with a live singer to chart classics, although i did have to laugh at the PA shouting out 'alright you sexy people'.
There were a few food 'stations' serving a variety of things to eat, fried chicken burgers, Chilli-con-carne and pizza from memory, for which you exchanged a food token for your chosen meal, and Krispy Kreme's were also being handed out for free to those who wanted them. We all plumped for a Chicken burger which did the job. There wasnt a lot of seating so it was a case of eating on your feet, but we were all so hungry that we didnt mind. After filling our tums, the search for drinks commenced. We headed over to a chill-out area that was concealed by a beaded curtain. Plenty of couches and places to sit were at the side of a soft drinks only bar. Richard took the opportunity to get himself a diet coke, then we all went in search of alcohol for the remaining drinkers.
The several drinks bars offered a choice of Red Wine, JD and Coke, Cobra beer or Grey Goose Vodka with Cranberry Juice. Queues moved quickly but the bar areas were extremely busy, so i plumped for two JD and Diet Coke's to save queuing again, Dean had the Vodka and Cranberry Juice and Mat the Red Wine. We took up camp near the bar, had a good chinwag about our upcoming trips and did a spot of people watching. I found it quite an odd notion for VS to open up the staff Christmas Party to, in essence, 'customers', but everyone seemed to be having a good time.
We didnt spot any other V-Flyers, but the part was extremely busy, you could hardly move for people in some areas. We had a wander around to look at what was on offer, but we did feel that there was something missing, a focal point if you like, either that, or we felt a bit odd as we didnt know that many people there. Another round of drinks was the next order of the day, and i switched from JD to the Cranberry juice and Vodka offering, a little sweet for me but hey, i'll still drink it!
After going for another round of drinks we grabbed a free table and made a bit of a camp next to some of the fantastic Premier Team who were a delight to talk to. We totted up our drinks tokens and realised we had far more than we were likely to drink, and we all had a left over food voucher too, so we ended up leaving them behind on the table for others to make use of. It was now past midnight and we decided to call it a night as we had a long drive back. Overall, it was very nice to be invited to the party but i dont think we all got into it as much as the VS staff did. We were fortunate to have V-Flyer friends to share the experience with, and also having the pleasure of putting faces to names of some of the fantastic people at Premier that we had all spoken to, but i wonder if other non-staffers that arrived in ones and two's and did not know anyone else there may have felt more like spectators of the event and perhaps a little isolated? We all had a good time though, hopefully next time we will be able to have more of the usual V-Flyer crowd in attendance.
Thanks,
Sarah
Thanks Sarah, sounds like it was fun! Thank you for the report and the photos. Shame I couldn't make it, I was looking forward to finally meeting some fellow V-Flyers! Next time I hope! [y]
Sarah, thanks for the report and pics:D
I know how you felt about being the 'customers' as opposed to 'staff'. At one of SRBs Summer parties we went to a few years back, MrG and I certainly felt like Billy no mates! Still, it was nice to have a look around the Great One's pad;)
I know how you felt about being the 'customers' as opposed to 'staff'. At one of SRBs Summer parties we went to a few years back, MrG and I certainly felt like Billy no mates! Still, it was nice to have a look around the Great One's pad;)
Originally posted by HighFlyer
i plumped for two JD and Diet Coke's to save queuing again, Dean had the Vodka and Cranberry Juice and Mat the Red Wine.
Just a crafty way of letting us know what we need to buy you to drink should we ever meet up, methinks...
Glad you all had a good time anyway. Shame I couldn't use my ticket.
Thanks for putting the report together and getting the pics up..
Paul
We can get better, because we're not dead yet
I didn't spot any crew that we had flown with, although I wasn't surprised as it seemed as though there were about 48000000 people in attendance..
They did make the Gray Goose and cranberry with quite a bit of Grey Goose so that was good, and was interesting to be able to walk past premier team's offices to get to the party. somehow I expected them to be working in some kind of rarified santuary, which is wasn't.
To repeat what Sarah said it was also good fun to meet face to face a few of Premier Team towards the end of the evening.
Cheers!
Dean
They did make the Gray Goose and cranberry with quite a bit of Grey Goose so that was good, and was interesting to be able to walk past premier team's offices to get to the party. somehow I expected them to be working in some kind of rarified santuary, which is wasn't.
To repeat what Sarah said it was also good fun to meet face to face a few of Premier Team towards the end of the evening.
Cheers!
Dean
Think Sarah has summed it up very well. Just said to Matt that i didn't see him there (or any fellow v-flyers) and the white wristbands were a good way of spotting non staff but we still didn't spot any vflyers. But there were so many people there it would have been difficult. Had a great time though. The Chilli was good although it left my lips numb for about 20 mins!
There is another party scheduled for next Friday. I'll post some pics later.
There is another party scheduled for next Friday. I'll post some pics later.
We arrived around 8pm and unbelievably bumped into my next door but one neighbour who it turns out is a VS Director in Crawley. I didnt know he worked for VS and he didnt know I was Au. Small world. When he found I was an Au he got on his hands and knees and said "we are not worthy". He told me they liked to invite Au people to things you cant buy - not specially expensive necessarily but unique.
I didnt recognise anyone else but there were thousands there. We stayed till about 10:30 and enjoyed the uniqueness of it all.
I felt a bit like Sid James in Carry on Camping :-)
I didnt recognise anyone else but there were thousands there. We stayed till about 10:30 and enjoyed the uniqueness of it all.
I felt a bit like Sid James in Carry on Camping :-)
Hi i was wearing the white bands at the xmas party. i won the tickets through a competition that was sent to me via email.
There was so many people there and i still managed to bump into people with white bands as well.
travelled all the way from Bristol which taken 4 1/2 hours through the crazy traffic, but it was def worth it as me and my guess really enjoyed the experience that was staged.
As being a non employee, how can get hold and view some of the pics of the party as i had a few photographers take some pics of me.
also i like to say that there were a lot of sexy people there. i hope i get a chance to go to other events soon.
hit me back
There was so many people there and i still managed to bump into people with white bands as well.
travelled all the way from Bristol which taken 4 1/2 hours through the crazy traffic, but it was def worth it as me and my guess really enjoyed the experience that was staged.
As being a non employee, how can get hold and view some of the pics of the party as i had a few photographers take some pics of me.
also i like to say that there were a lot of sexy people there. i hope i get a chance to go to other events soon.
hit me back
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