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
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]
