With Christmas fast approaching, our thoughts turn to eating, drinking, presents and of course… the office Christmas party.

Some see this anticipated event as an opportunity to show off their extra curricular skills - kung fu dancing, ear-splitting karaoke, jumping through their own leg (I’ve seen this and it’s awe inspiring!). Sound all too familiar?

You may think of the above as such tom foolery; that surely we, as PR extraordinaires, would keep our own Christmas parties as high end and stylish as our clients’. Ha ha, think again. Between us, we’ve seen and done it all!

So in the interest of saving you potential embarrassment (and possible retrenchment) here is our list of dos and don’ts for your office Christmas party.

DO

1. Carefully consider your party outfit. Anything that makes you look like you’ve fallen out of a lap dancing  club is probably not the most appropriate choice for advancing your career

2. Drink slowly. I’m not saying drink in moderation as, let’s be honest, that’s not going to happen, but do pace yourself. A flaming Sambucca over lunch is only going to lead to trouble

3. Ban all cameras and camera phones. Facebook can’t wait to get its little paws on that shot of you dancing with your dress over your head. Or, as Bono found out, sitting with a half dressed floozy on your lap

DON’T

1. Assume that because the work experience boy smiled at you that it’s a green light to clamber across the table and pash his face off. He was probably just concealing a burp

2. Complain that you hate your Kris Kringle gift. Your colleague probably spent hours trudging round the shops to find the offending diamante i-pod cover, so just pretend you love it and move on

3. Corner you boss for a quite one-to-one about your desired pay increase whilst spilling your drink all over their new shoes and telling them how much you love them. You may find your desk cleared the next day

These are merely our tips for the big event, the rest is up to you. If necessary, we are always available for reputation management should the need arise.

If you have any funny Christmas party stories we’d love to hear them.

Posted by Helen Lear

I’ve never been fond of vermin; dirty, shifty little things they are.  Somewhere in Sydney there is a rat spreading a rumour about our client, Justin Hemmes from Merivale.  If you have any information, please call 1800-rat or leave a comment.

Posted by Renee Creer

Here are some things you might not know about us relating to space and time because we’re not just Stellar* in Surry Hills; we’re Stellar* all over the world.

• We work both nationally and internationally.
• Our clients are based in all states of Australia, in major capital cities and small country towns (shout out to Brown Brothers in north-east Victoria… lovely spot that.  You fly there in a 24 seat twin engine plane and let’s just say that Albury is prone to violent afternoon storms; a few times I’ve been grateful to get home alive).
• We’ve executed all kind of national campaigns including national road shows.  One time we did a simultaneous launch event for 1,800 guests in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth ALL on the one night - phew!
• For the past two years we’ve even gone as far as the remote Kimberley in Western Australia in the name of work.
• For the Good Food and Wine Shows we handle publicity for shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

• We used to have a Stellar* office in Melbourne, but MJ got sick of the weather, so now we pop down there ourselves or work with colleagues or our affiliate agency in Melbourne (hi John).
• We also have affiliates in New Zealand too, eh bro.
• We sometimes leave our sunny shores and fly overseas.  We’ve even been as far as Budapest for ghd hair Australia.
• Some of our clients are based in the UK.  Best of all, we even work with the Spanish Government - aunque en Stellar* no hay siestas!
• In house, we have two Poms working with us (with another starting in February) and the rest of us are from or have lived in Sydney, the Hunter Valley, Armidale, Melbourne, Brisbane, Michigan, Manila, Manchester, Liverpool, London, Postsmouth, Bournemouth, Singapore, Buenos Aires… and Bookham (which is somewhere near Yass apparently).

Renee Creer