Holiday Event Planners Are Expecting a More Festive Season

The Great Recession has put a noticeable damper on some corporate holiday parties and get-togethers, but those in this highly competitive sector say they expect business to improve this season as companies look to show some appreciation to workers who have helped them weather the storm.
‘Bah, humbug’ might have been the sentiment for many business owners and managers when it came to holiday parties during the Great Recession. Indeed, nationwide trends during ’08 and ’09 reflected more coal than cheer in holiday stockings.
And the unwillingness on the part of many business leaders to stage large-scale events when money was tight and unemployment was high certainly hurt an industry that was already feeling the impact from soaring competition. But those in this sector sense that people are warming to the idea of partying again.
Matthew Pitoniak, owner of Union Station in Northampton, formerly known as the Depot, and also Fitzwilly’s, just down the street, echoed many others by saying that last season’s event calendar “wasn’t anything to write home about.” But this year, despite nagging pessimism due to sluggish recovery results, Pitoniak and other area restaurateurs and banquet facility owners say they are predicting a solid holiday season ahead.
“Slowly,” he said, “and by very small increments, we do find business getting better.”
And that is the word from many others who put on the parties in Western Mass. At the Tavern on the Hill in Easthampton, owner Amy Guyette said that her restaurant, with a small-event space seating 40, hasn’t felt a huge impact from the economy, and she expects a healthy holiday season in 2010-11.
Venues offering smaller sizes seem to fare well for the competitive party market. La Cucina di Hampden House owner Michael Cimmino said that bookings for his event space, separate from the main dining room of his restaurant on Allen Street in that town, have increased over each of the past several years.
“People are looking for something a little different every year,” he noted, adding that his chef and staff have been there for so long that their reputation has radiated to towns far afield from Hampden.
“A little different” might be just what sets a venue apart from its competitors, and many said that there is an ever-expanding field of businesses vying for seasonal corporate events.
Among the relative newcomers is Dan Roulier, who for the past 10 years has been transforming his 90-acre Worthington Pond Farm in Somers, Conn. into a world-class historic and naturalist destination. The word from those lucky enough to have spent their event at one of the farm’s many offerings, from gardens to small buildings Roulier described as “very Ralph Lauren,” is best summed up by one recent guest who said, “I don’t want to go home. I just want to live here.”
The holiday season is the time one hopes for just such an escape from the sometimes harried pace of the daily grind. For this, its annual look at the parties, planners, and hosts of the season’s soirees, BusinessWest examines if, and to what extent, the business community will get the party rolling.

Life of the Party

The grand space housing Union Station, Spaghetti Freddy’s, and the Tunnel Bar has several rooms for events, with an occupancy range of intimate, 30-person dinners to large expanses for 200-plus. Pitoniak said that any or all spots can be set up for events, and indeed, as he spoke, two different parties were on track for that night.
His venue has fine-tuned its party-planning technique, with a manager dedicated to that facet of the business, as well as a banquet menu which Pitoniak says is laid out as a guide. “Customers will often go off the menu,” he explained, “but it gives them a good place to start thinking about what they want.”
As someone who has hosted events for more than two decades, Pitoniak speaks with experience when he says the past two years have been a time of cutting back on the part of many clients. “Nothing dramatic,” he said, “but I think ‘falling off’ is a good term.”
Elaborating, he offered a closer look at how employers have been trying to shave at least a few percentage points off the bottom-line cost of a party.
“Eight to 10 years, ago a company would spend X amount, and now they are spending less. Whereas in the past, they might have invited all 125 employees and significant others, they are cutting it back to just employees — or sometimes only inviting management. And instead of providing service that would add up to $50 per person, it’s been scaled back to $25, by not having appetizers or open bar. They’re squeezing their budgets.”
But, he noted, the holidays were not without some last minute second-guessing when it came to parties and their scope. Some companies that had cancelled their plans changed that decision at the last minute. “The holiday spirit took over, and they went ahead with a party. It’s like Christmas shopping; you get one gift for your wife, but then while you’re at it you get a few more.”
Across town, the elegant Hotel Northampton has also been hosting seasonal events for decades. Ruby Meng is the director of sales and marketing at the storied structure, and Laura Wear is the wedding and event planner. Both said that the hotel has fared well throughout the recession.
“We have a solid base of companies that do something here every year,” Meng noted. “And we’re very fortunate in that regard. They love the food here, they love the displays that we put out, and the building itself is just beautiful.”
Competition for events in this city isn’t limited just to the other, larger banquet facilities, but also arises from the many restaurants in a city known for fine dining. In response, the Hotel Northampton pulls out all the stops when dressing up for the holidays, Wear said, with giant wreaths, a large Christmas tree in the grand ballroom, and the constant bloom of fresh flowers everywhere. The restaurant and banquet chefs are also well-known for their use of local ingredients, and when it comes to bringing clients back, the food is a definite draw.
Both Meng and Wear agreed that the past season did have its share of economic casualties, but customers found ways to stay merry. “We heard from people who had their company cut back on a holiday party,” Meng said. “But they wanted to keep the tradition and networking going, so they hosted their own department parties. So they may be smaller, but they didn’t want to lose the spirit.”
Another business owner has decided that such spirit is important during these times, Wear added. In lieu of giving gifts to all employees, he presented his staff with an option for a get-together instead. “Everyone wanted to have a party and celebrate together,” she said. “That’s much more festive than buying something in a department store.”

Small and Sweet
Cimmino said that La Cucina di Hampden House is primarily a restaurant, with a packed dining room most nights of the week. But his event room gets plenty of use throughout the year. “In fact,” he added, “if someone desired to have a holiday party earlier in the week, on a Monday or Sunday, for instance, we could accommodate them with the entire dining room.”
He cited his chef, Miguel Figueroa, as one of the main reasons people keep his restaurant on the short list of event venues. And when it comes time to cater to a larger group, if it’s physically possible for his kitchen to do it, they will accommodate just about any request.
During the holiday season, he said, the room is popular with many smaller companies. For those looking to try a different locale, he said that his restaurant offers an excellent destination.
“People might think Hampden is far away,” he explained, “but if you look on a map, we’re so close to Wilbraham, Springfield, Longmeadow, Somers. We’re in a very central location. It’s a five- or 10-minute drive for a lot of people.”

At the top of the mountain between Holyoke and Easthampton, Guyette’s restaurant has an incredible view from just about everywhere in the dining room.
With her father, James Cooper, and husband and head chef, Lawrence, Guyette said that the three bring decades of professional culinary experience to events at the Tavern. She said her cozy, semi-private dining room is a popular spot for smaller holiday parties, with the most popular mid-December weekends booked several months in advance.
She said that the restaurant offers two price points, one at $29.95 and another at $37.95 per person, and that has proven to be a successful range of options for her clientele.
“We really try hard to keep things affordable,” she explained. “We know our market. My husband grew up in Easthampton, I grew up in Southampton. We’ve lived here our whole lives. We know what people are looking for, because we’re them. And by putting out consistently good food at good prices, we know that people will come back.”
While Roulier has been hosting close to a decade of guests during warmer months, Worthington Pond Farm has been adding new features to the property every year, some that will make it more of a year-round attraction.
In addition to extensive perennial and meditation gardens, an historically-built covered bridge, a small bridge museum, a G-scale miniature railroad, maple sugaring, wagon rides, a 16-acre pond, and scenic trails, over the past few years Roulier added what WPF calls “the warming house.”
A post-and-beam, Cape Cod-style structure, the building is fitted with comfortable couches and upholstered furniture, a fireplace, and original paintings, and designed to host upwards of 45 people. Roulier said the farm maintains a short list of preferred caterers that can offer a culinary experience to match the setting.
“It’s not a Christmas party mill,” he explained. “Rather, an extension of the types of events that we have been able to host in other areas of the farm. We’re never going to be a high-volume venue — we’re going to be a boutique-type place, like many of the wineries that exist in Connecticut. One that comes to mind is Sharpe Hill. They just came on the scene in the last couple years, but they have really done a great job.”
The plans are to fit the structure out with a gourmet kitchen, adding to the overall allure of a showpiece country property. WPF has won accolades from both the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environmental Protection, and indeed the farm is a spectacular spot for visitors with two or four feet.
“Whatever we’ve done there has only been to enhance nature and wildlife,” Roulier said. “Not that people are going to see all of it, but there are special areas for animals to graze and be protected. We will take guests on wagon rides across the property. Our whole thing is preservation, but with an eye toward making it a venue that people can use and enjoy.”
And with this, the first season the farm is officially open to the public during the holiday season, he said that he hopes more people will come to experience the complex. “We are only 10 miles off 91,” he said, “but really it feels like the middle of the country.”

The Party Line
Reflecting on the prospects for his first real holiday-party season, Roulier said that his hope is for people to take the lead when it comes to holiday spirit, and not forget the positives about business in a slow economy.
“As bleak as these times seem at certain points,” he said, “you have to remember that 90% of the people are still employed. And really good employees make really good businesses.”
That’s one good reason to be festive this holiday season, one that those in the business of staging parties believe will yield noticeable improvement over ‘bah, humbug.’