Few corporate holiday parties inspire as much fascination as the MTV Networks bash, leaving regular folks to wonder how the company lets off steam each December. MTV Networks—which includes VH1, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and others—consistently refuses to let reporters in to cover the party, so we chatted up guests outside the Hammerstein Ballroom last night to see what they had to say. (In the cold, we might add. We’re that committed to bringing you event-industry news.) Despite the wall-to-wall bodies, most employees agreed it was a good time. And we granted them anonymity—even the drunk ones who didn’t ask for it. Happy holidays! Keep your job!
Here's what they had to say:
“It was a blast. But there was I Love the 90’s Volume 15-type music, which isn’t good. We didn’t even hear Jay-Z, we didn’t even hear Missy Elliott, we didn’t even hear anything good. But we heard early 90’s. C+C Music Factory—that’s all I’m saying.”
—Freelance designer, MTV Networks, age 30
“By around 10 o’clock most everyone has arrived and it’s cool. You go around, move to some other floors, see some people, meet some people, have some drinks.... From my past experience, [the worst part] would be waiting for a car, because there’s a lot of people waiting to take one. [MTV had a line of car-service cars waiting to take partygoers off.] And that coat check, because the lines are huge.”
—Production coordinator, MTV Tres, 26
“The party’s excellent.... But they need a bigger venue. They’ve had it here for I think the last 10 years or so, but MTV has grown in the last 10 years and so everyone is squished. It takes you 10 minutes to get from one end to the other because it’s so crowded.”
—Production accountant, MTV, 24
“I was thinking that this party was the best party of the year. It was get-down Viacom-style. We were just thinking about corporate profits.”
—Art director, Spike TV, 34
“MTV already took care of the bartenders, so I’m happy. I don’t have to put down my $1, $2, whatever.... There’s sushi, meat, beer, hummus, whatever you want. And drinks are here so I’m happy.”
—Producer, MTV, 22
“It’s a very young crowd. It’s just really crowded and the music’s great. It’s like a club with great music. It’s what I think you would expect from an MTV party.”
—Multimedia producer, MTV News, 28
“Every year the party is awesome. We’re getting a little older so we’re leaving a little earlier than we normally do, but it usually goes until three in the morning. We’ve been there until three in the morning. There’s really no rules in there. I don’t think anybody ever thinks, ‘Ooh, my boss is here.’ Whatever happens in there stays in there.”
—Producer, VH1, 32
“It’s fun, it’s really crowded, and the floor has a lot of beer on it. It’s very sticky, it’s kind of like a frat party, but that’s OK; that’s what we expected.... It’s really crowded—you can’t separate from the people you’re with, otherwise you’ll never see them again. It takes about half an hour to get a drink. The food is great, the music is really good—it’s very MTV. I kind of feel like I’m watching the top 100 songs on MTV, but it’s all really catchy stuff that you can’t help but dance to. You secretly want to hear it and you have a few drinks and you dance and it’s fun.”
—Executive assistant, MTV Networks, 29
“This is my seventh time going to the MTV Networks party. I like when they take the theme a little further. I’m not sure what this year’s theme was. But other years it was Moroccan-themed and there were belly dancers. I love themes and I love when they take it further so you really remember it.”
—Producer, VH1, 30
“It’s fun and it’s weird. It’s weird in that it’s the one night of the year that makes you realize that this is actually a really unique place to work because it consists of a freak-show circus. It’s really bizarre but so much fun. Because you’ll see some guy with his shirt off throwing meat off the balcony, and then the next day he’ll be doing your contracts at Nick legal.”
—[Declined to give title], MTV, 30
We’re not inclined to believe that last part, but the guy swore it was true.
Posted 12.08.06
Here's what they had to say:
“It was a blast. But there was I Love the 90’s Volume 15-type music, which isn’t good. We didn’t even hear Jay-Z, we didn’t even hear Missy Elliott, we didn’t even hear anything good. But we heard early 90’s. C+C Music Factory—that’s all I’m saying.”
—Freelance designer, MTV Networks, age 30
“By around 10 o’clock most everyone has arrived and it’s cool. You go around, move to some other floors, see some people, meet some people, have some drinks.... From my past experience, [the worst part] would be waiting for a car, because there’s a lot of people waiting to take one. [MTV had a line of car-service cars waiting to take partygoers off.] And that coat check, because the lines are huge.”
—Production coordinator, MTV Tres, 26
“The party’s excellent.... But they need a bigger venue. They’ve had it here for I think the last 10 years or so, but MTV has grown in the last 10 years and so everyone is squished. It takes you 10 minutes to get from one end to the other because it’s so crowded.”
—Production accountant, MTV, 24
“I was thinking that this party was the best party of the year. It was get-down Viacom-style. We were just thinking about corporate profits.”
—Art director, Spike TV, 34
“MTV already took care of the bartenders, so I’m happy. I don’t have to put down my $1, $2, whatever.... There’s sushi, meat, beer, hummus, whatever you want. And drinks are here so I’m happy.”
—Producer, MTV, 22
“It’s a very young crowd. It’s just really crowded and the music’s great. It’s like a club with great music. It’s what I think you would expect from an MTV party.”
—Multimedia producer, MTV News, 28
“Every year the party is awesome. We’re getting a little older so we’re leaving a little earlier than we normally do, but it usually goes until three in the morning. We’ve been there until three in the morning. There’s really no rules in there. I don’t think anybody ever thinks, ‘Ooh, my boss is here.’ Whatever happens in there stays in there.”
—Producer, VH1, 32
“It’s fun, it’s really crowded, and the floor has a lot of beer on it. It’s very sticky, it’s kind of like a frat party, but that’s OK; that’s what we expected.... It’s really crowded—you can’t separate from the people you’re with, otherwise you’ll never see them again. It takes about half an hour to get a drink. The food is great, the music is really good—it’s very MTV. I kind of feel like I’m watching the top 100 songs on MTV, but it’s all really catchy stuff that you can’t help but dance to. You secretly want to hear it and you have a few drinks and you dance and it’s fun.”
—Executive assistant, MTV Networks, 29
“This is my seventh time going to the MTV Networks party. I like when they take the theme a little further. I’m not sure what this year’s theme was. But other years it was Moroccan-themed and there were belly dancers. I love themes and I love when they take it further so you really remember it.”
—Producer, VH1, 30
“It’s fun and it’s weird. It’s weird in that it’s the one night of the year that makes you realize that this is actually a really unique place to work because it consists of a freak-show circus. It’s really bizarre but so much fun. Because you’ll see some guy with his shirt off throwing meat off the balcony, and then the next day he’ll be doing your contracts at Nick legal.”
—[Declined to give title], MTV, 30
We’re not inclined to believe that last part, but the guy swore it was true.
Posted 12.08.06
