Jasmin Wölke hosts company Christmas parties in Cologne in English and German: welcome, year in review, honours and the handover to the party. She keeps the programme together, so the evening stays festive and still reaches the music on time.
Celebrating in a city that starts celebrating on 11 November
Cologne has a calendar no other city has: on 11 November the carnival season opens, and the company Christmas parties fall into the very weeks that follow. Venues, bands, technology and catering are in double demand in this window, once for carnival and once for the corporate year-end. Anyone who wants to celebrate in the Flora or the Wolkenburg books months ahead. The same goes for the host: the Thursdays and Fridays between late November and mid December are the first to go.
Halls for the end of the year
For a festive frame Cologne has rooms of every size: the Flora as a botanical gem, the Wolkenburg for the classic ballroom, the Gürzenich for a large workforce, the Rheinterrassen with a view of the cathedral and the Tanzbrunnen in the Rheinpark. Each of these places calls for its own dramaturgy. In a historic hall a ceremonial tone works, by the Rhine things may be more relaxed. Jasmin tunes running order and tone to room and workforce and plans the routes between reception, dinner and stage from the start.
Review, honours, handover to the band
A Cologne workforce is a warm but honest audience: happy to join in, yet quick to notice whether the person up front knows the names. In the briefing Jasmin therefore goes through anniversaries, pronunciation and the stories of the year. In the evening she opens, frames the management speech, guides through review and honours and hands over cleanly to band or DJ. She knows festive evenings with a dense programme from a corporate reference: at the Leadership Excellence Awards she guided 250 guests through an evening with ten awards.
Bilingual and planned early
Many Cologne companies, from media and insurance to retail and automotive, have international teams. Jasmin hosts in German, in English or switching between both, so nobody at this party just smiles politely. Travel is easy to plan: from Stuttgart about two hours fifteen by ICE train. More about the city is on the Cologne city page, the format is explained on Christmas party host, and booking a presenter shows the path to an offer.