Wine in Corporate America
I have a friend that is somewhat high up on the corporate ladder, and while interviewing, he noticed a common theme at the companies he was applying at; most of the upper level management had wine in their offices. Bottles that where gifted on their desks, small wine coolers in the corner, they seemed to be everywhere. It would seem that corporate America has been taken over by wine.
But what is the reason to have wine at work? Are these executives using their offices to showcase the prized bottles of their home collection? Many companies have strict rules on bribing customers with gifts and perks, but it appears wine is easily exchanged as an incentive. Or are these bottles simply being opened on lunch meetings or after hours?
Drinking at work isn’t a new concept. In fact, I’ve read that Coors allows drinking after work, and supplies a tap in the lunchroom for employees to enjoy up to two beers. I’ve also seem many offices that had a bottle or two of hard alcohol stashed under the owners / managements desk. But having fine wines and the appropriate stemware seems to be gaining popularity over the latter two options, becoming more a part of corporate culture.
Perhaps business executives are just using wine to help them relax a little on those stressful days. Some of my best work editing weddings or other video projects after work hours for friends, was done with a glass of the red in my hand. That relaxed state after a long day of work is just enough to help focus my energy on the project. I found an interesting post by a web designer who uses wine as a work enhancer as well. It’s an interesting read (especially some of the comments). [simplebits.com]
Wine appears to be well accepted at work today. Whether it’s to hide expensive bottles from the mate, showcase a collection, ease a stressful day, help solve a problem, or land that new account, wine is well integrated into corporate America.
March 3rd, 2006 at 7:03 am
where i work, you would not have a job for long if you did any of those mentioned above.
March 3rd, 2006 at 9:39 am
Gregory,
I forgot to mention that most of the places my friend was interviewing at are newer companies, start ups and the like. I think they are the early adopters, with a more liberal attitude toward alcohol at work, whereas some of the established corporations probably still have rigid policies on it.