Photo: Benjamin Norman for The New York Times

TThe New York Times recently published an article about a new type of party that seems to be gaining some traction in New York and elsewhere: the lunchtime dance party.  It is exactly what it sounds like.  During lunch hour people zip over to a club or bar for a drink and some good music. That’s right, at about noon when sick of replying to emails or building spreadsheets, people are heading to places like Marquee to get a drink and get jiggy with it.  If you have followed this site then you know ADANAI is all about a good party and partying in as many ways as possible.  Pool parties, brunch parties, Sunday Funday and random nights out on the town are all good.  However, this is taking it too far.

The Times does a great job of providing the details so no need to spend too much time describing these parties.  Basically, for a cover charge each attendee typically gets a drink ticket and the opportunity to hear a good DJ spin for an hour or so.  The unspoken rule is that these parties are not meant to be networking events – people should come prepared to party.  The general tone of the Times article was quite positive.  Sorry to say it but ADANAI can’t cosign on this concept.

The letter from the founder of ADANAI provides some good insight on this: “How do we have fun? Often we spend time with friends and play games. It is actually quite simple—we work hard so we can get enough money together to play hard.”  The operative term in this quote is work hard.  Just won a new piece of business and want to go celebrate with a couple of bottles at the club? Sounds great!  Got a raise at year-end and want to go have some fun? Awesome!  Just don’t do it during the workday.  Having fun and partying should be a reward for hard work, not a distraction from working hard.

Everyone has a right to a nice lunch break.  Breaking bread with colleagues, a solid 45 minutes at the gym or catching up on Perez Hilton, ESPN or ADANAI over a salad at one’s desk is the American way.  However, having a cocktail (and who actually believes it is only one drink), waving around a glow stick and dancing to Wu-Tang just doesn’t work.  The guy or gal who stays behind at the office and spends that extra time on the presentation or spreadsheet is going to win.  It is tempting to dive into a long discussion about the relative work ethic of certain groups of Americans versus others throughout the globe but that wouldn’t be productive.  Suffice it to say that it is quite unlikely this kind of thing would thrive in China.

One of the founders of the lunchtime dance party movement, Molly Range, likens this movement to the movie “Fight Club” as it provides an opportunity for white-collar workers to step out of their skin for a while – a supposedly positive activity.  Bullsh*t.  First, “Fight Club” is a fictional movie (and a great movie at that).  Second, please don’t forget that Edward Norton / Tyler Durden and most of the participants in his movement were nuts.  Third, go party at night or on the weekend like everyone else.  If someone wants to take a week off and dance naked in the desert at Burning Man – cool, go for it.  However, when on the clock at the office – get your work done.  The lunchtime dance party is not a good addition to the partying eco-system.

To quote Jay-Z’s “Public Service Announcement”: “Now back to our regularly scheduled program” of fun, fun and more fun.

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