A Fresh Inclusive Take on Nonalcoholic Offerings in 2024
NA is not going away. As a welcome to 2024 and solid nudge for businesses and organizations to offer elevated nonalcoholic offerings at their events, I’m offering perspectives on the company holiday party, the internal cultural readiness conversation around drinking culture, and three ways to start exploring NA with intention in 2024.
The Company Holiday Party
Falalala…ahh…. The company holiday party. The sentiments echoing the corporate halls or employees’ remote workstations in late 2023 and early 2024 are largely less than enthused about these gatherings that can feel obligatory and old school. It’s not that employees don’t want to have intentional time to get to know their co-workers, it’s more about the environment and activities that surround the experience. Talk to a Millennial or Gen Z employee that draws a line – paid or unpaid – around their work-related choices. Note their boundaries when it comes to attending corporate functions like holiday parties when they’re off the clock. Then talk to anyone who chooses not to drink or someone in early sobriety to find out why venturing into a work holiday party is the least appealing thing on their to-do list this season.
Mid corporate holiday party season ’23-’24 and at the start of Dry January 2024, company party and event planners and leadership can be responsive to the cultural shifts related to alcohol consumption by offering elevated nonalcoholic options in a celebratory way. It’s the inclusive thing to do.
A Cultural Readiness Conversation
Through Zero Proof Collective (ZPC), a collective Cate Faulkner and I co-founded in May 2022 to advance the NA movement, we’ve consulted with small to large businesses and festivals to deliver nonalcoholic options at their events. Our ZPC Playbook for Corporate Events is the starting point for the cultural readiness conversation. We look at the current culture and environment, a company’s DEI&B mission and action, and how a company has traditionally hosted employee gatherings from happy hours to annual conferences. Based on these findings we recommend important ways to set the stage for NA offerings prior to the event. We assist companies in a tactical way by helping them deliver a successful NA offering experience alongside alcohol offerings or by going nonalcoholic only. We recommend products we love through long-term relationships we’ve established with makers. And because we don’t have a nonalcoholic product of our own, we can create offerings that are uniquely suited to each event.
Since ZPC’s founding, we’ve amassed over forty events where we’ve delivered the NA experience from Winefest May 2023 to Bakkenalia June 2023 to a Dining and NA Pairing experience at 6Smith November 2023 (read the recaps at ZPC). All events come with a lot of initial conversation about the importance of offering NA. As a result, we’re well-versed in helping individuals in companies and organizations advocate for NA options with leadership to overcome the widespread and common barriers that remain prevalent even in 2023-24.
Often times companies are unsure of where to start with the cultural conversation and NA offerings. In response to inquiries from my personal network in 2023, rather organically I created a streamlined, entry-level way to get started in the NA offering space. Under my own brand (jengilhoi.com), I served NA in a pop-up, ready-to-drink, simple way at events from Marketers’ Community to Northwestern Mutual to Versique, an HR company, in 2023. Outside of the corporate space, serving at wellness-related events including Sauna and Sobriety (a business Natalie Lang and I cofounded) over the past year, has provided an expansive way to tap into the conversations around drinking culture. I can attest to the profound impact these elevated NA offerings can have in corporate and wellness social spaces – it’s powerful!
In 2024, I’m building on workshops and speaking engagements in 2023 with Hazelden related to my TEDx Talk: Why We Should Rethink Drinking Culture, that was released July 2023. I’m excited to announce these events soon and deliver on a model I’m passionate about: sharing insights based on my TEDx Talk at mid to large-sized annual conferences – solo and in collaboration with leadership; and rocking a completely nonalcoholic happy hour and providing mindful moments throughout the experience.
Exploring NA Offerings in 2024
If you’re in corporate leadership or event planning, chances are more employees and event attendees will not only be abstaining from alcohol in Dry January, but making resolutions to more mindfully drink in 2024. How will you meet this expectation and be on the forefront of the conversation?
Here are a few ideas to consider:
1 Start the conversation in your organization this January
This January is the 11th year anniversary of Dry January. This concept originated in the United Kingdom in 2013, when the nonprofit Alcohol Change UK started a campaign to raise money for alcohol abuse and treatment. It has morphed into a global phenomenon, with people throughout Europe and the United States participating. The joiners have grown year over year with recent stats showing that 77% of those who’ve done it in the past, will do so again year after year. For backstory and my personal take on why to try Dry January, see this 2023 article in The Passion Collective.
2 Identify events and social employee gatherings where you could introduce more elevated NA options
Begin this exploration by hosting conversations about the events that are already on your annual calendar. Additionally, consider where your company has a presence in supporting roles in other events and conferences; and how your employees want to gather in 2024. What do they find valuable?
3 Bring in outside resources and additional learning to support new efforts
Once you’ve internally identified ways to have this cultural conversation and those that are interested, bringing in outside resources may be a good next step. There are podcasts like Corporate Drinker (Laurie Ruettimann) and HR-based programs like Professional Drinkers from Choose Sunrise (Janet Hadley) that look at corporate responsibility and actions when it comes to drinking culture and alcohol-centric events. There are legal avenues and counsel to consider in building a case to offer more NA. There are consultants and service-oriented partners, like ZPC and JenGilhoi.com (email), orgs can tap into to simply figure out an entry point or work with in a longer-term, sustainable way.
NA Cheers to exploring and delivering on more inclusive events in 2024!
— Jen Gilhoi
