Peg Newman, Managing Partner of Sanford Rose Associates® – Salt Lake City, Featured in First for Women Magazine

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Peg Newman, Managing Partner of Sanford Rose Associates® – Salt Lake City, Featured in First for Women Magazine, Party Season Survival Guide

Dallas, TX 12/9/2015

Professional party throwers and partygoers share their best tips to avoid an “awkward!” moment at holiday gatherings

If you…have nothing to say

We’ve all had those “get me out of here” moments when we don’t know any of the other guests or are stuck talking to someone we have nothing in common with. To the rescue: this genius trick from professional fund-raiser Heather McGinness, who attends two or more parties a week during the holiday season. “Check the news and entertainment headlines on your phone just before you head into the party,” she advises, recalling a time at a professional event when she shared a piece of financial news that was reported just before she walked into the gathering. “The tidbit I shared started buzzing through the room and suddenly I found myself meeting many new people who wanted to hear more,” she recalls. “All I did was share this information, but you’d think I was a hear.” Two sites that gift a quick rundown of hut topics: TheSkimm.com and TheWeek.com.

If you…might need to duck out early

Regardless of whether you expect the party to be fabulous or a bit of a snooze, go in with an escape plan, says Peg Newman, a recruiter with Sanford Rose Associates in Salt Lake City, who attends several networking events a month. When you arrive, let your hostess know that you may need to break away before the party is over. Then if you get too sleepy to dance the night away, you can sneak out – no guilt. “My belief is the less said the better!” says Newman. She also finds that humor works well: “Recently I left an event by telling the other guests that I had a 10:30 curfew.”