Winners:

Best holiday party

• Dave Syferd & Partners
• The Fairmont Olympic Hotel
• Rusty George Design

We heard about great music, swank surroundings, and -- of course -- plenty of booze from employees all around the region, but the staff of public relations and advertising firm Dave Syferd may just take the cake. Tales of casino-themed holiday parties, free hotel rooms for employees so that they could safely party to their hearts' content, and even getting to take the day off after the celebration abounded. How can we get invited next year? Not to be outdone, fun-loving workers at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel and Rusty George Design also spilled the beans on great theme parties that change every year. Last year, the creative gang at Rusty George even took a field trip to create their own blown glass ornaments!

Honorable mention:

Vulcan, Inc.
When your boss owns the Experience Music Project you can safely guess where your holiday party is going to wind up. Employees at Vulcan raved about the great parties they've had in the Frank Gehry-designed building, and how head honcho Paul Allen even takes the stage to play some tunes with his band.