Was it a "big corp"? I work at one, and sometimes they do these kind of initiatives, to sound "hip" and all that jazz. They are optional but de facto mandatory, and almost everybody hates it. It seems that we can't take a day or two to rethink and reimplement something that's problematic, but we can (or have to) play "startup" for a day or two. It's as cringeworthy as it gets; you can easily tell that everyone wants to go home or even do real work. And the hypocrisy is mesmerising.
Somebody else here in HN (can't recall the thread) said this kind of initiative in megacorps were "mandatory fun". I can't put it better than that.
"They are optional but de facto mandatory, and almost everybody hates it."
I'm about the same age as OP and I have a lot of big corp experience and ALL "after hours team building activities" are thiny veiled punishment. ALL of them. The only people who don't see them as punishment (at least in public) are the primates winning the dominance ritual by forcing their slaves, err, I mean employees, to do stupid stuff. Or severe stockholm syndrome victims. What a bunch of jerks. If I don't hate them before the teambuilding, I hate them after it, thats for sure...
Non mandatory I don't mind although I'd never attend. Make it mandatory and you light the fire of hate.
As someone who works somewhere where these "team building exercises" take place, if the rest of the group is going to be drinking then there is 0% chance of me going. I don't mind people enjoying themselves around me, but I'm not interested in spending time with them as they drink more and more and consequently start acting stupider and more belligerent.
A lot of people enjoy getting shit-faced, but some people don't. I'm the latter. It's enough for me to truly feel sorry for any recovering alcoholics who mistakenly apply for a position on my team. Does all team-building have to include drugs (yes I'm including alcohol as a drug)?
Its all in the attendance policy. A former employer paid for everyone's first drink and an appetizer platter on Friday at 5:01 pm practically every week. Some drank a root beer and had some chips and salsa and left at about 5:15 pm, gotta pick up the kids or whatever, others reportedly were there all night.
The christmas party (OK, "holiday party") ran the same way, but much more generous.
Its a simple solution and its amazing how easy it is to ruin it. Its like crypto algos.
I drink socially myself, and love that type of work gathering where everyone gets ridiculous, but I respect your stance completely. I can understand why many don't like that situation. And I've thought about it much more since one of my childhood friends had to give up alcohol completely to avoid dying before he turned 30. So now when friday drinking is proposed I get very uneasy wondering who among the invitees may be nervously rubbing away at a one year token in their pocket as they smile and try to be team players.
I'm not saying I completely disagree, but we've been doing lots of things for long periods of time that we stopped doing for good reasons. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if drinking large amounts of alcohol becomes 'abnormal' in the not-too-distant future.
Don't get me wrong: in my current social circles drinking often and rather heavily is still the de facto social activity, and I enjoy it, albeit less, uh, vigorously than the past. Hangovers have become a bigger issue as I'm getting older. Anyways, some of these same groups also smoke heavily and I've noticed that particular behavior disappearing almost completely in some other groups I interact with. So perhaps alcohol will eventually 'phase out' in a similar way, at least in significant parts of society.
Getting 'hammered', even semi-regularly, is very unhealthy and it might not even foster stronger social ties as efficiently as other methods. It's just the easy default, for now, just like other things have been the easy default in the past.
I'm with you 100%. But how do you feel about something like a company picnic held on the weekend, if it was optional? Would you attend that? I usually try to go to those things, but I'm just curious how others feel.
I don't know, we've done hack weeks where I work and they were really fun and productive. The past few times, it has basically been "take a few days off of your normal tasks and work on a feature that you personally want to work on". Things that you might really like, but haven't been prioritized by the organization.
That actually sounds very cool, productive and fertile for product development - a prototype may be enough for the organization to "see" a new direction. Unfortunately, my experience hasn't been quite the same...
Somebody else here in HN (can't recall the thread) said this kind of initiative in megacorps were "mandatory fun". I can't put it better than that.