Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Interview With Ryan Underwood

Aired December 12, 2003 - 09:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: 'Tis the season, holiday parties. We've got ours today, 12:30 here in New York in case you're in town.
This past month's issue of "Fast Company" magazine, some guidelines for your company gathering. The dos and don'ts for that office party animal. And the animal himself is here. Writer Ryan Underwood talking about holiday party etiquette. Nice too see you.

RYAN UNDERWOOD, "FAST COMPANY": Thank you.

HEMMER: Happy holidays to you. I've gone through your list, Ryan. Got some good ones here. No. 1, attendance. You say it's pretty important to show up.

UNDERWOOD: Absolutely mandatory. It's one of these things that you know the boss may or may not remember if you're there, but he'll certainly remember if you're not there.

HEMMER: Oh I see. OK.

UNDERWOOD: It's one of those unfortunate things.

HEMMER: I like it. No. 2, what about attire? What should you not wear?

UNDERWOOD: Attire? Well, you know, I actually said fishnet was out, which I got a lot of flack for.

HEMMER: It's not. It's coming back in.

UNDERWOOD: That's what everybody says. But the other thing that I said was holiday theme sweaters, these things with -- some have musical chips in them. So you can never tell about those.

HEMMER: You don't like those, do you?

UNDERWOOD: You know there's enough decor around.

HEMMER: What about the red sweaters with the little bells on them? Do you like those? A lovely touch.

What about arrival? What's you're No. 1 (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

UNDERWOOD: Arrival. My No. 1 rule is just not to be the first one there. It's sort of the cool kids in the back of the bus rule. You don't want to be the first guy to show up.

HEMMER: I'm OK with that, though. I'm pretty comfortable with myself.

UNDERWOOD: Well there you go.

HEMMER: I don't mind walking in the door first.

UNDERWOOD: Well if you happen to find a colleague, better just to grab...

HEMMER: That's good advice. You know there's comfort in numbers, right?

UNDERWOOD: That's right.

HEMMER: What about conversation? What's appropriate and what's not?

UNDERWOOD: Basically I would say keep it light. This is not where you want to start to get bitter about your bonus not coming through this year. You know, nice little compliments about the food. Oh, I can't believe there's a roast this year, something like that.

But nothing too heavy. You know, it's not a bad time, either, just to shake a few hands of higher ups and vice versus.

HEMMER: Got to work the room.

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: ... lovely little sponge cakes, aren't they delicious? Take a few home with you.

UNDERWOOD: Absolutely.

HEMMER: Alcohol consumption. What's your No. 1 suggestion other than no (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

UNDERWOOD: Well, you know, I don't say no. But I say just, you know, go carefully. And you really want to put the glass down when you start to feel like, OK, you know what? It's time that I tell the boss what I really think of him.

HEMMER: Kind of stop when you're stumbling. Hopefully you'll stop before you're stumbling.

UNDERWOOD: Just a bit ahead, right?

HEMMER: Listen, one thing that's coming up a lot is office romance.

UNDERWOOD: Yes. The watch word here is discretion, absolutely. I mean these things happen. But, you know, this is not an anonymous affair. You're going to have to go back into work Monday morning.

HEMMER: Use discretion when groping? That's assuming you are, right?

UNDERWOOD: That's right. Exactly. So don't let things get out of hand -- at least in public view.

HEMMER: Or the No. 1 thing, just don't do it.

UNDERWOOD: Right, exactly.

HEMMER: The anti-Nike thing. Have a great holiday.

UNDERWOOD: Thank you so much.

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Good to see you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired December 12, 2003 - 09:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: 'Tis the season, holiday parties. We've got ours today, 12:30 here in New York in case you're in town.
This past month's issue of "Fast Company" magazine, some guidelines for your company gathering. The dos and don'ts for that office party animal. And the animal himself is here. Writer Ryan Underwood talking about holiday party etiquette. Nice too see you.

RYAN UNDERWOOD, "FAST COMPANY": Thank you.

HEMMER: Happy holidays to you. I've gone through your list, Ryan. Got some good ones here. No. 1, attendance. You say it's pretty important to show up.

UNDERWOOD: Absolutely mandatory. It's one of these things that you know the boss may or may not remember if you're there, but he'll certainly remember if you're not there.

HEMMER: Oh I see. OK.

UNDERWOOD: It's one of those unfortunate things.

HEMMER: I like it. No. 2, what about attire? What should you not wear?

UNDERWOOD: Attire? Well, you know, I actually said fishnet was out, which I got a lot of flack for.

HEMMER: It's not. It's coming back in.

UNDERWOOD: That's what everybody says. But the other thing that I said was holiday theme sweaters, these things with -- some have musical chips in them. So you can never tell about those.

HEMMER: You don't like those, do you?

UNDERWOOD: You know there's enough decor around.

HEMMER: What about the red sweaters with the little bells on them? Do you like those? A lovely touch.

What about arrival? What's you're No. 1 (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

UNDERWOOD: Arrival. My No. 1 rule is just not to be the first one there. It's sort of the cool kids in the back of the bus rule. You don't want to be the first guy to show up.

HEMMER: I'm OK with that, though. I'm pretty comfortable with myself.

UNDERWOOD: Well there you go.

HEMMER: I don't mind walking in the door first.

UNDERWOOD: Well if you happen to find a colleague, better just to grab...

HEMMER: That's good advice. You know there's comfort in numbers, right?

UNDERWOOD: That's right.

HEMMER: What about conversation? What's appropriate and what's not?

UNDERWOOD: Basically I would say keep it light. This is not where you want to start to get bitter about your bonus not coming through this year. You know, nice little compliments about the food. Oh, I can't believe there's a roast this year, something like that.

But nothing too heavy. You know, it's not a bad time, either, just to shake a few hands of higher ups and vice versus.

HEMMER: Got to work the room.

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: ... lovely little sponge cakes, aren't they delicious? Take a few home with you.

UNDERWOOD: Absolutely.

HEMMER: Alcohol consumption. What's your No. 1 suggestion other than no (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

UNDERWOOD: Well, you know, I don't say no. But I say just, you know, go carefully. And you really want to put the glass down when you start to feel like, OK, you know what? It's time that I tell the boss what I really think of him.

HEMMER: Kind of stop when you're stumbling. Hopefully you'll stop before you're stumbling.

UNDERWOOD: Just a bit ahead, right?

HEMMER: Listen, one thing that's coming up a lot is office romance.

UNDERWOOD: Yes. The watch word here is discretion, absolutely. I mean these things happen. But, you know, this is not an anonymous affair. You're going to have to go back into work Monday morning.

HEMMER: Use discretion when groping? That's assuming you are, right?

UNDERWOOD: That's right. Exactly. So don't let things get out of hand -- at least in public view.

HEMMER: Or the No. 1 thing, just don't do it.

UNDERWOOD: Right, exactly.

HEMMER: The anti-Nike thing. Have a great holiday.

UNDERWOOD: Thank you so much.

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Good to see you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com