yourlifeisatrip

by Debbie Wilson

How many times have you heard someone remark, “I wish I could go to work in my pajamas”?  At the Florence, ALABAMA tourism office we went outside the office and inside the bedroom in our Casual Day at the Office concept. My assistant, Alison Stanfield, wrote a post on Facebook about how envious she was that her 10- year-old son was having pajama day at school the week before Christmas.  She mused that she wished we could have PJ day at our office. Much to her surprise, I declared the Tuesday before Christmas as PJ day.  Kids shouldn’t have all of the fun!

The staff really got into the spirit and ran with it. Alison came in “Grinch” pajamas”, Lindsey had on her adorable PJ’s along with a robe and fuzzy house slippers.   Beth wore warm, fuzzy jammies while Pat chose her comfortable old Christmas PJ’s. I was decked out in Alabama Roll Tide PJ’s.   

We decided to make it a social networking experiment. We posted our plans only on Facebook. We invited visitors and our “friends” on Facebook to show up in their pajamas and have the chance to win an overnight stay in our four star Marriott hotel.  We also promised a mug of Christmas goodies to everyone who came in their pajamas to see us.  We issued a challenge to elected officials and had one brave taker – the lone female Lauderdale County, AL commissioner, Rhea Fulmer (see picture). The Chairwoman of our Chamber of Commerce, Pam Doyle, looked like a whacked-out Maxine, complete with a kerchief in her hair! (see pictures) We had milk and cookies and other midnight snack type of treats. We posted pictures on our Facebook Fan site all day and had scores of comments from our “Fans”. One of our Florence City Council members commented, “I went by to see the tourism staff in their pajamas, but they were all napping”. The U.S. postman who routinely delivers our mail had not been apprised of our Pajama Day declaration.  He came in and looked quizzically at the 10 or so people in our lobby – all of us wearing  pajamas – and remarked , “have a good night.” 

If you are thinking of having your own PJ Day at work, here are a few things to keep in mind.