Jazz and virtual guests spice up Oniva bash

Oniva, the large new media company in Dublin, proved it is truly multimedia last Friday at the company Christmas party downstairs…

Oniva, the large new media company in Dublin, proved it is truly multimedia last Friday at the company Christmas party downstairs in Odessa.

Not only did they invite a number of non-employee hangers-on who were listed on the guest list as "virtual employees", but they also fielded an impromptu jazz band fetched from the employee ranks. When managing director Wael Wansa briefly took the stage to say thanks for a £1.5 million year, the band stubbornly insisted on playing a blues riff after every sentence.

Then it was back to the music, with select Oniva singers. Bemused restaurant guests upstairs who had to use the bathrooms downstairs must have thought the usually laid-back late night Odessa audience was surprisingly enthusiastic.