Have a Seat.

My job’s a funny one. Travelling around to drive new cars you often end up with the same people every couple of weeks – this little community has built up around launches and you get to know people that little better every time, until they get a new job and someone else takes their place.

It seems to me there’s this unwritten rule of ‘what happens on launch, stays on launch’. A few stories escape of minibar binges or cars written off, and I’ve seen first-hand the carnage that alcohol can wreak, with people dancing on tables or waking up with Slovenian women in their hotel room.

But you get these signpost events in the journalistic calendar – motor shows, one-off specials and especially the end of term Seat Christmas party. Tonight the latter took place – a trendy confection of who’s who in motoring journalism crammed into an Oxford St. hotspot with recently former F1 driver Jaime Alguersuari pumping out obnoxiously loud music from the decks and a bar positively vomiting drinks into people. It was great.

Of course, I can barely talk now that I’ve spent an entire evening gossiping at the top of my voice (subtly, of course) and I’m aching having spent the whole evening sucking in my stomach so that my waistcoat didn’t explode. There are definitely things to speak of – the monthly consumer mag editor dancing like an ageing lesbian, the up-and-comer getting progressively slurrier and the seasoned pro on a queasy prowl for the ladies. But we will leave those suitably vague to avoid any lawsuits. Of course, I left fairly early, so I'm looking forward to hearing about whatever fights, vomiting and embarrassing activities have gone on.

What was really nice was to see unseen rivals and colleagues gathering in one place to have fun and relax in each other’s company. So there we have it – the Seat party has happened, now we can have Christmas.