Christmas Away-message ideas are in short supply, and Christmas away-messages can be very boring, so I’ve decided — prompted by my wonderful assistant! — to write a couple of messages that are slightly more entertaining (I hope!). They are tailored to Nimirum, our business, which is a research and consultancy firm, but you are welcome to adapt them to your own needs. Here we go — and merry Christmas to you of course!

We thank you kindly for your electronic message
Which we received and automatically acknowledge.

This is the time the Germans call ‘between the years,’
so even our hectic world of sales and knowledge

has taken a more tranquil turn.
We are, of course, still keen to learn

how we can help, and we will be in touch
with all the usual alacrity

on matters research and consultancy.
We do appreciate your patience, very much!

I particularly like the notion of time ‘zwischen den Jahren’ or ‘between the years’ — it really gives you the sense that time is suspended between the 24th and 31st of December. In fact, every year, I try not to count how many days there are in my Christmas break, and so my Christmas away-message ideas also make no reference to it — clients don’t mind, as they are in the same boat!

German version:

Wir danken Ihnen schon einmal für Ihre Nachricht,
doch bitten wir Sie automatisch hier um Nachsicht,

denn auch die Forschung ruht an Feiertagen
und zwischen Weihnachten und Neujahr kann

es mit der Antwort etwas länger dauern,
was wir aus plätzchenvollem Herzen tief bedauern.

Doch klar ist: Sales, PR und Research bleiben dran
und melden sich zurück auf Ihre klugen Fragen!

Denn stets erstellen wir gern individuell
mit Ihnen Expertisen: anwendbar und schnell.

Anyway, it’s been a busy year, and in times of fakes and crises and a big international mess, I have been trying to discuss, with colleagues, a way forward for multilingual research, intercultural management graduates, and public relations. Let’s what’s in store for us next year!