Lockdown number three? We’ve lost track… but our team tries our very best to stay together, even virtually. This past Christmas we had an amazing event. The team came together and enjoyed virtual wine, and other drinks over a Webex call. This blog post is to help you out with your next virtual event. Skycomp put on a successful one. You might as well start planning for next year as it isn’t looking we are getting out in person anytime soon. Maybe you can learn from our ways? This is our Christmas Party… but we’re sure you can take this advice and apply it to other virtual events. Why not give it a try?
This year Skycomp’s Team stayed together. But virtually. Since we are an IT company, we used technology to our benefit. We had a few weeks where more people could be in the office. We created a hype video for our Christmas party – got people excited for it. This is our first tip to keeping people engaged during your virtual event or meeting. To quote our System’s architect Tim; “So people don’t just go do doop do doop” (mimicking the sound effect of when an attendee leaves a meeting)
Tip Number 1 – Get people hyped before the Christmas Party.
This might not be easy for everyone to do. We are lucky enough to have a videographer on staff that enjoys The Office. We created a “rap” video based on ‘Straight Outa Scranton’ – It turned out… well… you can watch it below. Getting people excited for any virtual party or event is key. You can email out what virtual ‘Jacks Box Games’ you’ll be playing or… you can rap it? We have a very sarcastic, funny, and engaging team so we had the right personalities to put this together.
Tip Number 2 – Have a party game order or ‘rundown’
We are lucky enough in our office to have a PPC or Party Planning Committee – We tend to take a lot of ideas from The Office. Copying is a form of flattery, right? We think so. Anyways… Our PPC made sure that they had a planned rundown of what order we would play the games in, they also made sure that through Webex – The games worked. The did a test run and made sure attendees could hear any sound effects, we were incredibly lucky to have our PPC team so engaged and ready even before the day of the party. Testing is key!
Tip Number 3 – Find games that are fun in Large Groups
Even though our office has only 19 people total. We had our entire team show up! That’s 19 people we had to entertain through our computer screens from our dining room tables. Skycomp exudes a culture of inclusiveness, so the fact that our entire team showed up was not a surprise! But we had to play games that were fun in large groups. We split people up into Teams – no not Microsoft Teams – stay with us. Teams of four or three members – we played Jeopardy, never have I ever (Holiday Themed) and maybe had a few. We can vouch that these games worked really well for our Team – we are a brilliant bunch – so we love Jeopardy. Maybe do a poll before the party – see what game shows people like to watch and create your main game of the night based off that?
Tip Number 4 – Send them everything they need.
This one made the difference for the party – we mailed everyone a branded backpack stuffed with all the goodies they would need for the party – we even created a customized mug with everyone’s face on it – Yes again like the office… But this made the difference, new sweaters, toques, and mugs? What a fantastic way to start off the holiday season. We also sent everyone a gingerbread house. We had the week before the party to build the most amazing structure and handed out some funny awards to each house.
The PPC thought of everything. AND MORE! Our team had so much fun. If this sounds like we are bragging – we are. But you can feel free to copy our ideas and make your staffs next virtual party awesome. But a virtual party starts with a strong internet connection – decent work from home station – and maybe a couple bottles of wine chilling. Skycomp Solutions is a Managed Service Provider we can help you figure out all the technical details for you and your companies work from home plan. We can’t exactly help with the Wine but one of our clients Fielding Wines might be able to help you with that…
We won’t be the first to say that this year has been rough. But with a positive attitude a supportive team and your technical problems delt with quickly – how bad can it be? Reach out to Skycomp Solutions in the new year if you’re looking to upgrade your IT to a Managed Service Provider.
All the best, The Skycomp Team