Party Planning in 2020: How to Throw a Virtual Christmas Party!
Carissa Corsi is a QC Student Ambassador. Her business specializes in wedding, event, and party planning. Carissa is currently enrolled in QC Event School’s Event & Wedding Planning, Luxury Wedding & Event Planning, and Event Decor courses.
This year has been one for the books, but in a different kind of way. The world as we know it has changed completely; the pandemic taking a huge toll on everyone. We’ve been pulled away from family and friends. We’ve needed to transition into new rules and regulations. As a result, many of us have learned how to improvise.
With the holidays right around the corner, traditional family gatherings aren’t an option for many of us. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways to spend it together! The next best thing to being in-person with your family for the holidays is being with them virtually!
A New Era of Party Planning
There are many benefits that come with organizing a virtual holiday party. A virtual party provides an opportunity for everyone to get together, despite their location. We’ve spent the majority of 2020 with minimum contact, so hosting a virtual celebration is a great alternative.
Similar to an in-person holiday party, a virtual event allows you to express creativity. The only difference is that virtual party planning requires less funding. Overall, virtual holiday parties are convenient for all involved and can really keep up the holiday spirit in these crazy times. If we are required to abide by social distancing regulations, we might as well make the best of it!
Virtual Holiday Party Planning: Getting Started
Organizing a virtual Christmas celebration can be fun – but surprisingly, there are a good number of steps involved in the party planning process!
- When to start planning: You should begin no later than one month – and no sooner than 2 weeks – in advance.
- Finding a place to meet up virtually: There are a variety of free, online hosting platforms recommended. Popular platforms include Zoom, Group FaceTime, FaceTime, Google Hangouts, etc. However, each platform comes with its own limitations. For instance, Zoom’s free account allows you to invite up to 100 people, but limits all calls to 40 minutes in length. This kind of platform is good for bigger parties, so long as the structure of the event is well-thought out. After all, the more people who join, the harder it’ll be to give each guest time to talk.
- Spreading the word: The party planning process truly begins when you start brainstorming party invites. Just like with in-person events, you’ll first need to lay out all of the party details before designing and sending out any invitations. When it comes to sending invites, you can choose to send them via mail or digitally. Both options are great! However, if you’re looking for something more personal, hard copy is always the way to go.
Required Skills
Party planning is not for everyone. It requires a handful of organizational skills. These organizational skills are the backbone of managing any in-person or virtual party. Such skills include:
- The ability to multi-task;
- Attention to detail;
- Leadership;
- Creativity;
- And time management.
In addition, it’s important to always show your enthusiasm and passion! One thing to remember about party planning is that there is nothing wrong with being “over the top”. After all, every party is unique to what the individual/group enjoys. That said, should you want, you can absolutely make your virtual holiday party a production! The beauty of events is that they’re completely customizable – so, act as such.
Fun Ideas for Your Virtual Christmas Party
With so many ways to get innovative, you simply cannot go wrong! By tuning into creativity, the host can make their virtual Christmas party more interactive for everyone involved. There are countless ways to achieve an interactive and immersive experience. Here are just a few examples:
- Have everyone dress up! Think ugly Christmas sweaters or black tie formal wear. There can even be a prize awarded at the end of the party to the guest who is ‘best dressed’!
- Pre-organize a gift exchange or Secret Santa prior to the party! Everyone can then open their gifts together during the virtual party.
- Eat a festive meal together! The host and all of the guests can plan to prepare the same Christmas dinner. This way, everyone is eating and enjoying the same thing, as the same time. This is a great way to simulate the feeling of eating together in the traditional sense.
- Play virtual games! There are a ton of different party games that can be played virtually. Cards Against Humanity and JackBox Games are two entertaining examples.
- Have a virtual dance party! Put together a playlist in advance and then turn your virtual Christmas celebration into a virtual dance party.
No matter how structured you make your virtual holiday, keep in mind that it’s always nice to factor in some free time for guests to mingle. So, try to add this into your virtual event timeline as well!
Benefits of Virtual Party Planning
Throughout the year, virtual events have grown tremendously. Wedding and event planners have seen just how useful they are. Many are now considering adding virtual services to their businesses full-time, even after the pandemic is over.
When you think about it, this a smart career move that makes a LOT of sense! Think about it: virtual services open you up to a much wider network. You have the flexibility of working from anywhere, you can eliminate travel costs, and it’s an inexpensive way to get people together – regardless of any physical limitations. Virtual events training is a guaranteed way to strengthen an event planner’s skill-set. If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that we always need to find different ways to be creative. Virtual event, wedding, and party planning services is the answer.
Just as an in-person event keeps you on your toes, virtual has its ways as well. Virtual events training will allow planners to target a worldwide audience. As for your overall career, you’ll be gaining more and more experience as time goes on!
If you’re looking to get more involved in the world of virtual events, QC Event School now offers a brand new Virtual Events Training mini course. You’ll learn how to:
- Create virtual event concepts;
- Integrate your event concept into each element of your online event;
- Plan and manage the technical aspects of an event;
- Create an online event that’s just as engaging as in-person one;
- Transition in-person events to virtual platforms;
- And so much more!
As virtual event, wedding, and party planning becomes more apparent throughout this new age of social distancing, it’s important that you have the right training in place. QC’s Virtual Events Training Course has everything you need to set yourself up for success!
