The trivia was themed after holiday movies like Home Alone and Miracle on 34th Street. Virtual Trivia is another great activity! For the holidays, we hired actors to virtually host an LA based production company! They sang improvised holiday songs in between rounds of holiday trivia. There were even gift cards for the winning team, which added a bit more competition and fun for the night. I was able to connect the birthday girl with all her friends from around the U.S. I recommend having at least one person in charge of running the night to keep a structure and not have the night go off the rails! Sounds complicated? Let my team at Fierce Productions run the technical aspects and let you, and your guests just focus on the fun! I recently hosted a trivia night for someone’s 21st birthday. For example, host a game night! Zoom has features where you can sort guests into breakout groups to form “teams” for trivia nights, or even have the whole group together for bingo night. Do you enjoy crafting, games, or karaoke? You could easily incorporate any of these activities with just a little forethought. One way to prevent this is to have an activity that everyone is involved in. You don’t want to let Uncle Pete or your CEO tell everyone about their collection of bottle caps for ten minutes. Without direction, this can lead to a couple of people monopolizing the conversation. One of the challenges of a virtual party is that everyone is talking to everyone at the same time. The bar for success may be lower than you think! If you can provide a fun and unique experience I guarantee they will thank you for it. They are likely bored, looking for new experiences while staying at home, or willing to do just about anything to occupy their kids’ time.

Remember, most of your guests are in the same boat you are in. If you are on the fence about throwing a virtual party, don’t be! Throw that party! You just need to be a little more creative and use some of the online tools and services that are now available. A little planning and effort can make what might seem like a poor replacement for an annual party, into one of the bright spots of the quarantine. Whether it’s a child’s birthday party, your anniversary, holiday party, or a corporate business networking event, making an occasion memorable and fun does not have to change just because we are stuck at home or working remotely.

Play virtual bartender 2