Planning Your Virtual Christmas Party

Published on 2 November 2020

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With Christmas now only just around the corner, that all-important time of the year – where the planning of the of the office Christmas party begins – is now upon us. However, it’s no secret that 2020 has had a few surprises up its sleeve and made things very different for each and every one of us.

With a second national lockdown imminent, right on the cusp of Christmas, this year is going to be the year of the virtual Christmas party. Thus, we’ve been inundated with requests to bring office teams together, to share the joys of Christmas with each other, remotely. From big themed quizzes to bespoke online games and virtual festival livestreams – it’s all looking towards the worlds of ‘Remote’, ‘Online’ and ‘Virtual’ this Christmas.

Team Sketch have been thinking extensively and working hard on all kinds of virtual Christmas party concepts and planning for the execution of similar briefs. So much so that, we’ve decided to compile a of things you can do to throw an online Christmas party for your work colleagues, even with coronavirus still lingering around.

This global pandemic has seen Zoom, Microsoft Teams and a number of other video conferencing platforms expand and develop on a huge scale. These tools have become a daily part of many working lives (especially those who’ve been working from home). Now, you might be thinking “what’s so exciting about a zoom call? We’re already sick of them!” but just stick with us on this because these platforms are the perfect vessel for a remote Christmas Party during COVID-19. All they need is a little injection of fun and Christmas spirit…

The key to making your virtual Christmas party as enjoyable as possible for all is a well thought out schedule. The running order is the glue that keeps your Virtual Christmas Do alive. Without structure, people will lose interest. So, you’re going need to make sure everyone on the call is sufficiently entertained throughout… here’s a few things you can include in your schedule to do just that;

  • Deliveroo have recently launched a service delivering a range of hampers and they most certainly haven’t forgotten about the upcoming festive season. Why not have cocktail making masterclass hampers delivered to each person’s door? Everyone can make their own cocktails together from the comfort of their own home. It’s a great activity to kick off the call with to get everyone excited and in the mood for some fun!
  • Secret Santa is an office staple, but it’s not so easy to do this year. Why not do a postal Secret Santa this year and everyone can open their gifts together over the call?
  • Zoom quizzes were all the rage at the start of lockdown but we see no reason against bringing them back. You can really put some thought into the quiz by giving it a theme and maybe even getting the office computer whiz to whip up an awesome slideshow for it with graphics, animations and sound FX!
  • There are plenty of other activities and games that you could all do together on the call… how about online cards against humanities? You can go to All Bad Cards and create a game for everyone to join. There’s nothing quite like anticipating the reaction of your extremely risky jokes from your work colleagues!

Of course, knowing your team better than we ever could, don’t be shy to come up with your own games, activities and ideas… and when you do, please tag us on social media with all your crazy, fun and whacky virtual Christmas party games. You can tweet us at @SketchEvents or tag us in your Instagram stories using @wearesketch.

To top it all off – one of our favourites things about the Virtual Christmas Party is that, when it’s all over, you’re only a few seconds away from your bed (always handy you’ve had one or two too many beverages… we won’t tell!). It saves you ending up stuck somewhere, desperately wanting to get home!

As you can see, we are determined to not let coronavirus kill anyone’s joy over Christmas and we want everyone to be able to have fun at their COVID safe Christmas Do’s. Hopefully you’ve gained some useful tips, reading this article, that could really help you DIY your virtual Christmas party. However, putting this all together requires a lot of work and testing. On top of that, we’ve only just scratched the surface. The possibilities stretch far beyond those that have been mentioned through the bespoke-tailored virtual party planning and execution by Sketch Events. This can include elements such as graphic design, animation, bespoke games, celebrity hosting and much more…

If you’re looking to take your remote office party to the next level this Christmas, then please do get in touch with us via our contact page. We have plenty of concepts and virtual coronavirus party packages that could be exactly what you’re after. Alternatively, you can call us on 01273 749 000 and we’d be delighted to talk your ideas through with you!