Having drinks with the gang needn’t stop. Video chat can make your group hang not just possible but a huge success too. With social distancing taking its toll mentally and emotionally as well, it becomes more important than ever to stay connected with our friends. To laugh, and tease one another, screech out a song together, knock back some drinks and spend time together.
With a bit of planning, a computer or phone, an internet connection, a nice spot to sit (drinks optional!), you and your pals can have yourself a fine virtual party. Here’s how you can plan to do it…
Plan your guest list
Guests are the most important ingredient in a successful party. Create a group chat of the friends you want to invite, who really gel well together. Four to five guests is generally a good number – not too many nor too few. If you have too big a group, and people talking over one another, there will be confusion and some will feel left out.
Know your platform
Get acquainted with FaceTime, Google Hangouts, Skype or web meeting tools like Zoom, which are useful platforms to host video conversations for groups. You could also give your group a couple of days’ notice before your virtual party, so that they download the apps and learn how to use them. If you’re using Zoom, ensure everyone has an account, then create and schedule the “meeting room”, and share an email or text with your gang so they can all access it.
Setting the menu
One option could be to plan in advance and have everyone cook the same recipe. Some of the results of that cooking session could be hilarious! Of course, you could simply order in your fave and must-have dishes. Fix yourself some drinks, even non-alcoholic will do, and say cheers!
Set a dress code
Image the fun you’d have all dressed up as rockstars from the Seventies. Or then a superhero theme. Use your imagination. If not, just bring out that lovely new shirt. Girls, go for that new red lippy that always cheers you up. It’s a party, after all.
Sing along
Turn Zoom into a karaoke bar. You could use the site Watch2gether to stream the same karaoke lyric videos. Go on and have a blast. When did perfect pitch matter to your gang of buds, anyway?
Create a playlist
A fan of the dance party mood? Curate your ideal Spotify playlist and share the link with your friends. Ensure the random feature is not on and then press play at the same time. Go let your hair down.
Plan the next do
While everyone is online, plan your next hangout together. You could decide on a Saturday night and then schedule it so all stay in touch.
Enjoy yourself
Put away all the doubts, fears and stresses of these difficult times. Just reconnect with your pals, laugh at your old jokes, make new ones and recapture what life is really all about—friends, love, warmth. No virus should be allowed to take this away from us.
