5 Steps to a Great Zoom Party

People are starting to venture back out into the world at a safe distance but staying inside has taught us that we can have great big get-togethers from our own homes. So whilst you may want to go out and spend some time with friends and family, you can remain confident in the knowledge that if you change your mind you can still have fun using Zoom, especially with these tips.   

Step 1 - Time(s)

Are you all sharing the same time zone? I have been in parties that have had guests come in and out at odd times because they had only just woken up or really needed to get to sleep because they are in a completely different time zone. Make sure that if your party is on Zoom that it is at a time that can accommodate any friends and family that are in different countries.  

Step 2 - Staggered Start

If you have a big party it may be wise to control who comes into the Zoom call and when so that they do not all arrive at once and crash the call with the sudden influx of people. Give people different arrival times and enable your waiting room so you can see who is trying to come onto the call. 

Step 3 - Breakout Rooms

So normally at a party people would break up into smaller groups to chat about different things, they would not stay in one massive group with every guest in on the same conversation. That is why Breakout Rooms on Zoom can be a big help. 

If you are the host you need to enable them. Then when people bring up a topic and want to go into depth on it without taking over the whole party or simply wish to mix and mingle with different people in their own time without having to go in and out of lots of different calls, you can open up a room for them that anyone else can jump in and out of.

Step 4 - Entertainment

Have something to do. Maybe prepare some games, ones that don't require much or one that you all have, as in everyone sets up the game pieces in their individual homes and moves them around to match each other's board as though you were all playing on the same table. Or perhaps have a camera on one table so that everyone can see the action. If you are just starting off, there are simpler ideas for games; word games, quizzes, pen and paper games, online video games etc.

Alternatively; hire an online entertainer that can perform a show to all of you, then you have something to talk about afterwards as well.

Step 5 - Have an Ending

A lot for online calls just fizzle out or conclude when everyone gets an awkward silence. Do not let that happen to your party, end strong instead. That way people will leave excited for the next one. 

Start by having a set time limit, the free version of Zoom already has a 45 minute time limit for groups, which is a good time for a first time party. After that, change small aspects of the party each time you host a new one and slowly begin to improve as an online party host.