A virtual community event is an online conference or occasion where people meet up and interact with each other over a video call for a specified interest or purpose. The technology for organizing fun virtual events has been in place for many years. But it is only during the ongoing pandemic that the culture of holding virtual social events has become so popular.
A virtual community event can be held for different purposes. Some are held for entertainment, while others are held for business. But the bottom line is, they help in motivating a company’s staff to keep them all aligned towards the organization’s objectives. They also help in increasing the engagement of customers with a particular brand.
Let’s discuss the various virtual social event ideas that you can apply to your business this year.
Ideas for Fun Virtual Events
These are those virtual community events that are held for entertainment. Everybody needs to have fun once in a while. Having fun together helps in building bonds among team members and enhancing their spirit to work together productively.
Fun virtual events are by far the most common type of virtual community events that have been conducted by organizations and individuals during the pandemic we’re going through. They are held on platforms like social media and cloud-based platforms, and allow remote teams to connect with each other.
1. Online Office Games
These are very common types of virtual social events. They are held by companies that place a high value on keeping the morale of their employees high. These are fully hosted events, and involve games like trivia, icebreakers, treasure hunts, and other such mini competitions. These are the games that people like to play on apps in their free time. They require minimum mental energy and help you cool off your brain after focusing too hard on your work the whole day.
When a company’s staff plays these games in competition with each other, they feel the competitive yet friendly bond being built within them towards each other. That’s why this is among those online event ideas that almost all companies should inculcate in their culture, especially in times like this when people are being forced to work remotely from home.
2. Virtual Cocktail Shake-up
This is also a fully hosted virtual community event. If you want to include alcohol in your next series of virtual social events, then this one is a great idea for you. There is usually a master mixologist who organizes this event. He teaches the team members how to prepare two drinks in a prohibition-era style. The process includes a series of story-telling and gaming.
Normally, the entire process takes up to 90 minutes. You can send dry kits and mixers to the attendees. Since the entire event is held over a video call, there is a strong social bonding aspect to it.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
3. Kindness Quest
Kind Quest is among those fun virtual events that focus on building up gratitude in a community. It includes activities like writing thank-you letters, orally appreciating each other, completing trivia games that send kibbles to institutes like local animal shelters. The activities are all geared towards supporting the community. The psychological impact of playing this game is that it boosts the general morale of the team.
This game also takes 90 minutes and is fully facilitated. The host makes sure that all the team members remain engaged until the end. The overall experience is fun and positive, and the impact lasts for many days after the event is over.
4. Social Media Groups
These differ slightly from the other virtual community events. Social media groups are not held over video calls. They are held on social media platforms. According to Statista, people these days spend about two hours on social media sites on average every day. Among all the virtual social event ideas, this one is the best for creating strong, private, and engaging groups.
These groups can be created on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. In these groups, the admin issues virtual challenges to the remote teams. Some examples of fun virtual events are as follows.
∙ Throwback Thursday
This is where teammates are invited to share one of their old photos with the team. Players are encouraged to reveal photos in which they are wearing questionable fashion wear.
∙ Dinner Date
In this virtual community event, the team is asked to share savory meal photos, whether cooked at home or bought from a restaurant.
∙ Never-Ending Story
In this game, one team member builds an Instagram story and ends it with a challenge for another teammate. The other teammate responds via another Instagram story, prompting the next player to continue.
∙ Tag a Teammate
In this game, the team members post photos of popular groups such as the cast of The Simpsons, The Avengers, US Presidents, or Disney characters. Then they tag each other on each of the characters.
These kinds of games played in social media groups are the most flexible and fun kind of virtual community events. Not only does the team gain online fun time, the remote workers also brush up on their social media skills. Since social media has become a powerful platform for providing good customer service, knowing how to use and navigate different social media websites is a plus point for any employee.
5. Virtual Campfire
Among all virtual social event ideas, this is the best one that brings people together online. Participants are encouraged to roast marshmallows and prepare a tea-light candle environment to take the most pleasure out of this event.
The event involved a series of games and activities inspired by camping, such as outdoor-themed trivia or online scavenger hunts.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
6. Online Game Shows
These are simulated game shows that make up great virtual community events. They entertain guests and participants with games like Family Feud, Jeopardy and Price is Right. The games are played via DIY methods, or sometimes on online apps. These games get popular quickly because they are collaborative, fun, familiar, and usually involve prizes.
Ideas for Virtual Social Events
These are virtually community events held not for entertainment, but for creating interaction among different parties. Here are some examples.
7. Speed Networking
This is similar to speed dating. It gives participants a chance to meet each other for a little while with the goal of making connections. Pairs are made of the pool of participants in virtual private rooms where conversations are begun, and then everyone is rotated to ensure all participants have time to make as many connections as possible.
These kinds of virtual social events are held on platforms that allow participants to keep following up with each other to schedule longer meetings if they want.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
8. Birds of a Feather Session
In these sessions, participants meet each other online to discuss a particular topic. This virtual community event facilitates interactions and builds connections between individuals who think alike. The online community gives a chance to the birds of a feather to flock together over the internet.
Discussion can be anything that makes sense. The number of participants is often limited so that the gathering can be more intimate. Sometimes, there is a fun bonus of inviting subject matter experts to facilitate the discussion on specific topics.
9. Audio-Only Discussions
This is a virtual community event category that has been on the rise during the ongoing pandemic. These are held on audio-first apps where spontaneous networking is carried out. People are given a chance to have instant conversations while they walk their dogs or take care of their kids at home.
Since the ambiance is friendly and natural, these are light-hearted sessions where people simply chat with each other and have a delightful time listening to the voices of their fellow participants.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
10. AI-Generated Connections
One of the most difficult aspects of a virtual community event is virtual networking. That’s why some advanced companies use AI-generated recommendations for connecting people with each other based on common experiences and interests. Many virtual community event platforms offer this feature.
Build a Website for Holding a Virtual Community Event
For carrying out any kind of virtual community event, you would need a platform to begin with. The best way to go about this is to have a website of your own that’s equipped with all the features required for running virtual social events.
If you are looking for a good website-building tool, try out Strikingly. On a Strikingly website, you can embed videos from third-party platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. If you hold a live event on YouTube, for instance, you can later add the entire event’s video to your website.
Image taken from Strikingly
Including event videos on your website’s landing page is a good way to keep your site visitors engaged. It shows your customers that you care about them and hold regular fun events for them. It also shows your company staff that their morale and entertainment are important to you.
A good website with virtual community event videos serves as a platform to keep everybody involved in your business reminded that you have a positive company culture and are here to serve your staff and the community.
