Online (Zoom) party
tl;dr
Install Zoom and use their breakout room feature where your guests can choose which room to join. Then tell your guests to install Snapcamera to make them a little more fun and unique. Create an open playlist with Spotify that your guests can contribute to and start the party for real!
The longer version
Can we create a space online that feels like we are meeting in person?
The introduction
This year we have seen a major increase in online meetings due to Covid-19. I believe this has helped both the technology get better and us as individuals and groups to adjust to the online space even more than before. I see many people pushing the boundaries of what was common before to create new spaces online where we can create incredible things together.
I have hosted and been part of both small and large online meetings for several years now and I have seen online conferencing try to find a space online for a few years. But it is only the last year that I have both hosted and been part of online lunch and dinner gatherings, dancing events, improvisational theatre and online parties. I find that a great shift have emerged in both technology and peoples willingness to try out different activities in an online context. More and more people I talk to find that it is actually possible to create both an authentic and intimate space even online. Does this mean I think we should stop meeting in person? Not at all! But isn’t it great that we have the possibility to choose and leverage the best parts of both worlds when needed? Specially when we end up in situations like we are now where many countries are putting heavy restrictions on actually meeting in person.
So what is this article actually about? If people find it interesting I am planning to continue writing here about the authentic meetings we can create in the digital space, but for this article I am primarily going to focus on online parties!
The situation Covid-19 puts us in affects us all differently, some might even prefer the isolated situation compared to having to go to an office to work every day. However as many of us in current times are spending a lot of time at home and in many cases by ourselves, it is easy to become depressed or miss the social activities we used to participate in. I find the best way to cure this kind of depression is meeting up with friends, but how do we do that in a fun way when we can’t meet up in person? I find that until recently online meetings have mostly been something monopolised by business and not so much an activity used to socialize between friends. Sure todays kids grow up using applications like Facetime every day with their friends, but I think you know what I am talking about.
I have tried many different online activities and wanted to share some of my findings so that maybe some of you out there can have as much fun as I do even in times like these! There are many aspects of creating a space online that people enjoy participating in. In this article I will focus on some practical tools and ideas that can help create a fun and enjoyable online party.
The tools
First you need to find a videoconferencing tool that works for you. I love community created open source projects, unfortunately I have not found one for videoconferencing yet that offers all the features that I want. The most promising I have seen so far is Jitsi, which I have high hopes for in the future. However the currently best online videoconferencing tool that I have found is Zoom. Main downside with Zoom is that you have to subscribe to at least one month of premium service to have meetings longer than 40 minutes. Zoom has had issues and still have a few, but it’s by far the best one out there right now according to me. Another application that you might want to check out is Houseparty. Last time I looked into that application it however had some major personal integrity issues, but hopefully those will be fixed at some point.
The thing that makes Zoom so good for an online party, is a fairly recent feature where you can create breakout rooms where people participating in your meeting can choose themselves which room to hang out in. This allows you to create different breakout rooms like the kitchen, living room, bedroom, dance floor, toilet. I.e. only your imagination puts a peg in what kind of online space you want your participants to envision that they are entering. Are they entering your apartment, a castle or maybe an outdoor venue in the rainforest?
To get a nice party feeling its also good to have something that sets your meeting aside from the regular business meetings your friends might (or might not) participate in regularly. The easiest thing to do is dress up like you regularly would for a party and recommend your participants to do so as well. Maybe you have that dress you just love but have not used in a long while or a special piece that you think is a little extra but usually can’t find a good context to wear? Something else to think about is your surroundings. What does the room look like that you are having your online party in or joining from? Does it make you feel happy, and if not is there something you can change to make it feel more inviting and make you feel more comfortable in it?
Sometimes we might not have the possibility to pimp ourselves or the room that we are sitting in, then technology can help us on the way. Today more and more different kinds of filter applications for your computer camera are coming to the market. Zoom itself has both the possibility to change your background and set a few basic filters to make you look a little special. When you don’t get inspired enough by the basic stuff in Zoom you can install complimentary applications like Snapcamera. It’s an application that adds a filter to your image before it is broadcast to the rest of your party guests. You can make yourself look like a ghost, add different kinds of accessories or why not change to rainbow coloured hair for the evening! You can also add effects to your video, if you don’t have your own disco lights at home you can add some discolight effect to your video. This can be a lot of fun to play around with and makes all participants joining your party unique.
No party without music, right? For those that have been participating in online meetings for several years, having “extra” sound in meetings has been a big nono. In the beginning you were simply happy if you could have a meeting without hearing all participants voices echoing all the times. Echo- and noice cancellation in many application still have some way to go, but it is getting pretty good.
Zoom has a feature where you can share only the sound from your computer rather than the classic screen sharing where you have to also share your whole computer (or device) screen or the application you are using. This allows you to play music from an application on your computer and share that music simultaneously as you are participating and sending your voice and video to the rest of the participants. If you have an extra computer laying around you can even set up an extra zoom account on that and join the party as a DJ participant. Your DJ participant can for example join the dance floor breakout room and let the music stream in that room without you having to be there yourself.
There are several music applications out there that can handle some kind of streaming. If you want to let people connect to a separate service to listen to your music you can use something like Twitch. If you want to find a good playlist you can find lots of great music on Soundcloud. I however find that Spotify has worked best for me. Main downside with Spotify is that you need to subscribe for at least one month of premium service to avoid having to listen to commercial adds. With Spotify you can create open playlists that both you and your friends can add music to. What I do before a party is that I create two playlists, one with dance music and one with lounge music. I have an extra laptop that I setup as DJ (as explained above) and in the beginning of the party I play some lounge music in the room I am, then when people are ready for dancing the DJ can move to the dance floor and play from the playlist with dance music. As the evening gets later and more soulful conversations start entering more and more rooms I change over to the lounge playlist again. If you have several accounts on music streaming services you can even setup so that you play different music in each breakout room you have. Or your participants can help you by sharing their own music or your playlists from their computers through Zoom.
So to get all this setup you need to subscribe to Zoom and Spotify for at least a month. However comparing the costs that usually go along with hosting a real party I would say that is well worth the money.
The activities
This part can be a couple of articles in itself. However to keep it short this time I am going to just say a few things about activities. With the feature of breakout room where participants can choose where they want to be themselves a lot of the awkward situations where you sit lots and lots of people in the same video conference room simply goes away. If someone feels they are not interested in the conversation in a particular room they can just go to another breakout room and see what kind of conversations are happening there, kind of like a real party right?
Something that I find is very appreciated is an organised mingle. Like an early check-in between different participants that have joined your party. This is maybe not the first thing you should start with, but don’t wait too long. I think a good start is to setup a few breakout rooms in the beginning so that people can move around. Once you have enough participants you can organise more structured breakout rooms where you pair two or three people together in each room, give them a few minutes to introduce themselves and maybe talk about a special topic or question you have prepared. Then switch around people in the rooms so your participants gets to talk to a couple of new people at your party.
Something else that seems fun, but I have not tried myself is new service from Airbnb where you can order online experiences. Could be an interesting addition to your online party.
Last but not least, don’t forget to stock up on snacks and whatever drinks you fancy! Just be careful to not choose the most crunchy snacks as some microphones pick up your chewing sounds pretty well.
If you have further suggestions on what can make an online party better please post them in the comments!
Now go out there and have fun!
P.S. I have no commercial affiliation to any of the applications or companies referenced in this article. The reason they are mentioned is solely based on my own experience with these kinds of application and these are the ones that I have found works best for me. Something else might work better for you. If there are any misstakes please let me know and I will try to correct them.
