Virtual Happy Hour: How to bring home your favourite bar's vibes with Meetingbox.

Have you heard of a virtual happy hour? It truly is an awesome thing. A virtual happy hour is a perfect way to relax and unwind after a challenging week at work. It’s an ideal opportunity to gather everyone together, to celebrate get to know new people and enjoy each other’s company. It’s a great way to celebrate project wins and special milestones.

As the end of a pandemic seems to be in sight, one might wonder are virtual employee engagement activities still a thing? 

Even though Covid-19 has increased the number of people working from home and working remotely at a faster rate, the truth is that the number of people, who work from home has been on the rise for years, even before this coronavirus outbreak. Federal Statistical Office statistics show an increase from 18% to 24% in workers working from home for at least half a day per week between 2013 and 2018. Working remotely has grown 173% since 2005 (11% faster than the rest of the workforce). In 2021, 18% of all professional jobs in the US and Canada were hired remotely. It is estimated that this will increase to 25% by the end of 2022.

As companies are moving towards more flexible workplace models, keeping remote employees engaged at work is becoming extremely important. One obvious reason is the ‘great resignation’ phenomenon, which is occurring in full swing. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of employees quitting their jobs for new opportunities is on the increase. Companies need to make sure that their rosters are intact. This is where employee engagement is key and what better way is there to engage your staff than to organise an awesome virtual happy hour?

There are many phenomenal ways to organise virtual happy hours, and in this article, we highlight some cool ideas that we like the most!

🏝 Organise a virtual getaway

The best thing about hosting a virtual event with the right virtual events platform is that you can create your own version of reality. A virtual happy hour is super easy to host with Meetingbox. It begins with going through our imaginary door. 

At Meetingbox we design a virtual space that is as impactful as real life because we think of design as a main form of engagement. Possibilities are practically limitless. Would you like to create a replica of a famous pub in London or would you like to gather together your employees from different company branches at your HQ office? Perhaps you would like to host a virtual happy hour at a place, which looks exactly like a pub from the TV show ‘How I Met Your Mother’? Maybe after a long, gloomy, and hard week, you would like to get freaky and gather your employees at a beach party.  

With the right platform, you can basically create any kind of dream scenario you and your team would like. Roll up your sleeves, pour yourself a glass of Chianti, enjoy an authentic Italian menu, and appreciate Italy from home. Why not? With our platform, you could experience a travel-inspired design and order real Italian Food using delivery app integration for your team. It is that easy. Top it up with some vacation theme games and playlists.

Look at this example of an event we created for one of our clients:

👾 Host a virtual pub trivia quiz

Host a challenging and fun trivia quiz at a virtual pub. Have a wacky and funny Scottish pub owner as your host, who will lead your employees through an unforgettable happy hour to find out who knows their trivia and who is better left sitting at the bar.

From ‘name that tune of summer pop hits contests’ to a hilarious lesson in icebreaker questions about the company itself, the key is to combine storytelling with activities that will engage and delight your group. With Meetingbox encourage attendees to participate with live Q&A and polls and keep the attendees updated with in-event alerts and notifications, so that they know what is happening and when

With integrations like walls.io You can collect content posted by attendees, and you can easily create a social hub that encourages interaction between attendees.

 🍹Have a virtual mixology class

Let your employees enjoy a virtual happy hour (including cocktails) from the comfort of their own homes.

 It is super simple. Deliver customised cocktail kits to your employees’ homes. Create a virtual happy hour event that is an interactive online experience that will leave your team feeling appreciated.

Have a Livestream of a bartender explaining how to mix the drinks and offering tips on the best way to make/enjoy premium cocktails, and let your colleagues escape to your ‘virtual Bahamas’ to relax and bond.

Another round?

It will become like a real night out at a pub after a hard week at work, except you get to see colleagues, who usually can’t make it out because they need to be at home with their kids.

You can meet their kids - no age restrictions. You can meet their other halves, whom we’ve heard so much about.

All that is left to say:

‍Here’s to maintaining bonds across all distances.

Here’s to the virtual happy hour!

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