Winter is just around the corner, which means it’s time to start planning your remote team’s virtual holiday party! Whether you want to keep it simple with a few wintry objects or plan a full-team social event, we’re here to help your team have a great end of the year.
This guide will help you plan your Gather 2.0 holiday party, including:
Requirements
Pre-Party Planning
Activity Ideas
Office Decorating
Day-of Logistics
A quick note: This guide focuses on winter holiday parties, but you can apply it to any holiday your team wants to celebrate throughout the year/ Check out our complete list of holiday objects for inspiration.
Requirements
You'll need a space on Gather to host your party. Customers can use their existing space (or create a special Floor just for the party). If you're new here, create an office (it's free for the first 30 days!)
The advanced design recommendations in this guide will require Admin access. Review user roles and permissions to make sure you have the right role.
If you're interested in hosting a party in Gather 1.0 (the original platform), follow this guide.
Pre-Party Planning
Put on your party-planning hat and start with the basics: Who, What, When, Where, and Why.
If your entire company is using Gather, your who is pretty easy since you’re all already in the virtual office. If your Gather group is only part of your larger org, consider extending the invite to other teams – it could be a great way to introduce them to Gather if you’re trying to expand. You can invite them as Guests for the day.
Next, think about what you want to do during the party. Are you playing games? Having a social hour? Planning presentations? (Keep reading for more ideas!)
When and where are easy: Check your team’s calendar, pick a time most people are online and not too busy, and create a calendar event. Even a placeholder event helps block off the time while you finalize the party plan.
For Google teams: Don’t forget you can use the Gather 2.0 Chrome Extension to easily add the Gather meeting link to the party event.
Last, consider why you’re planning this social event in the first place. General holiday spirit? Because engagement has been low? To celebrate a big end-of-year launch? You don’t necessarily need to broadcast the reason, but knowing it will help you keep the right mindset as you plan.
Activity Ideas
You can always keep it simple by hosting a casual social hour for people to catch up. As you know, though, one of the best parts of Gather is being able to walk around and pop in and out of conversations, so if you’re looking for actual activities to arrange, we’ve got you covered!
1. Kick off the party in the All Hands room.
Bring everyone together in the largest meeting room or coworking area in your office to formally kick off the party. Invite team leads or founders to say a few words reflecting on the year, then share the party agenda so everyone knows when and where things are happening.
2. Dress and decorate for the occasion.
Beanies. Scarves. Snowmen. Snowflakes. If your team hasn’t already, encourage everyone to change their outfit and decorate their desk for the season. You can even make it a contest, and have everyone vote for the best holiday desk!
3. Turn meeting rooms into game rooms
Place embedded games like Tetris, Draw Battle, and Codewords throughout your meeting rooms so people can pop in and out. Want to link out to a different game? Put the URL on an interactive whiteboard so everyone can easily access it.
4. Create a cozy fireplace area
Using the Decorator or Gather Studio, transform a coworking area into a cozy fireplace hangout where people can drop in to catch up.
Bonus: Add a Spotify Jam URL so everyone can listen to holiday music or crackling fireplace sounds together.
5. Sing carols around the office
Find a few talented teammates who love singing holiday songs, and carol around the office together. This one makes for a great surprise, since the singing will fade in and out as the carolers move around the office.
6. Don’t forget the group photo
Gather everyone in one spot and grab a screenshot. It’s perfect for sharing on social and a nice way to show what your team’s culture actually looks like. Tag Gather when you post – we’d love to see it!
Decorate the Office
No holiday party is complete without decorations. In addition to having team members dress up their avatars and decorate their own desks, you may want to decorate the rest of the office.
Use Gather Studio to:
Switch the trees to snowy pines
Switch tree stumps to white, snow-covered
Place snowmen and snowflakes around
Place presents, candles, and holiday food
Have fun with it! You may even want to do this the night before the party, so everyone logs in to a winter wonderland the next day.
Looking for more inspiration? Check out our holiday decorating guide.
Day-of Logistics
If you made that calendar event when you first announced the holiday party, everyone will receive a meeting notification when it’s time to start. If you’re an Admin, you can also make an Announcement to speak to everyone in your space at the same time.
Note: If Announcements aren't enabled in your space yet, an Admin can enable them in Settings > Office > Conversations > Enable Announcements.
You can also use Announcements to call the group's attention as you move through the agenda: "Pictionary starting now in the whiteboard room!" or "Group photo in 5, meet at the fireplace!" It's the fastest way to get everyone on the same page without anyone having to check Slack.
After the event is over, share a little recap in Gather chat or Slack. Share screenshots or video recordings, call out any party highlights, and wish everyone well for the holidays. It's a simple way to keep anyone who couldn't make it in the loop.
Go plan your holiday party
If you’re already using Gather, go ahead and get started planning your party! Let us know if you need any help.
If you’re new here, create your free office and plan to host your holiday party during your free 30-day trial. If you love the experience, you can use Gather all the time to work, chat, and interact like your team is in person.
