Company holiday parties get creative
Virus restricts gatherings, but employers try new approaches
NEW YORK — An online murder mystery. Law-themed opera arias. A snowman-building competition.
With dancing, drinking and fancy dinners a no-go because of virus concerns, companies are getting creative about their holiday office parties this year. The challenge is how to organize a virtual celebration that doesn’t feel like yet another Zoom meeting.
Many are forgoing parties altogether and instead giving employees gift baskets, extra time off or donations to charities of their choice. Just 23 percent of companies were planning celebrations, down from 76 percent last year, in a survey of 189 companies by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Nearly three-quarters of parties this year will be virtual.
The companies going ahead found their pandemic-weary employees want some kind of bash to break up the anxiety and isolation permeating the holidays.
“People are itching to see each other in person, but I also don’t feel totally comfortable holding a typical dinner and open bar,” said John Ross, president of Test Prep Insight, a small online education company with 10 employees based in Sacramento, Calif. “And I know some Zoom-style virtual party just won’t cut it.”
He landed on the idea of a snow day at a resort near Lake Tahoe, with sledding, snowshoeing and a snowman-building competition. There will be a catered lunch, but no alcohol. Oh, and no plus-ones.
Still, “people are thrilled it’s back on,” Ross said.
Demand has been high for off-the-wall virtual parties, said Jonathan Como, co-founder of Offsyte, a marketplace for corporate team events, which has organized online holiday events for companies including health insurance giant Blue Shield, the ride-hailing company Lyft, and the dating app Tinder.
Most popular are celebrations that involve sending food and drink to employees for online cocktail or chocolate-making classes, Como said. Also big are virtual escape rooms where employees can play games.
That’s the route marketing firm Rank Fuse is taking, bringing its employees together for a virtual murder mystery through Red Herring Games, said Chelsea Roller, culture manager at the Overland Park, Kan., firm, which normally organizes a holiday dinner or bowling party.
“It will likely be very silly because every employee will be given a character to play,” Roller said. “Truthfully, we almost didn’t have a company party. However, numerous people started asking about one, so we decided it was the least we could do.”
Many companies are using virtual celebrations to offer something people have missed throughout the pandemic: live entertainment.
Hire Space, a U.K. event booking site, is organizing 70 virtual office parties in December, according to co-founder Edward Poland. The party “rooms” will include live jazz, cabaret acts, magic shows and stand-up comedy.