Virtual Happy Hour

Wednesday, July 29th, 2020

Virtual Happy Hours seem to have become the new norm. Friends are having set dates for them. Businesses are having them in place of live meetings with clients. They have their pluses and minuses, but they are definitely a great excuse to drink wine if you need one.

What is a Virtual Happy Hour?

A virtual happy hour provides us with a time to sit down with friends, enjoy an adult beverage together while catching up on all the weeks’ activities. Sounds like a regular Happy Hour, right? Well, not exactly. There is a catch. You are sitting alone in front of your phone or computer screen linked into your friends via Zoom, Facebook Messenger, Skype of something of the like. You have to provide your own bottle service as well. The bonuses are that the cost is minimal, and you can share time with anyone and everyone. It doesn’t have to be the people that live down the street. It could be your college girlfriends or your service buddies!

How Do You Arrange a Virtual Happy Hour?

First you need to decide who you want to get together. Then you need to find out what technology they are comfortable with. Set a date and time. Make sure you have your preferred beverage on hand, whether it be a nice bottle of wine, some chilled craft brews or cocktail mixings, is up to you. If you want to make it extra special, you could ship a nice bottle of wine with snacks to everyone, so you can all share the same thing and talk about it. Have some snacks on hand as well. Sometimes you get going on these calls and an hour can become 4.
If you want to make it more formal and invite more than 4 – 5 people, you’ll need to step up your game a bit. Perhaps put together an invitation with the event details and information on how to connect. You could even have a theme or play some games like “Never Have I” or “Truth or Dare”.

How are Companies Using Them?

Companies that are used to having lots of live meetings, have had to get creative in staying in touch with and developing their clients. They have turned to virtual technology, with Zoom, probably being the most popular for simple events. They are building relationships with wineries and spirit companies to ship product as well as offer guided tastings with a sommelier or a cocktail class with a mixologist. After the guided experience, they enjoy their drinks over a discussion with the companies reps. The benefit of this type of programming is that distance, childcare and time allotment are no longer an obstacle. Many companies that have embraced this technology are finding that they often are having more people attend their events. Think they will stick around in the future? We will see.

Virtual Happy Hours are proving to be a great way to get together, so we don’t feel as isolated in these days of the COVID-19 pandemic. They are a great tool for friends, family and businesses. Until we can hug each other in person, at least we can see each other in the cloud.

Cheers!