It's the Olympics season, and you're all fired up with excitement. You can't wait to watch your favorite sports and root for your best teams with friends and family.
But the distance is often a barrier.
One of the biggest lessons we learned from the Lockdown was that one can do almost everything virtually now. We’re talking about school, work, parties, and even weddings.
And distance shouldn't be a barrier to the fun you hope to catch from the next Olympics.
Here's a guide to help you plan the best Olympics Virtual Watch Party ever.
Let's dive right in.
Pregame Preparations
Like other parties, you must plan and coordinate your virtual party to make it smooth and fun. You might find the following steps useful while getting your team ready and prepared before D-Day.
Send Party Invites to prospective attendees.
Start by making a list of people that would be at the party. They could be members of your family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, or even friends of friends. Then send them an email inviting them to the proposed virtual watch party.
They can accept or decline the invitation and give feedback or suggestions on making the party better. The list will also determine the number of guests you'd sign up for on the platform and every other plan you might have on the side.
Pick your Tech Tool
It’s a virtual watch party, so your tech must work for the event to hold. You’ll rely on your tech to do things like:
- Register attendees
- Stream the event
- Chat with event attendees
- Connect to the internet
You can choose any of the tools below, depending on the party's size and budget-
Zoom has a free version that lets you host a virtual conference of 100 attendees for a 40 minutes interval. If you hope to prolong the time or add more attendees, you might have to upgrade your plan.However, the video quality on zoom calls may be affected by the internet connection. And this could reduce the show's rate, especially if you're live streaming from the Olympics Channel. But, fortunately, GVTC’s steady and fast Internet connection takes care of that.
WebEx
WebEx allows you to Livestream your virtual events on any streaming platform that has support for real-time messaging protocol-based media streaming (RTMP/RTMPS). And can support up to 5000 attendees or more.
GoogleMeet allows you to host a virtual event with up to 250 attendees. It also provides a noise cancellation feature and chat rooms to help your guests communicate and share their thoughts during the show.To host your virtual watch party with Skype, you will have to add your attendees as contacts to create a group. Skype provides a real-time chat feature and allows a maximum of 50 attendees for each video call. It’s ideal for virtual parties with a small group.
Plan with your team
Remember it’s a watch party, and just like every other party, you have to plan with your team for mutual agreement. You may want to use the guidelines below.
Decide on the Party Theme
We all know it is an Olympic watch party. So, what next?
To make the event more colorful, you can decide on a particular theme for the day. It could be similar cone hats, your favorite team's jersey, DIY Olympics backdrops, anything at all. So long as it spices things up and adds more fun to the event.
Decide on Games to play
You and your attendees might also want to decide on games to play to keep the party alive. The games could be played individually or by team representatives. You can choose from varieties of online board games, trivia, quizzes, etc.
Shared Party Food
All play and no food; makes Jack a hungry boy. Or whatever they say.
And I'm sure you don't want your guests yawning all through the party. Boring, right?
That said, you can plan with your guests on the choice of food, snacks, and drinks. Each attendee may prepare theirs ahead of time. Or, if you want to get a tad bit more generous, you can order food/snacks/drinks and have them delivered to their various houses simultaneously.
Hosting the Watch Party
I assume you've chosen the best tech platform for your watch party. And your guests are eager and ready. Now, let's get the party started.
But first things first...
Send the Invite Links to the attendees
Send the link to the tech platform you have chosen to your guests. Or, you can send them the login details, so they can log in before time and make sure everything is set before you start.
Test-Run your Tech Tools
Test-run your tech platform, checking that the audio and video tools are up and running. If you're live-streaming the show, you might want to check that your connection is okay and the signals are crystal clear.
That said, ensure that you have a solid and reliable network connection. GVTC offers one of the most robust residential internet services. It allows you to live stream and download videos with a bandwidth of up to 250 mb per second.
Send Reminders
Send emails or instant messages to remind your guests 10-20 minutes before the party. Just in case they have forgotten. You don't want your attendees coming in later than the set time.
Keep to time and stick to the plan of the day
Set a time for the party, and make sure to wrap up before your time starts ticking. Say, one hour or one and half hours, at most. You don't want the show to linger until everybody gets bored.
Half-time Activities
You don't want the time in-between the Olympic shows boring. Check below for insights on halftime activities to lit up your party.
Games and Contests
Ramp up the fun with themed games, quizzes on sports history or your favorite teams, contests, raffle draws, etc.
Your attendees could form groups and choose representatives to make it more fun. You could also do virtual karaoke or watch TV shows— anything to keep the party alive.
Prizes
Present prizes to the winners of the games and contests. The rewards could be DIY Olympics medals or cheap plaques, which would be delivered to their doorsteps, depending on your budget.
Final Words
Hosting a virtual watch party can be fun if planned properly. You’d need a top-notch tech platform to make the live streaming as crystal clear as possible. Remember, the quality of the graphics could also add to the beauty of the party.
Nobody wants to spend their day on some blurry videos with cracking sounds.
To be safe, you need a strong internet connection, and GVTC is one way to set the ball rolling. Now that everything is in place and you are ready to get the party started. You can catch all the fun with your guests and enjoy the best Olympic virtual watch party.
