If you’ve been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, you’re probably itching to meet your friends and party again. But our battle against the pandemic is far from over; you can’t shed off your armor yet that is your face mask.
Public health authorities continue to urge people to keep their masks on, including those who are already vaccinated. This has drawn unfavorable reactions from people because isn’t the vaccine supposed to make them immune to the virus?
While it’s true that the vaccines can protect you from COVID-19, it doesn’t prevent you from spreading the virus, unfortunately. Infected droplets can still pass through your nose, and remain there until it finds another host. Your antibodies, which the vaccines have helped create, just keep you from getting sick, not from acquiring and transmitting the virus.
As such, you can still put unvaccinated people at risk when you go near them without a mask. So does that mean virtual parties will continue, and large gatherings will still have to wait more months? It seems so. But it doesn’t mean you can’t make parties in the new normal fun.
Virtual Celebrations Made Creative:
We discovered the power of Zoom and Google Meet during the pandemic. At first, we only used them for work purposes, until companies, families, and social circles discovered that we could use them for celebrations as well. From then on, virtual meeting apps became the link that connected us to our loved ones celebrating a birthday or anniversary.
When we’re still getting the hang of virtual meetings, we felt awkward. Talking to a screen, repeatedly muting and unmuting your mic, and waiting for delayed responses due to network flaws were all novel to us – unless we’re remote employees who regularly did these things.
Still, the idea that you’d party virtually was a little strange. How could you make that fun, when you’re essentially alone in your room?
To make virtual celebrations fun and engaging, companies got creative. Microsoft, BDO Canada, Wilson Human Capital Group, and the Royal Bank of Canada are some of the big corporations that had planned to hold virtual Christmas parties last year. They included employee awards, motivational speakers, and various games in their programs.
Lisa Peters, president of the events management company, Eye Inspire Events, suggested the same twists for a virtual celebration. She also recommended some entertainment ideas, such as inviting a magician, a comedian, or a singer to perform during the stream.
Holding classes, like a cooking or baking class, is also worth considering. Just give your staff, your family, or your friends the recipe in advance, so that you’d all have what you need during the class.
Intimate House Parties:
The pandemic also made us realize the importance of having “constants”, the close friends whom we can count on and trust anytime. We might’ve taken our constants for granted before the pandemic, being so busy expanding our social circles in nightclubs and bars.
But since we got stuck at home, it occurred to us that at the end of the day, only our closest and true friends would stick with us when things got rough.
For that reason, it’s completely fine if the allure of nightclubs has lost to you. In the new normal, the most epic party is an intimate house party. You’re surrounded only by your closest friends, and you can be sure that they’re all healthy. If you’re all vaccinated already, then that’s another great reason to get together and celebrate.
House parties are ten times better than nightclub parties, because, first of all, there are no overpriced drinks. You can even brew your own beer at home. Buy aromatic and flavorful Galaxy hops for you and your friends.
Make the beer-brewing a mini competition, or just enjoy the activity as a group. It’ll be fun to watch each other mess up your first attempts at making the best-tasting homemade beer.
What’s more, parties at home allow you to talk or gossip without shouting over loud music. Your kitchen, backyard, or living room, can create the perfect setting for deep conversations as well. You can also pay for drinking games, card games, or board games, and take up all the space you need.
But, arguably, the best thing about house parties is that even people who don’t like to party can enjoy it. If your idea of having fun is relaxing, lounging in your pajamas, and midnight-snacking, a house party lets you do all that, while also enjoying the company of your friends.
When you and your friends have all been vaccinated, and so do the majority of the population, you can all hug each other again in your intimate house party.
The new ways to party during and after the pandemic let us spend less, focus on our loved ones more, and enjoy every bit of the moment. Virtual meetings and socially distant celebrations may have their limitations, but they have connected us in ways better than anything we’ve imagined.
