

"The panel will introduce themselves to the group and speak on a few highlighted topics to get the event started," explains Henry Guttilla, executive creative director for Virtual With Us. When an attendee registers for the event, they receive the Coffee Chat Community Members List and a coffee kit with a selection of four different artisanal coffees and a personal french press. That's the thinking behind the Coffee Talk feature from digital-events company Virtual With Us. Grabbing a coffee is one of the most familiar ways for people to connect and share their business needs, so finding a way to bring that into the digital space can be an effective way to encourage interaction between attendees.

What we see over and over again is coworkers surprising one another by demonstrating keen intuition and skills that aren't typically evidenced in a more formal corporate setting." "Each player is encouraged to offer suggestions, supported in a safe space where the game's host assures them there are no 'wrong' approaches. Good storylines feature the right mix of fun, team interaction and challenge," Warner adds. "Most game scenarios center around exciting, but entirely feasible, real-world situations, whether you're securing pizza-making ingredients for your restaurant's grand-opening or sneaking backstage at a Bruce Springsteen concert. People are asked to explore a graphic set of "rooms" to discover clues to help the group achieve the room's goal, "which, spoiler alert, isn't always about escaping," says James Warner, founder and CEO of the company. While specifics vary depending on the provider, in the Paruzal Games version, groups of three to 10 attendees gather on Zoom where a host introduces a scenario. So how does this game translate to the virtual space? With surprising ease, it turns out. One of Paruzal Games' challenges asks competitors to get back to Bruce Springsteen's dressing room to say hello "before the journalist arrives in an hour and interrupts your plans."Įscape rooms - in which a team of participants must piece together clues to solve a puzzle and get out of a locked room - have been a popular corporate activity for years. We reached out to a number of digital-event experts who have shared a few of their ideas for effective ways to bring better networking online.Ĭhallenge Attendees With a Virtual Escape Room "You must have your elevator pitch and be ready to make a connection at the speed of light because virtual platforms are sometimes set up for you to have a brief five- to 10-minute conversation with one person before you are switched over to network with someone else."īut while the digital format can present limitations to the sorts of organic conversations that can occur on a trade-show floor or by the coffee station, it also presents some opportunities for creativity. "When you are networking virtually, be prepared to have some conversations with a speed-dating vibe," says Anshwa Lewis, PMP, celebration curator for SwaLaRue Events, LLC. This sentiment is echoed by many frustrated event planners who are attempting to re-create the natural interaction that comes with meeting face-to-face.
Virtual coffee break ideas software#
Networking is one of the key reasons why people attend meetings in-person how can we best facilitate that when it comes to digital events? According to a recent survey of more than 400 event marketers by meetings software provider Bizzabo, more than two-thirds of respondents cited networking as the "biggest problem for virtual events."
