Unusual Corporate Event Ideas That Work (and Excel) in a Virtual Setting

Corporate event ideas are in abundance, and you’ve probably attended a corporate event at least once in your career.

However, when moving over to a virtual setting, it can be easy to assume these event ideas are no longer possible or won’t be as effective.

When you’ve got employees working remotely, or business partners across the globe, it’s natural to assume that these ideas are not viable or that your attendees won’t be excited by them.

You might be wondering how you can create the same atmosphere and unite people when you’re all in different places? Or, in different parts of the world in fact?

There’s a lot to consider to make sure you’ve created a virtual environment that is engaging and appealing for your attendees. Just because you’re operating remotely, your corporate event shouldn’t be boring.

It’s time to be imaginative and think of corporate event ideas that not only work but excel, in a virtual environment.

And that’s what this blog post is all about!

So, let’s dive in.

Virtual Cocktail Shake-up

Who doesn’t like a tipple or two?

Introducing a cocktail shake-up to your next virtual corporate event is a great way to keep staff engaged and inject a sense of fun!

You could hire a master mixologist who can teach your group how to make different drinks which they can then enjoy at the end.

Your team will love mixing together different ingredients, learning about beverages, and of course, creating their own masterpiece.

This could be followed by a series of games, where the mixologist can ask the attendees questions about the history of the drinks they’re creating and where they originated.

In return for getting these questions right, you could award your team by sending them an e-gift card with drinks vouchers or a personalised cocktail set in the post.

The options are endless; it’s all about giving your attendees a reason to stay engaged in your event, and also a reason to attend your corporate events in the future.

To maximise each further, you could create a series of mocktails too for those who are alcohol-free. This ensures that there is something for everyone, which emphasises the strong social aspect of a virtual cocktail night.

If this corporate virtual event sounds right up your street, check out Boozy Events. They deliver virtual cocktail classes across the globe, and bring people together regardless of their location. From worldwide cocktail kit delivery to professional mixologists, this is great for team building and connecting with colleagues.

What more could you want?!

Virtual Game Night

Enhance the competitive streak within your employees through gamification.

Hosting a virtual game night encourages your employees to engage, share ideas, and collaborate regardless of where they are working.

This can also be a great way for employees to wind down after work in a more informal setting, whilst getting stuck into a game they enjoy.

The games you choose are entirely up to you; that’s the great thing about virtual events as you’re not restricted in terms of options. For example, you might choose to host a game of virtual bingo which involves your employees calling out different numbers in the hope of winning a prize.

Each employee would get their own ‘bingo sheet’ which you could upload via iVent’s resources library. This allows you to upload a limitless amount of downloadable resources for your participants to take advantage of.

You could also split your attendees into teams and designate the boss as the bingo caller. This is a great way to break the ice and get people talking – especially if you’ve got someone new on the team.

At iVent, each of the games we offer comes complete with a leaderboard so that your attendees can compete against each other, making them re-visit the event time and time again to improve their score.

Virtual Live Concert

Music is a fantastic way of bringing people together, both in a live setting and in a virtual setting.

Only in a virtual setting, people can watch from the comfort of their own home and enjoy music straight from their laptop or iPad.

A virtual live concert allows you to bring a live show to your employees regardless of their location. You could also add a hybrid element to a live concert, by hosting a physical event for your employees who are close to the venue.

You could then live stream the show to your remote employees so that they don’t miss out. It’s a great way of making everyone feel ‘together’ without actually being in the same place.

With the iVent platform, this video can live in our digital hub so that it’s accessible all-year-round. This means that people who were unable to catch the concert, either in person or via your live stream, can still access it.

You could also utilise our downloads and resources centre by including information about the different artists from your concerts, such as a list of music tracks or upcoming shows.

If you have brands sponsoring your virtual live concert, you can integrate their social media links to drive more people to their site.

Virtual Murder Mystery

Introducing a virtual murder mystery into your corporate event allows your team to come together to find out ‘whodunit.’

They can either work individually or in groups to scour evidence, crack clues, and use their deductive reasoning powers to ultimately catch the bad guy.

As such, this facilitates deeper networking and discussion as they have to come together to use their problem-solving skills.

The team who finds the answer quickest will win a prize. This could include a virtual swag bag which is full of goodies such as discount codes and vouchers. This is a great way of gamifying your event to add a competitive element.

Best of all, attendees can do this all from the comfort of their homes which reduces the need for them to travel. This is highly convenient if you have team members overseas.

Virtual Dinner Party

Even when you’re working remotely, you can still attend a virtual dinner party. Not only is this a great way to bring employees together, but it’s also a great way to entertain clients and stakeholders.

All you need to do is set a date and time, and pick a theme for food. You could send attendees a recipe kit in the post, so whether you’re making pizzas or Italian cuisine, they’ll have all of the ingredients at hand.

Whilst on the call, you and your attendees can prepare and enjoy the meal together which makes the experience much more interactive. You could also hire a professional chef to lead the sessions, or just leave people to their own devices and see who makes the best dish.

This is all part of the fun, and lets people get more hands-on rather than just sitting at their desks.

You could set a theme for the party such as ‘Hollywood’ or ‘back to the 80s’ where attendees can get dressed up and show off their costumes.

Make sure to encourage people to take selfies as these can be shared across your social media channels. You could also upload these photos into iVent’s digital hub where they will live all year-round. So, if anyone missed the event, they can still look back and feel included.

You could add a competitive element to the night by awarding attendees for the best looking dish or most imaginative costume.

A great advantage of remote dinner parties is that at regular dinner parties, you often only speak to people who are sitting next to you. However, in a virtual setting, you can easily reach out to multiple guests which boosts interactions even further.

Virtual Escape Room

Escape rooms are all the rage and make a great corporate event.

Having your team locked in a room and solving riddles whilst trying to break free before the timer runs out is a great way to get the adrenaline pumping!

But what about a virtual escape room?

During this type of corporate event, you and your fellow captives will explore the environment through your computer screen to ultimately find clues, and unravel the entire enigma to create a path to freedom.

Your teammates can work together by using online chat tools which support great communication, collaboration, and critical thinking to successfully make their way through the game.

With the iVent platform, collaborating with your team has never been easier.

Participants can use live chat or video chat to discuss their next steps and work out which route is best.

You can also divide different teams into breakout rooms where they can discuss their tactics and strategy before the event has taken place. Perhaps one team member is better at reading maps whilst another team member is betting on deciphering cryptic clues?

Whatever their individual strengths, these traits can give them a competitive advantage which they can use to win the task. As we’ve mentioned earlier, adding a competitive element to your corporate event is a great way to sustain engagement.

Virtual Karaoke

Virtual karaoke is great fun and allows your employees (or clients) to belt out some of their favourite tunes.

This can also be a great ice-breaker, as it encourages people to take risks and go outside of their comfort zone. Perhaps you’ve got some new employees and are introducing them to the rest of the group?

Whilst virtual karaoke might seem like an intimidating thought, once the music comes on and the night gets going, people will soon relax and start to enjoy themselves.

If people don’t feel comfortable performing solos, then they could sing in a group. Again, this is a fantastic icebreaker as it allows people to communicate on a more personal level. They could also use breakout rooms beforehand to discuss their song choice and sequence.

Let people choose their own songs by collecting a list of music requests first. This allows you to get organised before the night has begun as you can make sure everyone has their song ready.

You can pull a playlist together on YouTube and screen share with your attendees so they can see who’s up next. With the iVent platform, you can screen share with up to 25 participants which facilitates smooth presentation.

Make sure you screen record the karaoke session and upload it to iVent’s digital hub so that it can be accessed after the event has taken place.

Virtual Wine and Cheese Tasting

If you’re busy dreaming of beautiful vineyards, fine wine, and a selection of delicious cheeses, then you might think you need to catch a plane to turn this into reality.

But the good news is, this can all happen virtually too!

By hosting a virtual wine and cheese tasting night, you can get all of your teammates online whilst you tuck into some goodies.

To make the night more interesting, you could invite famous winemakers to explain the art of winemaking and how this has evolved over the years.

Not only will your attendees love listening to the history of some of their favourite beverages, but they can ask questions too. This makes the night more interactive rather than your audience just listening to the same voice for an hour.

On the iVent platform, attendees can use live chat to converse with the presenter or other attendees to share the experience.

A physical wine tasting experience would allow your team to visit vineyards and try out new wine flavours. However, you can still simulate this in a virtual setting by live streaming videos from the tasting room directly.

You can enhance this experience even further by sending attendees a bottle of wine or a drinks package before the virtual event has taken place. This means they will have all of the beverages at hand before the session starts, and allows them to fully concentrate on enjoying the experience.

Make sure your attendees take a selfie with their fine wine which can be shared across social media. You can also tag the drinks brands on your social posts and link out to their social channels from the iVent platform which will drive more traffic to their site.

Unusual Corporate Event Ideas That Work (and Excel) in a Virtual Setting

When you’ve got the right virtual event platform, there’s absolutely no reason why your corporate event ideas can’t work in a virtual setting.

Despite being in different locations, you still want your attendees to feel connected and to feel as though they can get involved. Above all, your corporate event needs to be engaging and enjoyable, otherwise, people simply won’t attend in the future.

If you’re looking to run a product launch event and are stuck on how to do it, check out this post here.

Whether you’re hosting an event for your clients, stakeholders, sponsors, or internal employees, the quality of your virtual event says a lot about your business. It’s important you project a positive brand image and deliver an experience that leaves a lasting impression.

With the iVent platform, you can create a fully customised virtual event tailored to your needs. We’re passionate about not using set templates, but creating bespoke spaces that project the look and feel of your business.

“iVent were fantastic, they quickly understood our brand, values and vision for our virtual conference. They helped every step of the way and were able to meet all of our asks, no matter how big or small.”The style and design was excellent, and the conference was a great success. Thanks so much. —National Trust

From the moment attendees sign into the platform to the way they navigate the virtual lobby, you need to deliver an immersive experience that emulates the feeling of being there in-person. Regardless of which corporate event idea you choose, iVent works directly with you to ensure your virtual event space exceeds your expectations.

Interested to find out more? Get in touch with our team of experts and we’ll be happy to help.