How to host your own Zoom party

With the postponement of many activities at this time, VICTA would like to encourage everyone to meet up electronically to enjoy activities and games online. Zoom, along with other video chatting platforms, can be a great tool for connecting face-to-face with friends, family and loved ones. However, this might prompt you to ask, how do I set up my own Zoom party? You no longer need to worry, VICTA has come up with this simple step-by-step guide. We’ve also listed many games and activities to play when connected.

Setting up an account. If you haven’t got an account already, this needs to be your first step. Make sure you install the Zoom app and not the business website (we made this mistake initially). To download the app, follow this link https://zoom.us/support/download.
Who do you want at your Zoom party? We suggest you keep invite numbers low at first. Technically, you can invite and host hundreds of people, however this can get very confusing and disrupt the flow of the party if everyone tries to talk at the same time. We recommend that you cap your party to 10 people. And don’t forget, if it gets too much, you can always mute people – this is a great tool when taking part in a quiz!
Can everyone access Zoom? You might want to send everyone the Zoom link before the chat, to ensure they can download the app. We found the easiest way is to schedule a meeting. By doing this, everyone invited to the party will get sent a link to click on to access the party. You will need to collect everyone’s email prior to scheduling a party. If you have a few people joining a party, it might be an idea to stagger everyone’s invitations, so people don’t join the call all at once.
How long can the party be? Initially, with the basic version of Zoom you are limited to 40-minute calls. However, if you are the one hosting the party, at the 40-minute mark, Zoom lets the host upgrade the call for free. Everyone in the group will be notified and the call can then theoretically last forever!
When on the call, don’t forget to introduce people who don’t know each other and keep everyone included. That way, everyone has a great time!

Zoom Party Activities

Quiz’s have been a real hit with groups of families and friends recently, so why not give it a go? We have found some great quiz’s and we will share them with you.
It is easy to get into the party spirit by playing some party tunes and all have a dance together. The Cha Cha Slide and Macarena are always a popular choice!
Games can be a great icebreaker and conversation starter. Here are a few games that you could play over Zoom:a) Guess Who? – Everyone picks a celebrity or movie character. You take it in turns to ask questions and try and guess who everyone is. The game ends when the celebrity has been guessed correctly or everyone has run out of guesses.b) Jackbox https://www.jackboxgames.com/ – Jackbox Games has a variety of individual games and games packages for sale. Packages include bluffing games, fill in the blank, sound effects and trivia. Jackbox can be played on many devices from laptops to game consoles, phones to desktops.c) Just Dance https://justdancenow.com/ – Download Just Dance to your laptop or desktop and add to your phone. The phone acts as the controller. Play over Zoom to enter ‘party rooms’ and dance together.
d) Film/Book Club – Become film or book critics. Pick a book or film to watch before your group chat. When you meet discuss about the main themes. You could even make a vote on what to watch/read before the party.
What do you always need at a party? – food and drink. And a Zoom party should be no different. Encourage everyone to bring snacks to the party. You could even turn this into a mini competition, have your own Bake Off or Master Chef round. Describe what you have made to each other and vote on who you think has made the best snack. Mrs Bufton from New College Worcester has kindly sent us some recipes for you to have go at, ready for your Zoom party.
And lastly, why not make your party fancy dress? This could easily be a crazy hat or full fancy dress. Everyone takes it in turn to describe their outfit, the group then votes on their favourite outfit.

That just leaves us to say GOOD LUCK!!! And we hope you have a great Zoom party. If you have any questions or get stuck please just get in touch and we can help you out.

Happy Zooming!!!