Lockdown Virtual Gatherings Are The New Thing And Here Is Everything You Need To Know

COVID-19 or the Coronavirus pandemic has recently infected the entire world. There are more than 10 million cases, and the numbers are only rising. As a result, the entire economy has come to a halt.

Governments from various countries have issued certain restrictions to help flatten the infection curve. Therefore, some countries have been forced into lockdown where social gatherings are restricted. This has been done to stop the infection from spreading.

Although the vaccine is still in development, here are some ways to help protect you from the coronavirus –

• Wash your hands thoroughly from time to time. It should be mandatorily done if you’re returning from outdoors or after public interaction.
• Do not touch your eyes, nose, or mouth with hands that have touched any objects in public.
• Always wear a mask if you’re going outside and practice social distancing of at least 1 meter or 6 feet from other people.
• Use your elbow to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Do not use your palm.
• Carry a hand sanitizer with you at all times. Apply it whenever you’re in contact with anything or anyone outside your home.

After the lockdown was enforced, many events and businesses were forced to shut down. Therefore, people were made to work from home and stay indoors. However, this situation was mildly tackled by introducing online or virtual gatherings.

Setting Up A Virtual Gathering  

Before the coronavirus pandemic, people would often hold meetings or go to parties to have a drink. This has been restricted due to the lockdown. In addition to businesses and leisure activities – schools, colleges, and other educational institutions have been shut down as well.
Hence, hosting a virtual gathering became a viable solution. To begin with, you need to have access to the following before you can set up a virtual gathering –

• Smart devices such as smartphones, laptops or desktops
• Stable internet connection with moderate to high speeds
• A good room with minimal to no disturbances from noise or other forms of intrusion

Thereafter, you can host various types of virtual gatherings by going through the following sections.

Business or Professional  

Generally, most corporate organizations use Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, Slack, or Google Meet to hold meetings online. These applications follow good privacy policies and are fairly easy to use.

Setting up a virtual gathering on these platforms includes the following steps –

1. Log in to the application using the email address provided by the organization.
2. Schedule a meeting at an appropriate time and notify the participants.
3. Once you start the meeting, a special link will be generated.
4. Subsequently, share the links with all the members.
5. After the participants have joined the meeting through the link, you can start with the video conference.

Schools and/or Colleges  

Since schools and other educational institutions have been shut down, it is important to continue the flow of education. This was easily achieved through video conferencing hosted by the teachers.

For the most part, they use Zoom as the primary application unless they have a dedicated platform. As a teacher, you can host online classrooms by following the steps below –

1. Open the Zoom application on your computer or laptop and start a meeting.
2. Share the generated link with your students and wait for them to join.
3. Once everybody is accounted for, you can start your online classes.

Leisure or Entertainment  

Popular gatherings such as live performances, movie theatres, and other social events have been affected by the lockdown as well. However, streaming platforms have helped people to enjoy the same from the comfort of their own home.

Other events, such as live events, were being done via YouTube or through their official websites. In such cases, organizers need to have a professional videographer and an editor. They will be responsible for handling multiple camera angles, audio, and other aspects of the video.

Therefore, they can use an online free video editor to handle such difficult tasks with ease. Similar to previous methods, a special link will be generated to those who have paid for the same. This is usually sent via email or social media channels like WhatsApp.

Friends or Social Gathering  

Catching up with friends has now become difficult due to the lockdown. However, you can easily host a group video conference call through messenger applications. These include WhatsApp, Skype, Hangouts, FaceTime, and Google Meet.

For this, you simply have to press the video call button and add as many friends as you like. You can also use a free invitation maker online to schedule your gatherings among your friends and family.

The Importance Of Having A Virtual Gathering  

Naturally, having a virtual gathering is not the same as a normal gathering. Therefore, it suffers from the following key points –

• Absence of human interaction
• Quality of video and audio differs across different internet speeds and hardware of the users
• Inability to captivate a person’s interest effectively
• Less participation from members

Despite such problems, it is important to note that these virtual gatherings are an effective way to maintain the flow of communication. This holds for both professional and personal reasons.

Moreover, the number of infected cases from coronaviruses is constantly increasing. Sadly, the cure for this pandemic is still underway. Therefore, the benefits of a virtual gathering far outweigh its drawbacks.

Future Scope Of Hosting Virtual Gatherings  

The current lockdown scenario has forced the whole world to shift towards digitization. Hence, this can be seen as a positive outcome of the pandemic. As a result, such virtual gatherings can continue to exist in the future, even when the pandemic is over.

Currently, the coronavirus crisis is only temporary and will be eradicated once its vaccines are created. Thereafter, we could see different types of events held in the future where it can be categorized into offline and online events.

Conclusion  

As stated earlier, the vaccine for coronavirus is currently in development by many countries. Although lockdown is being lifted slowly, it is still better to try and work from home as much as possible.

Staying safe should always be your priority. Hence, avoid public gatherings and only go out if necessary. This is only a temporary situation until a vaccine is created. You can help bring down the number of infected cases by simply staying indoors.