The holidays are here, woohoo! Company holiday parties are going on all over the place and us entrepreneurs feel left out because we don't work for a company to celebrate the season with. We don't need to feel this way. Maybe we have a team of people we work with on a regular basis but haven't had a chance to get to know them better.
But it doesn't have to be that way this year. Not for your company. With widespread high speed Internet access around the world, you can get together and indulge a little in holiday festivities. While a regular company party can be plagued with embarrassing moments and too much alcohol, a virtual party isn't and it's a great time to just come together to build the relationship with people who help your business grow. There are many software and services you can use to hold a virtual company holiday party. Some are free while others are available at very affordable, small company friendly rates.
Skype is a popular choice for a web conferencing system that doesn't cost anything. You can do voice, text chat with up to 5 other people. It also works on a variety of computer systems which means you aren't limited when someone in the team is using a different system. The only down side is, you can only hold a video chat with one other person. Other popular and free systems include Yahoo! Messenger, UserPlane.
Consider going with a web conferencing service if you are willing to spend some money to host your online party. You'll get a lot of great features like being able to surf the web together and share desktops. This is a secure environment where others can look at your photos and videos without having to download anything. You simply open up your pictures or play your video for others to see.
Text, voice and video can all be used to communicate with larger groups of people using a web conferencing system. Another nice thing, many services allow you to record your online event. Depending on the service, you can purchase these services on a per minute, per hour or per day basis.
If you decide to throw a virtual holiday party this season, plan ahead! Many services are different and so you will want to go ahead and see if the system suits your need ahead of time. You can even host a party for your customers to show you're appreciation of their business, they'll be sure to remember you later on in the year.







