The Party Where No Two People Physically Met In The Same Room

I went to a really fun party last night. Gifts, fifteen people, celebration style.

At this party no two people were physically in the same room.

Had I said this, oh, ten years ago, you might have labeled me crazy.

I'll add another interesting component: no two people were in the same state, AND at least one was in another country.

Ah, yes, I've given you clues.

I looked at the title of my last posts and laughed. Seems I've been on a technology binge. This is definitely not a techy blog. We gather to talk about what is happening and give our views. Yet, here we are again talking about a tech related topic. A topic that presented the only means to solve a problem:

Fifteen close friends, initially drawn together because we are writers.

Living across the United States and Australia.

The youngest will soon be married.

Few can go to her wedding.

The answer?

An online party. We set the date and sent our packages to the youngest member. She jokingly sent photos of the growing mailbox tower as the date grew nearer.

The party-time was set for 7pm central.

Fifteen is too many for most group video calls and too few for others that charge. Ten is the limit for Skype and I think FaceTime. Google Hang-outs is ten also. We've used Skype in the past and learned we could only use this program free one time as a group, and we rarely got together as a whole group more than a few times a year. FaceTime had sound issues. Possibly because our group was spread out over the globe?? Not sure. Last night we tried Google Hang-outs.

The youngest initiated the call to insure everyone could at least connect with her. When the tenth person signed on, the youngest used a second device to contact the others then faced the second device to capture the gifts and the screen of the other ten. Last, she set the volumes high to let all fifteen hear and respond.

We chattered as though siting in the same room. Drank beverages. Ate party food. Laughed. Oooed over each gift. Shared stories. The youngest smiled. Towards the end she panned her room showing the array of unwrapped gifts.

We talked into the night. Like any other party. Getting up to refill drinks or get more food before returning to the screen.

Ten years ago, we wouldn't have had this party. Sure we could have sent the gifts and asked her to open them on one night, but it would have been nothing like what we had last night. Fifteen good friends celebrating the upcoming marriage of the youngest even though no two lived close enough to meet together.

That was cool.

Kinda like this blog, where people from around the world can gather to discuss topics.

Hopefully this has given you an idea for how to meet with your own friends who can't go to the same location. A means to celebrate or lament with others when they cannot physically meet with you. A way to keep friends and family together.

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This post has been brought to you by the one word: FriendsCelebration

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