In the socially distanced Covid-19 world, parties have moved online.
When the Mumbai-based Nangalias celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in end-May, it was a three-day online affair complete with a Bollywood night, Housie, sangeet, live musicians, bhajans and a cocktail party, where 150-plus friends and relatives logged in daily from across the globe to join in the celebrations. Ganesh Nallapareddy, the CEO of sports tech startup CricClubs, had a virtual Harry Potter-themed birthday party for his older son’s birthday; he’s planning the same for his younger son in July.
Helping this trend catch on are startups and professional party planners including Evibe.in, My Eventz and Events Bay, who are offering every possible trapping including anchors, puppeteers, clowns, dance choreographers, magicians and origami sessions to make virtual birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers, and even retirement parties memorable in these bleak times.
Requests are pouring in as clients look for some entertainment in their largely cooped-up lives, say planners. And, with the pipeline of physical parties drying up, virtual parties are providing them a revenue stream that keeps them going and has helped save jobs.
Swathi Bavanaka, the cofounder of Evibe.in, an online platform serving as an aggregate service provider for party needs, said she got the initial requests for virtual parties from her existing customer base during lockdown.
“Given our marketplace model, we already had anchors, puppeteers, magicians, etc., in place. We just signed them up to do virtual parties, curating the ones that were more tech-savvy,” said Bavanaka. In May, Evibe.in did some 60 parties, while this month, the count is set to cross 100. “We get 2-3 references from each party we host. Virality is high,” she said. The company started with a Zoom enterprise account, but is now building Instaparty, a platform of its own.
Geeta Raj Rawtani, the founder of virtual event organising startup My Eventz, and Reena Pillai of Events Bay got into the virtual party route after Covid-19 hit their business. Online parties constitute barely 10-15% of their normal take-ins, but it’s still a way of keeping some revenues coming in.
There’s a lot of excitement – even among senior citizens – as these parties provide a much-needed break from the monotony of being largely confined to the home. Rawtani has a bunch of bookings already, including from a client in the Netherlands who is sponsoring an event for her brother.
Another client wants a big bash on Rakshabandhan, and has booked practice sessions with a choreographer in the run-up to the do.
Pillai said she even gets requests for play dates. She has recently started sending across DIY décor packages to clients for occasions like baby showers, birthdays, etc., if they want to do up their homes ahead of the virtual event.
People are planning return gifts that include digital vouchers or even bottles of wine, sent through contactless delivery. Bavanaka said she has also been approached by food startups who want to partner with her for a 360-degree experience.
Costs for a virtual party can start as low as Rs 5,000-10,000, and go up to Rs 25,000-30,000 for a bash with all the trappings. “We started it as an experiment, but people are thrilled,” said Bavanaka.
Planners hope the popularity of the virtual party will outlast the pandemic. “People across cities, across countries are coming together. This is something that never happened before,” Bavanaka said.
Leave a Reply