Graduations Are Too Important to Cancel
Graduation. It’s one of life’s major milestones. High school graduation and college graduation are amongst the most significant events we’re blessed to experience. Other types of parties need to be fun, but a graduation party also needs to be memorable.
Events as important as graduations frankly shouldn’t be postponed or canceled, but physical distancing due to COVID-19 is leading some families to do precisely that. These all-too-important events are getting pushed back indefinitely as the world works to stop the spread of Coronavirus. It’s unfair to these students who’ve worked so hard to accomplish these academic goals and better prepare themselves for the future.
Thankfully, there’s a way for students to enjoy an enduring, memorable graduation party. One that family and friends all around the globe can participate in … even those who wouldn’t be able to attend a traditional graduation party otherwise. And it’s one we may not have considered prior to the virus outbreak.
Countless businesses big and small have been forced to transition into remote work due to the coronavirus outbreak. Many of those companies are learning first hand the benefits of remote work, too. It’s definitely plausible that some traditional office workers might find themselves continuing their work from home status even after COVID-19 has faded away.
All of this has proven undeniably that despite some minor hiccups at first, our infrastructure is more than capable of handling an entire country working from home. So why can’t we host a graduation party virtually for remote guests, too?
A Remote, Backyard Graduation Party is Less Complicated than it Sounds
So what would be involved in a family hosting a virtual graduation party remotely? Can a celebration done digitally be as fun and memorable as a traditional graduation party?
Your virtual graduation party would begin with your immediate family setting up in the backyard. You’ll need just a few staple items—tables, chairs, and a party tent will do the trick—for the event itself. You can prepare food yourself, or have it “catered” with delivery from a local eatery the graduate enjoys.
The technical aspects should be easy enough to manage for any of the millions of Americans working from home during the pandemic. All you need is at least one smartphone, tablet, or laptop with a built-in camera, and any of the myriad of free video conferencing apps available today on Google Play, Apple Store, Windows 10 Store, or some other platform.
Let’s briefly outline how a remote, virtual backyard graduation party might look and how you’d set everything up. And if you need any help choosing useful products, be sure to give our sales team a call at 1-716-832-8368.
Tackle the Technical Stuff First
Before we delve into the celebration itself, you’ll first want to make sure your family is well equipped to handle hosting a virtual graduation party. We touched on this earlier, but to reiterate, you’re going to need at least one device with a camera. More cameras is of course preferred, though this won’t be an option available to every family.
We recommend setting up at least one “static” camera that doesn’t move. Aim the camera wide so it captures as much of the action as possible. Laptops with forward-facing cameras are great for this purpose, since they’re quite stable and can be plugged into a wall outlet for continuous power. Family members can be asked to hold other devices, like smartphones and tablets.
Next, let’s find a free app that lets everyone connect to video together. We strongly recommend Facebook Messenger for this purpose. It’s free, connections are exceptionally strong, and with approximately 3 billion users—nearly half the population of Earth—the vast majority of those you’d want to attend the graduation party will be able to connect without much of an issue.
Other options for streaming video include Skype and Zoom. Less traditional platforms like Discord and Twitch could also be used if none of these other options are available to you.
You should consider setting up a contingency plan, too, in case your preferred video conferencing app runs into technical issues. For instance, you might instruct your virtual attendees to prepare to use Facebook Messenger, but provide them with Skype information too. You don’t want spotty internet connections or service outages to transform this special graduation party into a headache.
Transforming Your Backyard Into a Graduation Venue
With the technical sorcery out of the way, let’s talk about your yard. A graduation party should be a special and memorable event. Your standard, run-of-the-mill video call isn’t going to be enough to frame something this important, you know?
Don’t think of your backyard as just a backyard. It’s a stage. This is less a video conference and more a production. Your family and friends viewing remotely should feel like they’re participating in something truly special. And in order to accomplish that, it needs to be special for your family members in attendance.
We suggest investing in a 10x20 speedy pop up tent. A pop up tent is significantly easier to put together than a larger traditional pole tent or frame tent. One or two people can get a pop up tent raised with minimal fuss. And did we mention they look great, too?
Next, you’ll want at least one or two folding tables, and some folding chairs to accompany them as well. A six foot or eight foot banquet table coupled with folding chairs will perfectly compliment your pop up tent. And they’re lightweight and mobile enough to be quickly cleared out of the way so the graduate and their family members can deliver speeches, too.
Last but not least, you’ll want to decorate the yard to your liking. We can’t really offer much advice here, apart from suggesting you try to make everything look elegant. The video and photos from this graduation will stay with your family eternally. Your graduate will show this media to their grandchildren one day. Here’s some advice from Good Housekeeping to help you along.
Tent and Table is Here to Help Make Your Graduation Party a Memorable One!
We know as well as anyone just how upside down the world seems right now. Many of us here at Tent and Table are parents of graduates-to-be, too. We fully understand just how challenging a predicament COVID-19 has presented our graduation plans with.
Our pop up tents and our folding tables and chairs will help you set the stage for a graduation party no one will soon forget. And once you own these items, you’ll find yourself using them for all sorts of events down the road, too. Birthday parties, anniversaries, backyard barbeques, tailgating parties, neighborhood block parties … our equipment is versatile, commercial grade, and ready to tackle any social gathering or event you feel like setting them up for.
Give us a call today at 1-716-832-8368. Our sales experts are standing by and ready to help you find the perfect equipment for any event, whether it’s a small virtual graduation party in a backyard or a massive corporate expo in a convention center.
We’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate your graduate on their impressive academic accomplishments. We hope your future is successful and you achieve great things with this education you’ve worked so hard to earn. And to the parents reading this, thank you for considering Tent and Table for your graduation party equipment needs. We hope to hear from you soon, and we’re excited to help you make this celebration a memorable one.