{"id":102032,"date":"2020-12-02T11:30:07","date_gmt":"2020-12-02T17:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/?p=102032"},"modified":"2020-12-02T11:31:02","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T17:31:02","slug":"news-you-can-use-safely-celebrate-with-your-teams-during-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/news-you-can-use-safely-celebrate-with-your-teams-during-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"News You Can Use: Safely Celebrate with Your Teams During Holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_102045\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/news-you-can-use-safely-celebrate-with-your-teams-during-holidays\/christmas-day-virtual-meeting-team-teleworking-family-video-call-remote-conference-laptop-webcam-screen-view-diverse-portrait-headshots-meet-working-from-their-home-offices-happy-hour-party-online\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-102045\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-102045\" class=\"size-shareaholic-thumbnail wp-image-102045\" src=\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/UCIMG-1602-640x359.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/UCIMG-1602-640x359.jpg 640w, https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/UCIMG-1602-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/UCIMG-1602-768x431.jpg 768w, https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/UCIMG-1602-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/UCIMG-1602-580x326.jpg 580w, https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/UCIMG-1602.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-102045\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">UM experts are sharing tips for how gatherings and events can be modified this year \u2013 including celebrating virtually as much as possible \u2013 to reduce the spread of COVID-19 to keep friends and communities healthy and safe. Adobe Stock photo<\/p><\/div>\n<p>OXFORD, Miss. \u2013 Luckily, that festive ugly Christmas sweater will look just as good over Zoom as it would in person.<\/p>\n<p>While the holidays typically present plenty of opportunities for people to reconnect with family, friends and coworkers, the COVID-19 pandemic is complicating things this year. But <a href=\"https:\/\/olemiss.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">University of Mississippi<\/a> experts are sharing tips for modifying gatherings and events \u2013 including celebrating virtually as much as possible \u2013 to reduce the spread of the virus to keep friends and communities healthy and safe.<\/p>\n<p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that virtual celebrations pose the lowest risk for spread of the coronavirus, and that small gatherings of family and friends should be considered next if a virtual event is not possible. Platforms such as Zoom, FaceTime, TikTok, Houseparty and YouTube, among others, are means by which holiday fun can be shared online.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think there is value in giving staff, co-workers, friends and families the opportunity to feel connected, even if it is through a virtual format,&#8221; said Emily Ferris, associate director of the UM <a href=\"https:\/\/www.outreach.olemiss.edu\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Division of Outreach and Continuing Education<\/a>. &#8220;A virtual gathering is a way to do something fun together and still celebrate the holiday season, even if things are not the way we wish they could be.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We have a committee that has planned a virtual event for outreach staff, and I can&#8217;t wait to see everyone!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ferris suggested the following virtual activities for fun during the holidays:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Host live trivia competitions. For help in creating events, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polleverywhere.com\/competitions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this helpful site<\/a>. To find trivia questions, go to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.randomtriviagenerator.com\/?fbclid=IwAR3mVep1dcLeuN1mxmfoSjKf8iLFwGz3qCV9TMTonNkrkCwuM9ggHnUFtnE%23!\/#!\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Random Trivia Generator site<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Play games on Zoom. For 21 games popular on the virtual format, check out this assortment compiled by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marieclaire.com\/home\/a32268495\/games-to-play-on-zoom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marie Claire magazine<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Share videos and photos. Host a video tour, create a shared photo drive on Dropbox or post pictures in your company&#8217;s chat or social media channels.<\/li>\n<li>Send a care package. Everyone enjoys getting treats in the mail, whether it&#8217;s a small box that includes the same gifts other employees have received or an assortment of cards and treats exchanged with one other. It can also be fun to open these gifts during a <a href=\"https:\/\/zoom.us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">video call<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Give virtual gifts. Instead of white elephant or Secret Santa gift exchanges, give gifts that can be easily shared with remote employees. Electronic gift cards, concert\/event tickets, travel packages, charitable donations and time off are all easily given by email \u2013 and probably will be appreciated more than another paperweight or coffee mug.<\/li>\n<li>Acknowledge great work and good times. Use the video format to give out end-of-year awards that recognize hard work and special accomplishments, or are simply good for a laugh. Be creative.<\/li>\n<li>Have fun with people&#8217;s talents. Host contests and give prizes for creating holiday-themed projects. Let employees get creative and have fun with making edited photos, their own Mad Lib-style RFPs or other office documents, humorous GIFs and other playful versions of whatever they do best.<\/li>\n<li>Treat people to a party of their own. Send remote friends a gift card or check for drinks, dinner or a night out on the town. It&#8217;s a busy time of year, and giving others the opportunity to relax with their friends and family is sure to be appreciated.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;Adapting from in-person activities to virtual ones should be seen as an opportunity to be creative,&#8221; said Andrea Jekabsons, UM interim chief human resources officer. &#8220;Once we embrace the change, these activities can be just as exciting and fun as live gatherings would have been.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Recently, our team hosted a few rounds of Bingo on Zoom, and it was a pleasure to see smiles again after months in masks.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Just 23% of companies are planning year-end celebrations this year, and 74% of those will be virtual events, according to survey results released Nov. 30 by global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm <a href=\"https:\/\/www.challengergray.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Challenger, Gray &amp; Christmas Inc.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For smaller teams choosing small gatherings, it&#8217;s wise to observe the CDC guidelines. These include having no more than 10 people gather indoors and 25 people outdoors, all the while maintaining distance of at least 6 feet apart and wearing masks.<\/p>\n<p>When dining together, eat outdoors and at different tables spread about 10 to 12 feet apart.<\/p>\n<p>Read more about the CDC guidance and recommendations for holiday celebrations and small gatherings <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/daily-life-coping\/holidays.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>OXFORD, Miss. \u2013 Luckily, that festive ugly Christmas sweater will look just as good over Zoom as it would in person. While the holidays typically present plenty of opportunities for people to reconnect with family, friends and coworkers, the COVID-19 pandemic is complicating things this year. But University of Mississippi experts are sharing tips for<a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/news-you-can-use-safely-celebrate-with-your-teams-during-holidays\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Read the story &#x2026;<\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":102045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1397,221,199,916],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v15.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>News You Can Use: Safely Celebrate with Your Teams During Holidays - Ole Miss News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/news-you-can-use-safely-celebrate-with-your-teams-during-holidays\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"News You Can Use: Safely Celebrate with Your Teams During Holidays - Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"OXFORD, Miss. \u2013 Luckily, that festive ugly Christmas sweater will look just as good over Zoom as it would in person. While the holidays typically present plenty of opportunities for people to reconnect with family, friends and coworkers, the COVID-19 pandemic is complicating things this year. But University of Mississippi experts are sharing tips forRead the story &#x2026;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/news-you-can-use-safely-celebrate-with-your-teams-during-holidays\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-02T17:30:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-02T17:31:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/UCIMG-1602.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1150\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/\",\"name\":\"Ole Miss News\",\"description\":\"The official source for University of Mississippi news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/news-you-can-use-safely-celebrate-with-your-teams-during-holidays\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/UCIMG-1602.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1150,\"caption\":\"UM experts are sharing tips for how gatherings and events can be modified this year \\u2013 including celebrating virtually as much as possible \\u2013 to reduce the spread of COVID-19 to keep friends and communities healthy and safe. 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