We had the opportunity to pull off a really neat surprise a few weeks ago. Ever heard of a virtual baby shower? Don’t worry, we hadn’t either!
In an age where family and friends often live so very far apart and telecommuting is commonplace, planning an event and getting all the guests in one place if often difficult. The mom-to-be in this scenario works for a large firm with many locations around the world, but works from her home in Massachusetts. Her co-workers wanted to throw her a shower but were so scattered that coming together just wasn’t an option. Instead of just sending gifts, they devised a plan to throw her a virtual shower. Genius!
The plan was to to stage a fake video conference with all of the “guests” and have us roll up to the door a few minutes into the meeting with a basket of flowers, the gifts and some tasty treats. Gifts were sent to us ahead of time and Pam picked up an assortment of muffins from the new mommy’s favorite local cafe.
We tucked this little furry friend into the arrangement before delivery
Everything was in place and Pam rung the doorbell at the appointed time, hands full of goodies. Then she knocked. Then she knocked again. No answer. Turns out the recipient was in her bunker of an office and couldn’t hear a thing! After texting back and forth with our company contact and some more ringing and knocking, the woman of the hour was finally told to go answer her door already! (The only hiccup in an otherwise well thought-out plan.) She was so surprised and everyone got to watch and comment as she opened her gifts, just as you would at a normal shower.
Such a cool idea and a pleasure to be a part of!
