Lockdown No. 2 shows off improvements in digital socialising

 We’re back in national lockdown. 

Things were starting to feel normal again. Bars and restaurants were thriving, museums had opened, people were going into offices. Hotels were welcoming visitors, though the overwhelming majority of travellers were staying inside national borders. We were meeting friends in restaurants, in groups of no more than six, and getting our hair and nails done regularly.

But as cold and flu season arrived, all negative indicators started a steady climb. England had attempted to keep the economy open with a regional scheme, restricting bits of the country where things were worst. The approach didn't work, and a return to full national lockdown started on the 5th of November. So much for the communal joys of Bonfire Night.

We were all better prepared this time. Homeowners rushed to purchase paint, wallpaper and other DIY supplies for weekend projects. Restaurants, nail salons, hair dressers and spas were in touch to suggest rescheduled bookings on a rota system from the day lockdown lifts (currently projected to be 2 December). 

At work and at home, people have marshalled the online socialising skills they've developed this year to fill diaries with virtual events. In the shared fear that anyone might feel lonely, we've packed digital diaries fuller than the live action versions usually are. In my non-working hours in the two and a half weeks since lockdown I've hosted two virtual games nights; attended three online book club sessions; taken two Zoom-based drawing classes; one live cocktail making class; one live cooking class; an online wedding shower; and an executive education session from my alma mater. My human interaction may be restricted to my husband, but my virtual connections have been in the hundreds.

The cooking, bartending and wedding showering all came through work. Many employers are sincerely worried about the mental health of their people, laying on fun activities that capture some of the fellowship and stress relief that naturally happens when we spill into the pub after work. We also have the spectre of a partyless Christmas party season looming ahead. Fortunately, that need seems to be matched by entrepreneurial types upping their virtual events game. 

I was particularly impressed by Firebird Events' cocktail class. This is a premium experience, with supplies sent out in advance. Their beautifully packed box had clear instructions for what you'd need to add from your own home (ice, glasses, shaker) and all the alcohol and mixers for two cocktails  (a porn star martini and a berry smash). In fact, if your house was well-stocked with alcohol the mixers went on to fuel additional cocktails throughout the weekend.

Bartender and drinks coach Ben had all the attributes now required of a virtual meetings host: half TV broadcaster, half radio call-in show host eliciting public responses. Plus, of course, a deep knowledge of alcohol. In between following his instructions and showing off our efforts to our colleagues through the Zoom mosaic (top), we competed at cocktail-themed trivia. The Bencard household fared ... predictably or distressingly? ... extremely well.

On the cooking front, management treated us to a private audience with Asma Khan, regular guest on Saturday Kitchen and No. 1 on Business Insider's list of the 100 coolest people in food and drink in the UK. She'd perched her device above her shiny new range and demonstrated three different Indian takes on the humble potato, followed by a lively Q&A. We're all used to live cooking demos, of course, but this had the added frisson of wondering if her iPad was going to go crashing into the curry. The latest  lockdown had postponed the opening of her new restaurant, the Darjeeling Express, so our virtual presence made us her first guests. Khan's swift transition from restaurant boss to corporate event host is an admirable example of the flexibility people are showing this year to push on despite 2020's complications.

Artist Dean Rossiter has been similarly creative, even if he doesn't have quite the profile of a celebrity chef. Dean's a proper artist, exhibiting in galleries on three continents, but like any sensible person making a living in the arts, he has other strings to his professional bow. That includes teaching. I'd joined the class in our local community centre and was a bit sceptical about the virtual session, but it works remarkably well. Dean sends out whatever we'll be drawing in advance, then we all hook up on Zoom and he deploys some fancy camera work to give us close-ups when he demonstrates various steps. Surprisingly, the online classes are much more sociable. In a room sat at our own socially-distanced tables, nobody spoke. Online, that physical distance disappears and conversation flows as we sketch.

Naturally, I couldn't resist trying my own production. We've hosted two board games nights, with one camera on us, another broadcasting the board and us moving the pieces. Trivial Pursuit was easier to broadcast but can get quite boring in the virtual distance if one team is on a long run of correct answers. The pace of Risk, and the fact that two teams are engaged in battles at any one time, made it more engaging, but visibility of the board was a bigger challenge. Given our household's professional ties to secure digital networks (Zoom is banned by both of our employers) we hosted both through Microsoft Teams. The process is clunkier, with no easy guest access from laptops (but fine on tablets and phones) and a frustrating difference in experience if you're using a work account and your employer hasn't upgraded to the latest version. I find it incredibly frustrating that the owners of Skype, who should have been the market leaders in this pandemic, have fallen so far behind. But we soldiered on, and none of our Risk generals would have been endangered by their battle plans crossing servers in China. Yet another thing I wouldn't have considered before 2020.

 

This is the first year since we've met that Piers and I haven't entertained at scale, so games night filled a gap in our lives. And, we had to admit, it was nice to host a party on Saturday night and get up on Sunday without a houseful of guests and hours of kitchen and dining room clean up to do. That's not to say we won't return to gourmet weekend parties when life returns to normal. Like everyone else, we're just trying to make the most of the options available to us.