[wrssqb]

Is anyone, or has anyone considered, doing an online Happy Hour during these times? I understand that there are video chat apps for multiple participants, but I've never used them.

Just a thought to help those who are isolated to be more social from a distance. Kind of like having a chance to chat at a brewery or homebrew club meeting but without the close proximity.

Thoughts?

[Gary Glass]

The Brewers Association staff has done a Thirst Thursday happy hour from 4:30-5 pm via Webex the past two weeks.  Given how intense the last few weeks have been, it's really refreshing to see/talk with my colleagues in a social setting.  I'm already looking forward to next Thursday.

[Slowbrew]

You have several options depending on your hardware.  Off the top of my head:

1) Zoom - Free accounts, up to 45 minute meetings and up to 10 users (I think)
2) Facetime - Requires Apple HW
3) What's App - Free.  Encrypted end-to-end
4 Google Hangouts - Yes it still exists.    Wife is using it to teach Algebra during this.

I know there are others.

My family will be Happy Hour Zooming on Saturday for a bit.

Paul

[pete b]

I have been getting comfortable with zoom through work and my wife and I have a couple tentative happy hours in the works with friends. If those go well my wife has some ideas to incorporate it as a way to connect with some of her fans.

[riceral]

Just got off of a Virtual Pub gathering with others in my home-brew club. Something like 24 of us on a Zoom meeting.Took a little while to get the hang of it but was nice to "gather" with everyone and see how everyone was doing.

[Village Taphouse]

We have now done two "Wine Wednesdays" (which some would call Whiskey Wednesday and I will call it Weiss Wednesday although I don't really like Weissbier...) and we use Zoom.  My wife, son and I are here, my SIL and BIL and three of their kids across town, my daughter and my son in Austin (separate), my niece and her husband in Palm Beach and my inlaws who winter in Islamorada and are still there now.  Six screens all working simultaneously using Zoom.  It's pretty cool. 

[ravenwater]

I set up a Zoom meeting in place of our usual in-person club meeting earlier this month. The bulk of our members participated (New Mexico Worthogs). It felt like a distant second to being together in person for the laughter and hijinx we typically share but the feedback was that folks really appreciated the chance to connect and hear about each others' brewing exploits and talk briefly in a more general manner about how we're weathering the current changes brought about by COVID (social distancing, work from home, etc). I think it was a quick de-stressor for my club members. We miss each other. We'll Zoom again in 2 weeks and I'm looking forward to moderating that "meeting" as well.

Shawn C.

[Wilbur]

I started a weekly happy hour for our club using zoom. You can set it up as a reoccurring meeting, and after they kick you out you can immediately restart the meeting. We're moving to a discord server for Big Brew day to avoid the time limit. The virtual meetings don't capture the feel of the normal meetings, but we've been able to share more about our setups and processes. We've kept our Zoom meetings and Facebook page open to the public, but not everyone is comfortable sharing brew days, scrounging up ingredients, etc. on there. Might keep the discord server as a strict members only option after everything blows over.