Lots of Ukrainian HR companies are considering ways to retain their staff members together despite their dispersed locations. The Sergey Tokarev-led company Roosh kept up with the times and planned a corporate gathering right in the metaverse.
Back in 2021, Roosh still had the chance to convene the full team for a real-life offline meeting. For a Synchro Day meeting, they went to " Cinema Planet," where they talked about the outcomes of a six-month work. The notion of a non-traditional meeting was welcomed since, according to Olexandra Borodina, the Roosh creative communications director, the team thought that conventional reports in conference rooms were too boring.
Sadly, in 2022, the staff of the company had to relocate throughout Ukraine and some even had to go abroad. However, they still had to hold general meetings. As a result, Synchro Day was transferred to the modern level on the metaverse platform.
Party Space created a platform where users can experience speakers and presentations just like they would in a real meeting. Everyone gets the chance to wander around the hallway and carry out all the same tasks as they would in a conference room at an office.
Last summer, the team planned to host a celebratory event on the Gather platform to mark the second anniversary of Sergey Tokarev’s company Roosh. There, everything is more engaging and participatory than in Party Space. In celebration of their first corporate party, which was hosted on a real yacht, the team "constructed" a ship in the metaverse. The virtual yacht had multiple floors as well as amusement and relaxation rooms, so it barely was different from the real one.
Gather membership normally $3, but because Roosh received a discount, the company only had to pay $2.1 per participant.
Before the meeting on the Metaverse Platform, each event participant received a guide and had 30 minutes to get used to the platform. You must learn how to move and perform various tasks in this virtual world.
So that there would be no shame, and everyone would feel comfortable, each speaker also got a rehearsal and some instruction on how to appropriately handle everything in the room.
To enter Gather, one should have created an avatar, dressed it up, given it a hairstyle, and selected the right accessories.
The Gather platform enables event planners to select from a variety of venues. You can adorn them, however, you like by adding different paintings, project renderings, and logos. Moreover, you can use customized rooms. To accomplish this, Sergey Tokarev's company Roosh organized an exhibition of completed projects.
It was important to plan something intriguing for the event to keep the team's interest. The team did this by segmenting the event into four sections, each with a unique set of activities.
So as not to abruptly depart from offline meetings, the speakers' speeches came first.
The next activity was a fun quiz with a variety of tasks.
A charity auction was scheduled after brainstorming. As a result, 300,000 UAH were raised and donated to Ukrainian charitable organizations.
The Ukrainian stand-up comedian Vasyl Baydak's performance—for whom entering the metaverse constituted a different quest—was the corporate party's closing event.
The team also chose two leaders for the company party, and each of them received a script. On such a platform, the presenter had to serve both an entertaining and assistance role to help staff members adjust to the platform during awkward pauses or when someone loses Internet connection.
That experience has demonstrated that team meetings can be successful even when members are located around the globe, thanks in large part to modern technologies.
