A real-world case study of how Google's Asian YouTube division ran a 60-minute virtual team event across three countries, using a Roman Holiday cooking session to build connection despite distance.
A virtual team event brings distributed colleagues together online for shared experiences that build connection despite distance. When Google's Asian YouTube division needed to unite their content team across Japan, Korea and Singapore in June 2022, they chose a 60-minute cooking session with ChefPassport's Chef David—a Roman Holiday menu that combined ease, taste and interaction in a single hour.
The session worked because it prioritised three things: a simple, iconic dish everyone could cook simultaneously; real-time interaction facilitated by an experienced virtual instructor; and a shared memory that outlasted the Zoom call.
Google's Asian YouTube content team spans multiple countries and timezones. Flying everyone to a single location for a two-hour social moment makes little financial or environmental sense. A virtual team event offered the same goal—connection, conversation, a break from screen-based work—without the travel overhead.
"Working remotely across different countries makes it harder to bond with your colleagues," said Midori Hirose, the event organiser. "With this ChefPassport session we built a team memory and a stronger relationship."
The format chosen—a 60-minute TeamCook with an Italian Roman Holiday menu—was designed for ease. Participants cooked simple, iconic Italian dishes under the live guidance of Chef David, one of ChefPassport's most experienced virtual instructors. The session replaced a static video call with something sensory: chopping, stirring, tasting and sharing the results on camera.
A virtual team event isn't a webinar with a Q&A. It's a synchronous, facilitated experience where participants do something together, not just watch someone present slides.
In Google's session, every participant had ingredients delivered or sourced locally (depending on the country and dietary needs). Chef David opened with a quick introduction, demonstrated each cooking step live on camera, then paused while participants replicated it in their own kitchens. The format alternated between instruction, cooking and conversation—jokes, pets wandering into frame, participants welcoming one another into their homes.
After running hundreds of virtual cooking sessions, we've found this rhythm—demonstrate, pause, cook together, share—creates far more engagement than a chef cooking solo while participants watch passively. The act of cooking side-by-side builds the connection; the food is the excuse and the reward.
The difference between a smooth virtual team event and a frustrating one comes down to logistics, not creativity. Three areas determine success:
Google's team spanned Tokyo, Seoul and Singapore—relatively aligned timezones (UTC+8 to UTC+9). Even a two-hour spread requires careful scheduling. For teams crossing Europe and Asia, or the US and APAC, you either run two separate sessions or accept that someone joins at an awkward hour. We've hosted sessions where Singapore participants cooked breakfast while their Luxembourg colleagues made dinner.
ChefPassport ships full ingredient kits within Europe. For global teams, we provide detailed shopping lists, brand suggestions and local substitutes. Dietary restrictions—vegan, gluten-free, halal, kosher—must be captured during registration, not discovered the morning of the event. Google's organiser noted the support and flexibility throughout planning as a key reason the session succeeded.
Most corporate teams use Zoom or Microsoft Teams. The instructor needs a multi-camera or overhead setup so participants can see both the chef's face and the cooking surface. Participants need stable internet, a working camera and ideally a laptop positioned where they can see the screen while cooking. We send a tech-check email 48 hours before every session with clear instructions and a test link.
These details sound mundane, but they're the difference between a memorable event and one derailed by missing ingredients or frozen video feeds.
After hundreds of virtual sessions, we've observed consistent patterns. Cooking sessions generate higher participation, more natural conversation and stronger post-event feedback than trivia, escape rooms or passive talks.
The reasons are sensory and social. Cooking engages hands, smell, taste and problem-solving. It's forgiving—burnt garlic and uneven dice still taste good. It creates natural conversation anchors: "What does yours look like?" "Mine's sticking—what did you do?" "Should I add more salt?" The shared struggle and shared success build rapport faster than icebreaker questions.
Participants also leave with something tangible: a meal they cooked, a recipe card, a photo of their dish next to their colleague's on-screen. That physical artefact—dinner—extends the memory beyond the calendar invite.
Research supports this preference for experiential formats. According to Bizzabo's 2026 Event Marketing Statistics, 95% of organisers say experiential learning is important, and 53% of attendees plan to attend more webinars—but only if they're interactive, not passive.
Midori Hirose highlighted three aspects in her feedback:
These outcomes align with what drives virtual team event ROI: not just attendance, but the relationship quality and memory persistence that follow.
Virtual isn't always the right choice. In-person events remain the anchor format in 2026—Bizzabo reports 63% of events are in-person, 33% virtual and 4% hybrid. But virtual earns its place in specific scenarios:
| Scenario | Why virtual works | Why in-person might be better |
|---|---|---|
| Fully remote or dispersed teams | No travel cost; everyone joins equally | If the team has never met face-to-face, an annual in-person offsite builds deeper bonds |
| Frequent touchpoints (monthly socials) | Low friction; fits into working hours | Quarterly in-person events create higher-impact moments |
| Budget constraints | $30–60 per head vs $150+ for venue + catering | In-person justifies itself for milestone celebrations or annual kick-offs |
| Cross-border or global teams | Removes visa, travel and time-off barriers | Hybrid (regional hubs joining a central broadcast) can split the difference |
| Short notice or experimental formats | Can be organised in a week; easy to repeat if successful | In-person requires venue booking, catering lead times and travel coordination |
For Google's Asian YouTube team, the choice was clear: a one-hour virtual session delivered connection without the complexity of international travel.
The virtual event landscape has matured since 2020. Demand is stable and intentional, not emergency-driven. According to Research and Markets, the global virtual-events market grew to $288.4 billion in 2026, up from $235.4 billion in 2025. Europe's market alone is growing at roughly 18% annually.
What's changed:
What hasn't changed:
If you're organising a virtual team event for a distributed team, here's what actually matters:
Are you reconnecting a team after a reorg? Onboarding new hires? Celebrating a win? Rebuilding morale? The goal shapes the format. A celebration can be playful and loose; onboarding needs structured introductions and psychological safety. Don't pick an activity and retrofit a purpose.
Cooking, art workshops, mixology, storytelling exercises—anything where people make or share something together. Avoid formats where one person performs and everyone else watches. The 15 virtual team building activities we recommend all prioritise doing over watching.
A good instructor adapts tone, pacing and interaction style to the group. Tell them: team size, experience level (have they cooked together before?), any inside jokes or recent wins to reference, and the mix of introverts vs extroverts if you know it. Chef David knew Google's team was spread across countries and leaned into that—asking participants to share what their kitchens looked like, inviting pets on camera, celebrating the different ways people plated the same dish.
Share photos, a recipe card, a short video montage or a group message thread. The event's value compounds when people can revisit and share it. Google's team had a Slack channel where participants posted their finished plates—a small detail that extended the conversation by days.
Measuring the ROI of team events is notoriously hard, but Gallup's 2026 State of the Global Workplace reminds us that engagement sits at just 20% globally, and remote employees—while sometimes more engaged—are also more likely to report stress and loneliness. Deliberate, recurring connection points help close that gap.
After hundreds of virtual sessions, we see three consistent outcomes when events are well-run:
For Google, Midori Hirose's feedback was clear: the session built a team memory and a stronger relationship across countries. That's the outcome a successful virtual team event should deliver—not just an hour filled, but a connection made.
Cooking works, but it's not the only format. If your team has run multiple cooking sessions or has specific dietary or cultural reasons to avoid food-based activities, consider:
For more ideas, see our guide to virtual team building activities that actually work and our list of 50 virtual team engagement activities.
Many companies anchor virtual events to the calendar: Diwali, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chinese New Year, Ramadan, team anniversaries or quarterly kick-offs. Seasonal events offer built-in themes, cultural richness and a natural reason to gather.
ChefPassport runs dozens of Christmas cooking events every December—mulled wine, gingerbread, festive menus from different European traditions. We've also hosted Chinese New Year dumpling-making sessions for multinational teams celebrating Lunar New Year across timezones.
Seasonal formats work because they feel less like "mandatory team-building" and more like a shared cultural moment. The event becomes a tradition, and traditions build belonging.
We've run virtual cooking sessions for over 200 companies—Amazon, Deloitte, JP Morgan, the European Central Bank and hundreds of smaller teams. The mechanics we've built for Google's session apply to every client:
If you're planning a virtual team building cooking class or exploring other formats, we can help you design the session, handle logistics and deliver an experience your team will actually remember.
A virtual team event earns its place when it creates something a regular meeting cannot: genuine interaction, sensory engagement, shared memory and a moment where people see each other as humans, not just names on a screen.
Google's Roman Holiday session worked because it was simple, social and sensory. Participants cooked together, laughed at mistakes, shared their kitchens and pets, and sat down to eat something they'd made. The event became a reference point—a small, specific memory that strengthened relationships across three countries.
That's the standard every virtual team event should meet. Not just attendance, but connection. Not just an hour filled, but a story created.
If your team is scattered across cities, countries or continents, and you're looking for a way to bring them together without the travel overhead, a virtual team event—done well—delivers exactly that.
Interested in running your own? Explore our virtual cooking experiences or get in touch to discuss your team's needs, timezones and goals.
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