Seriously? How many business meetings and seminars have you attended in the past three (3) years – in person, that is.
Certainly, we have attended numerous video meetings and webinars – all of them thoroughly two-dimensional and effective – to a degree.
But do these online meetings effectively replace in person meetings? I’m not so sure. Yet recently I made a presentation at a regional human resources group and ten (10) businesspeople attended.
It was encouraging that they showed up. Was I disappointed in the attendance?
Yes, but perhaps it was my topic “Interviewing Skills for Business Owners,” or perhaps it was me!
Part of my executive search practice involves helping business owners prepare effectively for executive-level interviews. I thought a presentation to business owners and talent management professionals would be received with a greater presence.
At any rate I know that attendees had the opportunity to talk about their business and learn how they could help each other.
I do think it’s easier to discuss business over a light breakfast and beverage than online. Attendees were more relaxed, conversational, and willing to extend their conversations after the presentation.
As you venture out into the “new normal,” and all the other terms that are being used to describe life after COVID, try to remember this term coined by none other than Benjamin Franklin several hundred years ago (and well before COVID) –
“The world is run by the people who show up.”