I must confess, a week at the beach was lovely. Especially so because my brother, sister-in-law and nephew joined us (“us” being my parents, my husband and me).
My brother’s family moved to London, England two years ago, so having the whole family together is even more rare these days than when we siblings lived on opposite coasts of the US!
We saw a pod of dolphins, just past the breakers.
We took a steam train up into the redwoods.
We hiked along the coast, at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, where we saw a couple of spotted harbor seals sunning themselves on a rock, maybe twenty yards from us.
There’s no doubt about it, there are times when being together, in-person, is absolutely THE BEST! Nothing can replace the experience of being in the real, honest-to-goodness, physical presence of other humans.
And nothing can replace the experience of being with those humans in special locations like the beach or the forest.
But of course, we can’t always get together in person.
And even if we *could* get together in person, sometimes it simply makes more sense to do things virtually. For financial reasons. Or logistical reasons. Or ecological reasons. Or accessibility reasons.
The fact is, even if the pandemic were to spontaneously come to a clean end tomorrow (which it is clearly not going to do, alas…), the question of in-person vs. virtual is not an “either-or” situation.
It’s both, and.
People will always want and need to get together in person.
Hallelujah for the ability to get together in person!
AND
Virtual is not going away. There is a time and space for virtual, in addition to in-person.
PLUS
When virtual events are done right, you don’t have to sacrifice connection, engagement, and even intimacy.
Of course, you’re not going to get walks on the beach, harbor seals, hugs, or steam trains into the redwoods. But you can get real learning, and fun, and genuine human connection.
It’s a big passion of mine to show people how fabulous the virtual experience can be!
Last year, to that end, I taught a series of workshops on how to lead “Non-Boring Virtual Meetings.”
It’s been awhile since I’ve offered one of these public workshops.
I’m rolling out a new offering soon: Non-Boring Virtual Meetings Learning Lab.
A monthly opportunity for you to learn new activities for building connection virtually while connecting, networking, and learning from others, through the activities! (How meta! 😉)
In each 75-minute session you’ll get a chance to try out 2 to 3 activities, based around a theme, which you can immediately use with your team. We’ll also dive deeper with each activity, by discussing various ways you might alter or debrief in order to adapt it for different situations.
The Learning Lab is the perfect way for you to experience how fun and engaging virtual sessions can be, and how effective they can be for building connection and learning.
Sound interesting?
Click the button to get on the waitlist and I’ll let you know as soon as the schedule goes live. 🙂
Get On the Waitlist
I’m looking forward to experimenting with you in the Learning Lab!
Looking to transform your virtual training or event into a creative, interactive, playful experience your attendees will rave about? Let’s chat!