Virtual Conferences, Church, and Happy Hour
What attending church IRL taught me about hybrid events
I'm headed to church IRL for the first time in 19-months. 2-years ago, it wouldn’t be worth a post to talk about something we’ve done almost every week for nearly 20-years. But that’s the funny thing about when routine get’s broken, and you re-engage.
After spending 97-days on the road meeting people IRL, there is no question that the in-person experience around meeting is much better than the virtual experience. For example, I’ve known Jeff Taylor from NetApp for years via Twitter. But sitting down with him and my non-IT friends, breaking bread, and talking about family eventually led us to talk about our shared experience supporting Federal Government IT. Something that doesn’t happen as easily via Twitter.
Without a doubt, the ability to meet remotely has enhanced our ability to communicate and collaborate. For example, as part of the CTO Advisor Virtual Conference in 2020, we had a 50/50 gender split for speakers. A huge contributor was our ability to accommodate working parents and 1st-time speakers.
All of this has me thinking about virtual and non-virtual conferences. How do we meld the best of the two worlds? The first in-person conference I’m considering is AWS re:Invent. However, I don’t believe I’m ready for a few thousand bodies crammed into a convention center.
Our plan today is to host watch parties in a sweet in Vegas. We’ll have a dozen or so people a time watching keynotes or select sessions. I want that hallway track experience with the benefits of virtual. More than likely, we’ll figure a way to record some of the watch party conversations.
What’s your plan for conferences? How are you going to get your happy hour fix without exposing yourself to too much risk?