I’m hearing quite a buzz these days about the virtues of virtual meetings and some growing lament on the “end of live events as we know it (sigh).” Before I join the official debate online, I’d like to share with you a story I heard from a friend that I believe cuts to the heart of the matter:
A teenage son sits in the living room with his teenage girlfriend in front of the TV. He pulls out his cell phone and thumbs blur as he types a message. His Mom, also in the room, thinks it may be time for a conversation about “how to keep a girlfriend,” beginning with, “don’t text someone else when you are in her company.”
Just as the young man finishes and looks up, his girlfriend’s phone buzzes. She picks it up and nonchalantly replies. Mere seconds later, the boyfriend’s phone buzzes.
“You,” the mother says, “are not texting each other!?”
But in fact they were.
Now, as you gauge your reaction to this with regard to your children, your friends, your colleagues; as you ponder the question this presents, the concerns it raises about our decreasing ability to relate to each other face-to-face, the increasing predominance of technology into every facet of our lives…also ponder this:
Are you considering holding your next corporate meeting in virtual space?
If you think it’s silly or sad or somewhere in between for two people to sit next to each other and text rather than talk, we agree. And on that premise, we respectfully offer that meeting and event technologies are best used to enhance the personal experience, not replace it. We’re humans and we crave human interaction. And we’ll always get more out of the experience by actually “being there.”
Without live interaction, the life of the relationship goes cold. Clearly no one aims for impersonal relationships with their clients, employees, executives, and shareholders.
Will technology play a bigger role in corporate meetings? Yes. And to be clear, virtual meetings have huge benefits for corporate planners, marketers, and audiences the world over. But there is a right time and a right place for them in your overall event marketing strategy. To think that virtual events can truly replace live events in terms of the experiences they provide, the opportunities they afford, is naïve – even an awkward teenager would probably agree.
This is a huge topic in the corporate meetings and events industry, worthy of a great deal of consideration and at least a couple of blogs. So visit us here for more analysis and insight as we explore the pros and cons of face-to-face vs. cyberspace, (spoiler alert: I’m pretty partial to LIVE). And a special shout out to friend and fellow blogger, Mike Hanbery (http://mikehanbery.blogspot.com/), for sharing his story. Thanks Mike!
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice blog post.
We believe that many live physical events can be complemented with virtual events, that enlarge the scope of the audience and engage visitors globally.
These hybrid events will become a natural trend in 2010. Have a look at http://blog.imaste-ips.com to read our opinions on the matter
Regards!
Sheila, thanks for sharing my tale with your audience. The story actually belongs to Heidi Doupe (Twitter @HeidiDoupe) but I love to retell it as it speaks to the concerns we share about the technology pendulum.
Twitter @MikeHanbery
One thing that I have noticed, is that when people meet virtually, it creates more of a desire to meet face to face. Tweet ups and the 140 conference are just a couple of examples where people are eager to meet the people they connect so well with virtually.
As an event leader, I am encouraged by what the technology can do, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Cheryl
@partyaficionado
Hi Sheila,
Nice Post! If you want some data to strengthen your argument – then I suggest the recently published Forbes Insights report “Business Meetings: The Case for Face-to-Face Meetings”
In that report they interviewed 750 business executives and presented the executives with several situations and asked them – which format is better here: Face2Face or Virtual. IN all but two cases, “Presenting Data” and “Information Dissemination” – Face2Face was the better choice. In all other cases, the executives agreed that Face-to-Face meetings were the best solution.
Here is the link to the case study – See figure 6: http://images.forbes.com/forbesinsights/StudyPDFs/Business_Meetings_FaceToFace.pdf
- Sam
I think this is comparing apples to oranges.
When I’ve seen kids, teens or adults text each other when they are sitting in the same room, it’s often so others don’t hear what they have to say. It’s no different than passing notes that many of us used to do before we had mobile devices.
To imply that kids or teens no longer know how to communicate because they text each other is flawed thinking. They are actually more adept at modern communication technologies than many of us adults.
The same thing was said about other disruptive innovations such as CBs, the phone, television and email. People cried foul that it was the end of live experiences, real communication and relationships. These new tools would end life as we know it. Those cries were unfounded and have yet to be true. People who are crying foul today are probably living in fear, fear of unknown, fear of change, fear of something different.
You chose some interesting words to describe face-to-face meetings versus virtual. I agree that “Without live interactions the relationship goes cold,” as you say. But are your saying virtual experiences are not live? Are you saying that texting is not a live human interaction with another human? Is it dead? Are you saying that the only type of communication that sustains a relationship is a face-to-face experience? What about families that communicate virtually with their loved ones in the military across the seas? What about spouses that communicate via text, email and phone during a day? Are you saying those aren’t valid, that they are lifeless and deadly?
It’s still live interaction whether its face-to-face or virtual. It’s still “in real life.” I’ve developed some amazing rich relationships with like-minded professionals though virtual experiences. I actually have a vibrant community of people online in Twitter chats, eCommunites, FaceBook and Linked groups that I turn to for real life interaction, advice and insight. I would have never met these people at a face-to-face event because of sheer limitations of time and space. Now I want to go to face-to-face events to continue those relationships and be within the other’s presence. That’s driving me to attend more than the content or the speaker or the tradeshow. Interesting how virtual is pushing me to see them face-to-face.
By the way, there’s been plenty of research that shows online learning in virtual experience trumps face to face learning. Just read here http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf and here http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue4/lobel.html and here http://www.oswego.edu/~dfoulger/research/timeInMedia2/ to see for yourself.
The premise for this entire article is based on faulty thinking that virtual does not sustain a relationship or that it is not live interaction with another human. Whether it’s virtual or face-to-face, it’s still valid with valid communication tools. And both have their place in today’s world.
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