Human Connections Are Important, Too
I woke up this morning thinking about how more and more communication is taking place online instead of face-to-face. In many cases, this is a positive development because it allows like-minded people and learners to join together (or find a teacher) from anywhere in the world. On the other hand, of course, it also means we lose out on the pleasures of connecting with another human being in person.
The event that stimulated these thoughts was an email I received this week from a local Portland organization whose monthly meetings I have been attending for a couple of years. The email announced that the organization’s meetings will now take place solely online–and that the membership costs have quadrupled.
On the one hand, the organization is offering more benefits to members, who can now live anywhere in the world. Because monthly meetings will take place via teleconference and also be recorded, members can listen to them at a time that is convenient for them. Such a move also means the president of the organization no longer has to pay money to rent a facility and hope enough people attend each month to cover the costs.
On the other hand, it means that the organization that made it possible for people to laugh and talk with each other before, during and after meetings, plan networking picnics in the park in the summer, or meet each other at a cafe to share marketing and writing tips about their ebooks will no longer exist.
Another organization I am passionate about–one that is over 30 years old, already has an international membership, and whose board I served on for four years–is struggling to attract enough attendees to keep its annual conference going (especially this year).
I believe that holding an online conference next year would be an excellent decision because it would enable our members to save several thousand dollars in travel expenses (especially those who come from outside of the United States) and still acquire the wonderful information, tools and techniques that our amazing presenters share year after year. Such a choice could, in fact, make the difference between surviving as an organization or not.
On the other hand, it also means that talking long into the night with someone I just met who shares my passion for learning; playing hooky with a woman who, like me, is a new board member and feeling the need for some downtime (which led us to bond with each other and become great friends and allies); and being inspired by a presenter who has participants dress in costumes from The Wizard of Oz and physically walk on a “yellow brick road” laid out on the classroom floor while reciting lines from a script in time to music will be impossible in an online teleconference.
In the end, I do understand why moving to an online venue makes sense, but it makes me sad, too.