Au Revoir, Burlingame

Starting last Spring, as one Connect Local Chapter after the other started postponing their annual events, I knew it was going to be a bit different this year.  Sometimes, I hate being right.

Those changes led us to the Virtu-NUG event, held on 3 different Wednesdays during June and July.  To be sure, creating an event like this in a very short period of time could have been disastrous, but then again, we never thought that we could recreate the in-person events.  I thought, as did a lot of people I’ve talked to, that they came off pretty well!

At the time, we still thought that this pandemic thing would have passed in time for November, so we still thought we’d all be flying into SFO and converging on the Hyatt.  Turns out, of course, that wasn’t to be.  In addition to the challenges that social distancing would have placed on the event, just getting there and having to quarantine would put the final stop to an in-person event.  And it seems, we may not have been able to breathe very well given the smoky state of Bay-area air!

So now, we can look forward to three days in November, starting on the 16^th.   (It’s only about 6 weeks from the scheduled publication of this NS Insider!).  I hope you’ve got your registrations done.

Some pluses:

• No travel costs and no registration costs!
• Attendees from outside North America don’t have to put their body through two different ‘Jet Lag’ events.
• We will still have the great session content we have come to rely on, both from HPE and our amazing Vendors.
• We’ll still have the Whova app to help us keep up with sessions and with each other.
• There are planned social events (although they’ll be Virtual this time).
• Our diets won’t be affected by conference food.
• No need to plan evening dinners, etc.

Some downsides:

• Like other teleconferences from home, you’ll need to isolate yourself from family as best you can. Either that, or we’ll all meet your dog.  Or grandchild. Or pajamas (yikes)!
• As many of the sessions will be viewed in ‘time-shift’ mode by those on other parts of the planet, there may be less interaction. However, having sat in a lot of the in-person sessions, there aren’t many that include an active Q&A anyway.
• We’ll still have the Whova app to help us keep up with sessions and with each other.
• Virtual beers don’t have a lot of taste. Or kick.
• Local wines aren’t always as good as those in the Bay Area.
• No great breakfasts (with the exception of self-serve).
• No hands-on demos in the exhibit hall.
• No impromptu large discussion groups, as people walk up to and leave large groups of standing people in that same exhibit hall.
• Our diets won’t be affected by conference food.
• There will undoubtedly be some technical issues. (Hint: Update your home Wi-Fi before 16-Nov!)
• No need to plan evening dinners, etc. for groups of friends.

I know that once it’s over, we’ll all be able to add things to both lists.  And, you probably noticed that a few of the items are on both lists, too.  In those cases, at least, there are potential good and bad sides to the attributes of going Virtual.

I haven’t heard anyone say this yet, but I would strongly encourage you to approach the meeting itself with as few expectations as possible.  By that, I mean don’t set too high, or too low, an expectation.  Do your best to immerse yourself in the event and see what works and what doesn’t.  And please fill out the surveys, which is even more important this year. Even when the world returns to ‘normal’, and we are able to hold future events in person, there could be a great use to this type of technological wizardry; we could get together more than once a year!

I’m looking forward to touching base with a bunch of you during the TBC.  Just not quite in the same way as in the past.  Please take some notes about what worked and what didn’t, what you liked and what you did not. As a group, we’re pretty good at coming together to improve things, and I know we can do the same for this new type of ‘conference’.

Now, where did I leave that VR Headset!?

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