• by Gord Hotchkiss , Featured Contributor, October 24, 2023

We are physical creatures. Much as we might be rushing to become virtual ones -- which necessarily reduces us to the capacity of our smartphones -- there are many thousands of years of evolution that say otherwise. We have been built to be “there”--  physically.

I was recently reminded of that fact in two very different ways.

First, I just had the tremendous pleasure of visiting Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It is now one of my favorite places in the world. And a good portion of my love for Ljubljana was that it's a city full of people who are there, and who love being there.

Ljubljana is a relatively small city, with a population of under 300,000 people. This gives it an intimacy you won’t find in any other European capital. Every night we were there, the streets of the old city were full of people walking, dining, singing -- even dancing. Vehicles are banned from the core, so the streets were lined by cafes and navigated by pedestrians and bikes. Like everywhere in the world, there were many walking or talking with smartphone in hand, but there was a visceral sense of community and connection that I haven’t felt in some time.

The other lovely thing about Ljubljana is that tourism hasn’t forced the locals to retreat from their own streets. They still very much consider their city their own and come out in strength to stake their claim and enjoy it.

The other example is a conference I went to this past weekend. It was a hybrid event, where half attended online and half in person. Having just returned from Ljubljana, where I was struck by the physicality of the city, I was perhaps more attuned to the experiences had by those who were physically present, compared with those who were linked by a screen, a mic and a camera.

I decided there was no comparison.

In-person attendees had a richer and more rewarding experience by at least a factor of 10, perhaps a hundred.

Sure, virtual attendees heard the presentations and got to ask questions, but those who were physically there made friends, had sidebar conversations, socialized and bonded the way humans were meant to, by being in a physical space together.

Catalyzed by COVID, we have embraced virtual meetings of all kinds. And I get that. It’s not always fun dragging your butt on a plane to fly across the country for a conference in Cleveland, Colorado Springs or Columbus. It’s much less expensive and much more convenient to click a link and spend an hour chatting online.

Still, there's perhaps a false economy here. When we compare costs of attending virtually vs physically, it is misleading to think we’re comparing apples to apples. Yes, a virtual connection is better than no connection at all, but let’s do a little math before we rule out physical meetings entirely.

First, there’s the difference between efficiency and effectiveness. I don’t think anyone will argue that virtual meetings are more efficient in terms of time invested. But the value of effectiveness is counted not in terms of time, but in outcomes. And when you are measuring that, you have to adjust your math accordingly.

Let’s assume that you have to discount the value of a meeting by 90% just by deciding to attend virtually rather than actually being there.

There is no straight line to effectiveness. It’s an outcome forged through give and take, interaction, iteration, and conversation. It is a strange alchemy made of equal parts social friction and individual rumination. Given all of that, it’s exceedingly unlikely that a Zoom meeting will make that magic happen. When it does, it usually happens in hallways and over dinner conversations. It can pop up during post-conference drinks at the hotel lobby lounge or even on a shuttle ride out the airport.

There's a reason why connection happens all the time when you’re there, and seldom when you’re “logged on” to a Zoom meeting. The way we connect with another human has almost nothing to do with the words that are spoken and everything to do with being physically in the same place at the same time. There is a subliminal undercurrent of communication that relies on body language, micro-expressions and even the smell of the other person. We have evolved the ability to place trust based on more than what someone tells us. If words were the sole basis of trust, we would have all been conned into non-existence eons ago.

I do believe virtual meetings have their place. But I also believe there is still no effective substitute for being there.

P.S. Please add Ljubljana and Slovenia to your travel plans.