Yesterday I hosted a conference for my company. It is the 9th one and it turned out better than expected. In the week leading up to yesterday I didn't think enough people would attend to make the conference worthwhile. It turned out that we had some last-minute registrations and I am thankful for them.
Yesterday morning I really questioned the efficiency of getting a bunch of people from around the world to meet in the same room. I wondered if the same people might be served better by a newsletter or some other form of collaboration. At the end of the conference, I asked everyone the question that had been on my mind while planning the event: Should the conference continue? I then tossed around some ideas I had on how to replace it.
While I expected everyone to say that they wanted the conference to continue, I was not prepared for the answers given as to why. Everyone agreed that nothing beats meeting colleagues in person. I could try sending out a monthly newsletter but people would just glance at it before throwing it away. I could set up a video or teleconference but then the important side conversations wouldn't happen. Ultimately having everyone in the same room for a day allowed for collaboration that wouldn't take place otherwise. I also had managers tell me that they are working to increase their travel budget so more people can attend next year's conferences. So it looks like I need to keep planning them.
This should not sound too surprising. Think about your own family. Would you rather talk to a loved family member through e-mail, on the phone, using a video conferencing tool, or be together in the same room? All the money spent traveling during November and December shows that there is value being physically together.
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