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1) Things that surprise me after 6 months of virtual talks, workshops & exec events. First, I assumed that NPS for virtual events would be 10-20 points lower for virtual which is incorrect. There are so many engagement tactics you can use in virtual settings to drive to parity.
2) While you can use raised hands in live audiences, in a virtual setting you can use anonymous Slido polls/word clouds, plus chat to engage audience. Anonymity guarantees higher engagement as folks don't worry about sounding stupid.
3) The audience becomes part of the presentation. As they respond to @Slidoapp their views are automatically incorporated into my Google Slides. Audience<>Presentation<>Speaker magically meld together. That's a whole new level of engagement.
4) I initially complained it was hard to "read the room." I now have a 2nd machine that lets me monitor the audience & now know everyone's name (!). I can selectively cold call folks, which is very effective at keeping folks at the edge of their seats. I can monitor chat, too.
5) I am very aware of Zoom Burnout but if you focus on creating a great experience the burnout is an opportunity, not a threat. Folks are tired of their workmates & family & if you engage in efforts to create a connection the effort is hugely appreciated.
6) I have found Zoom breakout rooms highly effective. Keep the groups small, 4-6 peeps, and give them 20% more time than usual. I have them engage in cases, often with shared, pre-formatted Google Slides. They have a shared purpose as they slowly get to know each other.
7) Pre-Covid, my goal was to travel the world in order to become more "worldly." Initially, I missed the real social interaction, but over time, I took advantage of engaging in multiple cities/day. Today, I say odd things like, "Yesterday, I was in Armenia..."
8)...as though I was really there. Each of my talks has a worldwide audience, and over time, I have developed friendships with folks I have never met in real life. They are the organizers around the world. We get to know each other before/after repeated events.
9) And in an odd way, I think I am more "worldly" despite my United Mileage dropping from 200K/year to 20K/year. It will be freaky when I eventually meet new friends in real life for the first time.
10) I say all of this because there are still meetup organizers who have put their community efforts on hold during COVID. My Product Leadership Summit hosts & I briefly contemplated canceling our annual event but realized that the need to build community was larger given COVID.
11) We were able to build an even more diverse, worldwide crew of product leaders, and the effort was much more appreciated than in past years. (And NPS ticked up from 80 in 2019 to 82 in 2020).
12) For participants, there's no driving and while it's a bummer not to share a beer before/after, it's wonderfully simple to turn on Zoom for an hour and meet peeps from all over the world -- in the privacy of your dimly lit closets/bathrooms/garages -- I have seen it all!
13) And for introverts the awkward "how do I start a conversation?" phenomenon falls away with tools that effectively throw 1-x folks into the same room at the same time. (For the Product Leader Summit, we did a series of @IcebreakerVideo which are super simple and work.)
14) Some things I forgot: Tools like @streamyardapp let you bring more folks "on stage" and bring more folks into the conversation. Here's an example for "Chegg: Wicked Hard Decisions" in Dublin: . (I chastised the organizers for the all-boys panel.)
15) And of course I have Net Promoter Survey data for the above presentation. You can get a sense of what folks value/don't in the qualitative but the NPS was 67 with 55 respondents. (Total audience was about 120 peeps).
15) If this missive has a purpose it is 1) Speakers: Use every trick in the book to get the same NPS as in-person events. There's no excuse as the tools exist to get different/better engagement.
16) For past/current/future organizers: The tools exist to connect folks more easily than in the past. And Zoom burnout and product leader's fatigue with their workmates/family is an opportunity, not a threat. The world needs more connecting these days, not less. Go for it.
17) For Exec-Level Product Leaders: Make sure the "Product Leader Summit" is on your radar. I will let you know when we turn on the sign-up. (You have to apply and we effectively build a 120-person "class" from the 1,000 people who will apply this year.)
18) Yes, I am available for talks, workshops, and exec events. In March, I committed to 80 free events and 40 paid, and have already achieved the latter, so I'm open to free stuff as I close out the year. Pretty easy to self-serve here: http://gibsonbiddle.com .
19) Ten more free events and I am done for the year, though an increasing amount of my focus is going into 2021 setup. I'm also beginning to scratch my head on how to ski my age in days this winter-- a bit of a puzzle! If you made it through this missive, ping me!
