There’s No Substitute For Being There
Joining our Monday morning meeting via conference call yesterday, I was once again reminded of just how difficult conference calls can be for important meetings.
I am an ardent believer in social media and the ability for folks to connect in a multitude of ways. But one of those ways, and always the most important one for me, is the live connection. It’s not always required or relevant, but when it is, it cannot be effectively substituted.
Board meetings, partner meetings and interviews are clear examples where live participation makes all the difference. Unless you have high quality video conferencing capabilities, and even when you do, being there in person is often essential…especially when there are multiple folks involved in far ranging dialog and/or key decisions being made.
The importance of live interaction is even clearer on the personal front. Imagine dinner, a date or time with your family being replaced by a conference call or virtual communication. Augmented – absolutely; replaced – impossible.
Ironically, I was forced to participate via phone yesterday so I could attend a dear friend’s wedding abroad. And I can tell you right now, there is absolutely no substitute for being there. While we stay connected on a regular basis in the virtual space, it is specifically those unique moments of live personal connection that allow us to maintain an incredibly deep friendship over great distance.
