[ This article was published on LinkedIn on March 8, 2020. The original article link is here ]
關係 (Guan Xi) is ingrained into the psyche of many Asian cultures and businesses. It is fundamental to build connections and relationships, and consequently forging trust in those relationships. And it is best when it involves a face-to-face communication and building the common foundational belief of one another.
The COVID-19 outbreak is wreaking havoc and may become a global pandemic if the situation continue unabating in the coming months. In light of safety, many vendors are either canceling the physical event or switching to digital events or virtual events. On my radar this past week, there are Dell Tech World, AWS Singapore Summit and Google Cloud Next, to name a few. How do we build trust from these digital and virtual events?
All about the experience
The experience to engage at physical technology events is priceless. Putting the face to the name, to shake the hand and rub shoulders to connect cannot be quantified by just being present. Sharing war stories over coffee or beer, and exchanging good jokes and bad ones over dinner, are experiences which cannot be taken away in our lifetime. That is why I have always thoroughly enjoyed my Field Day experiences since 2014.
I am old school. I believe in 關係, because the kind of camaraderie, the fellowship, the brotherhood or sisterhood built from trust is immeasurable. The chemistry mix of experience would be hard to reproduced. An old hand at EMC once said to my team and I, “I would go to war with you guys any day!“.
The question today is “Can Digital or Virtual Events replicate that experience and build trust?”.
