Don’t Close Up Shop, Engage Virtually

Don’t cancel your event or close up shop because of #COVID19, engage virtually. A growing number of cancelations and closures are already affecting our daily lives. My family had to cancel a personal trip to Japan in April that has been in the works for a year to meet up with our son living in Asia. We all have a personal story to share and the impact from #coronavirus is getting more real with each passing day. Whether we agree or not with the response from our institutional and government leaders, without question we face a global pandemic together, and convening for any purpose in a centralized location carries an increased risk of further spread of the virus. Every day we read about another cancelation or closure, from national events like #SXSW, to local school closings like Saint Ray’s in my own backyard of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. What if instead of canceling events or closing up shop due to coronavirus we continued enabling and helping people, only more virtually?

“Even as we retreat from physical interaction, there’s a huge opportunity to actually connect, to learn and to understand.” Seth Godin

As an innovation junkie, I was troubled by the announcement that this year’s South-by-Southwest convening in Austin, Texas has been cancelled. #SXSW has missed a big opportunity, which should have been right up its alley, to lead the virtual way. I…