There were many predictions at the start of the pandemic about how the world would change forever.
Some were kind of right. The others were very wrong. That’s how it goes with these things.
What never made sense to me is how colleges would cut out online classes after students saw how pointless going to class was.
If anything, the pandemic proved how necessary it is for young people to interact with their peers. The social and networking aspects of college may be even more important now than they were before the pandemic.
This is especially true when you consider how many college graduates can get remote jobs right after graduation.
The move to remote work seems like a trend that is still being underestimated for the long-term ripple effects it will have going forward.
Housing, commercial real estate values, voting patterns, commute time, business travel, ability to find the job you want, infrastructure spending, family dynamics, and overall happiness levels can be massively affected by the ability to work from home (or wherever. you choose).
Bloomberg recently highlighted a study showing that one day a week at the office is now the preferred work schedule globally:
Fully 50% of office visits globally were just once a week in the second quarter, up from 44% in the first quarter, according to data from Basking.io, a workplace analytics company. At the same time, fewer people made the trip four to five days a week, especially in big cities.
I have been working remotely for 7 years. It has many benefits.
It is more efficient to work alone in an office because it is much harder for people to disturb or distract you. It is more flexible. You can basically set your own schedule. The journey is much shorter.
But there are some downsides.
Zoom, Slack, Microsoft Office, and Gmail make it easy to work from anywhere, but you miss out on a lot of the social aspects of daily office interaction. There’s a lot you can miss, not only in terms of socializing and getting to know people, but also the culture of the organization you work for.
Remote work requires a more concerted effort to be social. Therefore, business trips in the future may be more about social events than actual work.
I took two “work” trips this summer. I put the work in quotes here because while there was some the work done on these trips, they were mostly social events with co-workers.
I met up with our operations team in Chicago and we all went to a Cubs game together:
A few weeks ago I flew to New York City, but instead of working in the office in Manhattan, we went to Long Island for a cookout/pool party with colleagues and spent some time in the ocean:
These functions had a work element to them. People still have to take up their responsibilities. But they’re also a great time to reconnect, meet new employees (many of whom I’ve only gotten to know through Zoom or phone calls), and further develop the firm’s culture.
And invariably while hanging out, you can have conversations about work that are more organic than you get on a Zoom call.
In the past there has always been an element of socializing built into business travel, like with dinners and drinks and such, but it will be even more important now to make a concerted effort to put yourself in more social situations in a world that is more comfortable. remote work.
I haven’t been to any conferences since the pandemic started.
It’s not that I’m against conferences per se, but I have a hard time justifying traveling to sit in a hotel room to listen to a series of panels on topics I can hear about on podcasts or Zoom calls.
The biggest selling point for most conferences is the ability to interact with your industry peers. Sure, there are some speakers, topics, or panels that can enlighten you, but the camaraderie is the most impactful thing for most conference attendees.
Technology makes staying at home so easy these days that you have to entice people to travel for business.
That’s why we wanted to create an event that has a more relaxed feel than stuffy hotel conference rooms. So we partnered with the team at Advisor Circle to create something unlike any other financial conference you’ve ever attended.
It’s in Huntington Beach, CA. It’s outdoors (the scenes will be on the beach). With the help of the local Chamber of Commerce, we basically rented out an entire city block of hotels, restaurants and bars so you could interact with other people in wealth management, technology and venture capital.
The list of speakers is loaded and there will even be some live podcasts recorded as part of the event (including my Animal Spirits podcast).
But I’m really looking forward to seeing friends I haven’t seen in 3-4 years and catching up over a beer. I look forward to meeting new and interesting people. I’m looking forward to spending some time at the beach. Looking forward to some great musical acts. And I can’t wait to have one Miami Vice (or three).
We’re looking at about 2,500 people signed up as of now, but we still have a few spots available if you’re interested. It will be a lot of fun.
You can register here AND book a room here.
