Attending ACVO Virtually This Year?...So Are We!

"Another one bites the dust." ACVO 2020 Conference will be held virtually this year to join the global effort to keep everyone safe and trying to conduct a some-what normal sense of business. We know it's been difficult for everyone, including us. From hearing constant updates about what seems to be an unchanging theme of the same day...kind of like  the movies "Groundhog Day" and most recently "Palm Springs." 

While we continue to balance our workday between paying attention to our kneading cats, overly sized lap dogs, and the frustrations of lagging internet take a look below at some Pro's and Con's to think about when attending web conferences.

PROs!

1. TIME & MONEY: Save some dough for something else

Saving time and money on food, travel tickets and accommodations you would have spent normally this time of year. This allows you some wiggle room to use funds elsewhere where you need it most in your practice. Not to forget that the cost of setting up accounts for your team to attend still remains, but at least it's some savings!

2. FLEXIBILITY: Attend from anywhere, any way!

Something that we didn't get enough of, but maybe a little too much now. Work-From-Home, work anywhere flexibility. For example, not being tied to a desk or office allow's us to take calls such and learning new skills or acquiring certificates to add to our current practice at the click of a button anywhere. So Attend ACVO this year with the mindset of bringing the mullet back! "Business in the front, Party in the back" Wear that blazer or business top but relax in the comfort of your jammies! 

3. ACCESSIBILITY: Global Connectivity

Attend anywhere you feel comfortable socially distanced in a conference room or the lobby with your team all around the globe. International attendees can now also benefit from attending ACVO in the comforts of their own home or office without having to deal with the time-consuming qualities of traveling across the globe. 

CONs

1. Technical Difficulties: Can you hear me now?

Setting up a large scale conference requires a lot of bandwidth for the host, and that can prove to be an obstacle as the battle for bandwidth can affect the quality for all attendees and presenters. The too often said, phrases like "can you hear me, can you see me?" is all too common in the digital space. If you're the attendee, make sure you have plenty of snacks and drinks as you wait for things to come back to their regularly scheduled program.

2. Local Distractions: What's that noise?

Staying home or being anywhere has its drawback as well. Yes, we now have the flexibility to attend from our homes, but that also includes dealing with outside distractions such as lawn work, barking dogs, cars zooming to and fro, and everything else that comes with the distractions of daily life. For ACVO, find some space where you can concentrate on the content being shared. That can even include setting up a tent in the backyard or going up to that tree house. 

3. Connecting Personally: An Unchained Melody

Probably the most missed, not just during this year's ACVO 2020 Conference, but in general, is connecting with people personally. The days of chatting or catching up with co-workers in the break room during lunch have us feeling like Demi Moore in "Ghost" yearning for that Swayze connection. A lot can be said about career advancements, new opportunities, and new relationships being built from the serendipities of the quick meetups down the ballroom conference halls of a Hilton. Luckily, with more attendees able to access ACVO online, that new opportunity might just be a chat or click away.