Geographic isolation...so what!

Living in New Zealand is pretty good on most counts...weather is great, not too hot and not too cold; scenery - I guess you would have to say 'amazing'; government - democratic and, pretty well, corruption free; no-one lives more than a two-hour drive from the beach...Godzone (the name coined by Premier Richard Seddon who stated, in his final shipboard telegram, on leaving Australia - 'just leaving for God's own country') is not a bad place to call home.

There has, however, always been a downside to living in the world's most isolated nation. So much happens in the rest of the world that we just cannot get to. Those ROMO and FOMO feelings hit far more often than I like ("Reality of Missing Out" and "Fear of Missing Out"). There are so many conferences, workshops and other physical events that I long to attend.

Fortunately our world just keeps shrinking, the 'tyranny of distance' becomes far less of an issue with each passing year and it no longer takes 'six months in a leaky boat' to get from the shores of Aotearoa to 'where it is happening'.

In an instant my digital self can be anywhere in the world that has an internet or mobile phone connection, I can see what is happening and interact with people who are physically there. Today I 'hung out' through Google+ with colleagues in Boston and Denver, last week I followed, in real time, what was happening at Pink13; in a couple of days I plan to follow the 'Theorizing the Web' event in New York, this event even allowed me to register as a remote participant.

Would I rather be at these events in person? Sure! But this is just not always practical. I know that I do get a lot out of the informal networking sessions in the bar or over dinner. Virtual attendance is not perfect, but it is a hell of a lot better than having NO presence at key events.

Today's physical conferences can do a lot better for those of us who can't get there, take a leaf from the TFT book (the industry's first totally virtual ITSM conference) and virtualise some of your event. Push the content out beyond the four walls of the conference venue...speakers deserve to have the world listen to their wisdom. That is probably a topic for a future blog!

Huge thanks to Chris Dancy who hosted a Pink13 page on his ServiceSphere site for us to keep up with the vibe of the event and to Mark Kawasaki who set up a Google+ group so that we could follow and discuss Pink13 happenings.

Still waiting for someone to take me, virtually, to a Gala Dinner...an iPad and Google+ Hangout would do the trick, and I am sure we could have a lot of fun!

BTW, I still haven't seen the answer to the question - 'how many different bow ties did Matt Beran wear at Pink13?'