Returning to In-Person Livestream Workshops
Looking over the evidence that omnicron is not devastating to those who are vaccinated, I am proceeding on several in person fronts. To bring in the new year, we are meeting for a resolution performance on Saturday January 8 at the historic Caffe Lena, the oldest continually running coffee house in the United States where legends like Bob Dylan, Don McLean, Ani DiFranco, Emmy Lou Harris, and The Freedom Singers performed during their careers.
This in-person event is free for anyone to attend (you can register for tickets here), however safety will be mine and the venue’s main concern. All ticket holders will be required to provide proof of vaccination upon entry to the venue. This includes your COVID-19 vaccination card, photos of cards, NY Empire Pass etc.
This isn’t political, this is about taking on responsibility and protecting our at-risk population.
While we still have some proud defiant folks not wearing masks, the public official impatience with such tomfoolery is becoming more pronounced here with intense (sometimes anger fueled) discussions happening at your local coffee shops, in grocery stores, town meetings, on TV and the radio, and between family members. There are still people out there who refuse to see the science behind all of this.
On January 26th and 27th, 30 leaders from global companies who are focused on making our world better through ESG (Environmental, Sustainability, and Governance) initiatives, will be joining me at the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain in Marana, AZ (just outside of Tucson) for a live-in-person, two day summit focused on how big companies can embrace this culture to not only be more responsible to global issues, but to also inspire other companies to follow in their footsteps.
Like my Caffe Lena event, safety is a priority during the summit. Not only will we follow every safety measure required during our two-day meeting, but we will also host dinners and social events outside in an open air veranda, and make sure that any room with windows during the meeting and social gatherings are wide open. This is the best we can do to proceed back into normalcy. We are also providing a livestream for those who do not want or can not attend in person.
These steps that I have put into place for my 43rd Annual Biannual Corporate Affiliates Workshop is to ensure that people are safe and can focus on our mission of exploring climate solutions, which is also discussed in this Washington Post article regarding omicron cases on the rise in the Southeast US with only a few safeguards in place.
At the height of the COVID-19 outbreak when the world literally shut-down, I worked with Bobby Carlton, who has worked with Facebook, Google, Siemens, Motorola, Pinterest and other global companies, and has multiple published papers on VR and AR technology, to explore how new technology such as virtual reality (VR) could help companies continue to work while staying safe from the virus.
I wanted something more than ZOOM. I wanted a platform that allowed me to move around, shake hands, have presence in a room, and be able to talk with people individually or as a group. I turned to the socialVR platform Engage to host a couple of meetings and invited members of companies to join me through a VR headset or through their computers.
Adopting new technology and new ways to be together are the steps we must explore and consider to move forward, not only in the world of business, but to be humans. However we can’t abandon traditional methods of working together, being together socially, and spending time with family.
I saw the potential in VR technology (and still do), but in my opinion being together in-person is still better.
Safety for yourself and others shouldn’t be politically fueled. Yet, here we are, finding ourselves having to adapt to not only a global pandemic with actual science behind it, but also the politics that some are choosing to make it about.
It’s a lot in this divided world. Science isn’t weird. It’s facts.
I hope what I say here helps you all design your next meeting.
