The first time I paid attention to the word “synchronicity” was while listening to the 1983 song by The Police of the same name. Today those lyrics come back to me, as meetings professionals make a dramatic shift in how they bring people together and deliver content.

…it joins all, Synchronicity.

A connecting principle

Linked to the invisible

Almost imperceptible

Something inexpressible

Science insusceptible

Logic so inflexible

Causally connectable

Nothing is invincible

Thank you Sting and The Police for still being relevant after some 40 years!

…it joins all, Synchronicity. It does join us all with the proliferation of digital meeting and event platforms that have become ubiquitous over the past 18 months! These technologies are a connecting principle, doing it in ways we never expected. As a result, meetings and events have become much more inclusive; enabling those with travel, health, or financial restrictions to participate in events they otherwise might have missed.

Somewhat imperceptible at first was the huge amplification of virtual events that previously had limitations based on venue size or location restrictions. Now virtual event platforms can easily expand the reach of meetings and events globally.

Although digital events may seem casually connectable, there absolutely needs to be a strategy behind the design. Determining the appropriate delivery method to achieve meeting goals is not easy. There has been a lot of discussion regarding the delivery of asynchronous hybrid events—those where the live and online meetings take place at different times, and the focus is 100 percent on each audience. By comparison, synchronous hybrid events take place simultaneously, with a livestream of the general session broadcast to the virtual audience. Both synchronous and asynchronous have different implications and benefits you should evaluate based on the level of engagement desired.

The most noteworthy line in Synchronicity is: Nothing is invincible! Most certainly, the past 18 months have demonstrated that all of us individually have come together collectively to develop solutions to move our industry forward. We have proven our flexibility and our ability to either dramatically pivot or gracefully pirouette to achieve professional and personal success.