I recently attended the Strong Towns Gathering and Congress for New Urbanism 31 in Charlotte. To say I was looking forward to attending would be an understatement. I have been an avid supporter of both of these organizations for a while and knew they would deliver great content that would challenge my thinking and support my work. But mostly, my excitement rested in the knowledge that I would have a chance to connect with people that I have followed on social media, regularly listened to their podcasts, or have interacted with the past few years via e-mail or Zoom, but had never met in person. I was not disappointed on either count. I’ll save the content for future posts, but for now, I’ll dwell on the human connection and share a few observations.
I had a chance to chat with two podcasters and I observed that they were genuinely appreciative to hear that I was a listener, but more importantly that I drew specific nuggets from their work that helped me. It is sometimes easy to disconnect the work on a podcast, blog, YouTube, or social platform from the person behind it. While I will not have the chance to to connect IRL with everyone that I follow, my experience at the conference taught me that I should make every effort that I can to comment on content and review channels. It’s affirming to know that your work is connecting with others rather than just hanging out in the interwebs.
New connections may not be easy, but I find them worth the effort. While I may be an extrovert, I still find it awkward to go up to someone that I do not know and strike up a conversation. When the week started I wasn’t sure if I’d know anyone in attendance (here’s your first clue that I’m a horrible conference attendee that does not read the advance materials to include registration lists), so I set out to meet people. Since I was not staying at the host hotel, I headed to its bar in advance of the opening event for some dinner. Sure enough, I met someone who was not only attending, but also presenting which provided an opportunity for conversation throughout the whole meal. Another favorite place to meet new people are the standing tables usually scattered throughout the venue. I’ve typically found others who are at the table to be welcoming and simple conversation comes easy when I’m half-protected behind the table.
I am most grateful for the chance to meet those with whom I’ve interacted with over the past three years, but have never met in person. Connecting people to e-mail signatures and Zoom screens rounded out my relationship with them. But I’d have to say, the most impactful connection was with someone I’d met in the spring of 2020. Amidst all the uncertainty of that spring, I retreated to social media where I saw a Tweet asking if anyone would be interested in starting a book club. I responded, along with a few others, and for the next two years we met weekly to challenge each other with readings for the week and to support each other through the chaos that surrounded us. Meeting Katy in-person for the first time felt like I had reconnected with a life-long friend, even though our history doesn’t go back that far. While I’m appreciative for the virtual platforms that provided an initial connection, there is nothing like walking alongside someone and catching up.
But all of this got me thinking- what if we treated our own towns like a conference? What if we intentionally went out to places to try to make new connections? What if we reached out to someone we may know of locally and connect in person over coffee? I’m considering this a challenge to myself over the next 3 months. I’m not sure how it may go, but I’m sure it will be an interesting exercise.
Speaking of connections, I want to invite you to our next Creative Steps on Wednesday, June 21st, 4:30 p.m. at Sidie Hollow County Park in Viroqua. This is an opportunity to create new neuropathways and personal connections. Bring an idea or concept that you are wrestling with and take advantage of the power of moving as we were designed to move as well as a network of like-minded people.
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