The Next Big Thing in Remote – Online Virtual Networking

At this point, there is no going back. The remote work is here to stay. And grow. And fast. And faster. There has always been this one thing that was missing for it to be as good as the “real” thing. Funny, this one missing thing has been changing all along. From the core necessity to be able to send files and have a conf call, to advanced systems for conversation threads, labeling messages, collaborative docs editing, version control, permissions administration, chat channels, videos, shared screens, emojis of all sorts, user mentions, advanced notifications settings, smart calendars incorporating time zones and daylight savings… the list goes on and on. So from “if I could just call multiple people at once” or “if only I could share my screen with you”, we came a long way and today the remote teams have at their disposal numerous tools which facilitate productive work and efficient TEAM collaboration.

The Missing Ingredient

I’ve been working fully remotely since 2010 and being fully passionate about it since the first time it crossed my mind. I see it as a win win in so many ways, for professional and private life of an individual, for happy employees and successful businesses.

However, I’ve also had one of those “if only I could…”. And that was about networking. The collaboration with the people OUTSIDE OF THE TEAM I work with. 

Networking is crucial for professional growth. We can’t go far without being able to:

• Learn from the others
• Get feedback on our ideas
• Validate our assumptions
• Understand which problems others face and if we could provide solutions
• Sell our products / services
• Take part in the community and make a difference
• Make friends with other professionals

Working remotely and living all around the world gave me opportunity to be part of wonderful communities and participate in amazing events. But still it was often overwhelming organizing work, travel and other plans in order to make it to a conference or similar. In addition, I personally love outdoors sports and, remote working as I do, I tend to spend most of my year far away from the big cities. To be perfectly honest, I was kinda aware of the fact that I was probably missing out on networking events that would do me good professionally, but the quality of life has always been my priority.

Online Virtual Networking

If only I could network without living in a business hub or flying around for conferences… (Not to mention the carbon footprint right…) And that’s exactly what’s next in remote work, or actually happening already. I’ve had the opportunity to join an event on Remo platform (https://remo.co/) as a panelist, and there was a cool networking session after our discussion. I liked it so much that I’ve started visiting other events on Remo. Pretty soon I’ve started getting myself new contacts that I actually do keep in touch with, even a mastermind group grow out of some quality conversations and it’s just a beginning! 

The benefits of online networking:

• We can work remotely without the fear of missing out
• No need to spend time, money and natural resources on travelling specifically for an event
• Significantly increased diversity of participants
• Comfortable mingling between virtual tables, checking out the ongoing conversations and connecting with people without feeling awkward standing with a drink in the corner
• Being able to join for just a bit of it when you are busy
• By sharing video with the others who are sitting at their homes, you get to “feel at home” with your new buddies 
• Possibilities for events in various formats of talks, panels, or just pure networking – it can be a relaxed panel between a few peers, a full-on conference, or a very specific format as a startup pitch competition 
• For many online communities that grew out of a Facebook group of people with similar interests for example, it’s probably their only chance (due to the community being distributed around the world and not being commercial – thus a “real” event being out of question) to have a community event

So, are we getting closer to make the remote as good as the “real” thing? Or even better 🙂 Join us, it’s all one click away 🙂