Technically Alone, Yet Technically Together
By Tobi Schwartz-Cassell
I’ve been doing women’s events for 11 years. Five for Girlfriendz Magazine (the magazine I created and ran for seven years) and six for Franks & Beans Events. I’m happy to say that I learned something new at our event this past Thursday night!
The evening featured Paper Artist Lorena Melcher of Melcher Creations, and we each had a chance to create something beautiful. Lorena designed kits for each of us in which she tucked beautiful stamped and embossed paper, sparkly gemstones, a frame and a glue stick. Even a bonus project! What she didn’t include was her opinion. She left that to us. So my choice of project was Terry’s choice. And Linda’s choice was her niece Jessica’s choice. And Kim’s choice was Sandy’s and Janis’ choice. They ended up looking the same and yet, looking different. And that was a big part of the fun!
So what did I learn? I learned that in 11 years of doing live events with between 30 and 50 guests, the virtual events that Kim, Linda and I have been presenting are amazing in their own way. At our first virtual event, there were 20 guests (not including our team members). At Thursday night’s event, we had 14 (not including our team), and here’s where the learning comes in: I’m seeing that less is more.
Whether by choice or by circumstance, many women live solo. And as we continue to shelter-in-place, that sometimes leads to loneliness. Put us together using technology, and we are technically alone, yet technically together. During the event, it felt like I was in a room filled with women! And I got to know them in a different way than getting to know them at a live event.
Everyone was relaxed and ready to have fun, to experiment with her creativity and to meet some new people.
Because it was virtual, sisters Marcy and Linda, and Marcy’s daughters, had the opportunity to spend an evening together, despite the fact that Linda lives in NJ, Marcy lives in LA, and the girls live in TX and FL. I had the opportunity to spend an evening with my sister Molly. Even though we live a town away, we haven’t seen each other in person since early February.
All of this is making me even more excited for our upcoming virtual events.
So what are you doing technologically now that you’ve never done before? Please let us know in the comments below.
Sending you my love–technologically, of course ❤,
PS: Join us on Facebook for support and laughter at South Jersey Girls Who Wanna Have Fun, for those who live in South Jersey, and Girls Who Wanna Have Fun, for those living anywhere else. Everyone is welcome to join in on the fun!
*PPS: I hope you don’t need this, but if you do, please contact the New Jersey Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 572-SAFE (7233), 24 hours a day/7 days a week. Or call the Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233. Click here for a variety of resources for those living in New Jersey.
May 24, 2020 @ 7:30 am
I know that many people have used Zoom for social gatherings, work meetings, and your events. This week, I had a Zoom interview for a summer camp teaching position. At this time, the classes are to be virtual. There were 2 interviewers and after I started answering the questions, the main interviewer disappeared from the screen. I thought it was technical glitch but she was typing in my responses. We are all learning something new every day.