Does Anybody Else Want A New Definition for “Telepresence?”
Friday, December 12th, 2008
I don’t know about you, but I’m watching the economic news from the sidelines.
On the one hand, things look truly bleak. Some days the future’s so far in the RED that it almost looks BLACK.
On the other hand, with everything in the toilet – now including the US auto industry – there’s a lot more room for new possibilities.
I never thought I’d find myself feeling gleeful watching so many things and so many concepts we’ve considered “valuable” get flushed away all at once. But as the news gets worse and worse, I find I’m often feeling better and better.
Call me perverse.
Maybe I’m finally getting the wisdom of hopelessness Meg Wheatley wrote about after 9/11.
Whatever it is, besides feeling surprisingly okay watching most of my lifesavings float away, I’m also getting more and more excited about helping friends and other independent business people develop their “telepresence.” Because it’s time now. Really time!
We simply have to do some things differently if we expect to save money and save time for what’s really important in 2009. And using social media – including virtual meetings – is one of the best ways I know to augment close business and personal relationships without driving and flying all over the place all the time.
So, what is “telepresence?”
The way I use that new word, “telepresence,” is a little different than the way the manufacturers of the expensive, high-definition video conferencing systems are using it. I’m not talking about buying and installing $50-$300K remote viewing systems in your home office.
For me, “telepresence” is a way of referring to your skill at being present with people you’re not able to be in the same room with.
Understood this way, “telepresence” has nothing to do with hardware and very little to do with software.
Instead, “telepresence” is about using your telephone, IM, text messaging, and now virtual meeting rooms in ways that make people feel like you’re with them, even when you’re across town, across the country, or across the globe from their physical bodies.
Looked at this way, telepresence is a set of engagement skills. Some of them are technical. Most of them are social. Some parts can become routine. Some will remain art and, therefore, require practice. But the good news is that all of them are FREE to develop and practice.
Skype, GTalk, DimDim, Yuuguu, Yugma, vYew, Elluminate, and WiZiQ all offer free places to practice and play with people around the block or around the globe. New places are opening up every week. Get yourself a membership in one or more of these places and let’s practice!
Instead of wringing our hands about things too big for us to change, I’d like to suggest that the year ahead is going to be a great time to practice our “telepresence.” Like Meg Wheatley, I’m ready to “journey through this time of increasing uncertainty. Groundless, hopeless, insecure, patient, clear. And together.”
What have we got to lose?
