Why does nobody talk about how weird it felt to go back to an in-person mixer after doing everything online for two years

I mean, I went to that big Chamber thing at the Georgia Aquarium last month expecting it to be awkward, but idk, I ended up having three actual, solid conversations that led to real coffee meetings, which never happened for me on Zoom.

4 comments

4 Comments

dylanrodriguez17d ago

It really was a strange adjustment. I remember my first one back, I was so used to just turning a camera off that the idea of having to actually leave a conversation felt like a whole new skill to learn. Good on you for pushing through that weird feeling and getting something real out of it. Those in person connections just have a different weight to them, don't they? It's nice when the effort pays off.

murray.pat17d ago

Tell me about it, I almost bowed at the end of my first real meeting.

ward.diana17d ago

Oh man, I read this article about how our brains got totally rewired by video calls. It said we lost all the normal little signals for when a talk is over, like people shifting in their chairs or gathering their stuff. So now we're all just standing there awkwardly, waiting for someone to make the first move. No wonder you almost bowed, that's a solid backup plan. The whole thing is just weird to relearn.

owens.laura1d ago

My boss told me last week that our team spent over 300 hours on video calls in March. Three hundred. No wonder the end of a normal chat feels like a puzzle now. I just stare at the person, my brain waiting for the 'leave meeting' button to appear. I actually waved goodbye to my neighbor yesterday like I was signing off a Zoom.