'Global View' Conference at Appropriate Time
When organizers of Thomas Nelson's conference titled "A Global View: Empowerment in Entrepreneurship" began planning the event, they didn't know the title would be so timely. Nor did they realize how much current events would reinforce the conference's message.
"I think we have a lot more layers now because of what's going on," Marilen Crump, one of the organizers and speakers, said of the COVID-19 epidemic. "It just happens to be (a coincidence) that our title was 'Global View' to begin with. We didn't know all this stuff was going to go down when we created that title, so it's pretty fascinating."
The conference aims to show how it truly is a global world today; how seven people from different cities and countries and who seemingly have little in common are connected and how their individual efforts have reached just about every corner of the world.
"All these people that are presenting, I'm directly connected with," said Crump, a local entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker. "You wouldn't think that somebody in Canada, somebody in California, Florida, New York ... It's pretty wild that just within one sphere you can connect to so many people."
Originally, the conference was going to be a one-day event (April 4) in the traditional manner, with speakers and question-and-answer sessions. However, Crump and Alicia Riley, the College's Special Events coordinator, have moved it all online, with pre-recorded and live portions. Starting April 20, one speaker's presentation will be released each day online at a specified time. That will be followed by a live question-and-answer session. Those presentations, and the Q & A portions, will remain online until May 20. Those interested can view them at their convenience.
"I'm excited that we get to pivot for this event," Crump said. "It's neat, especially the format we're going to choose for this one. It's a combination of being able to get these different insights and then also have a course component with it."
Crump said one advantage to the new format is its lasting power. Lessons learned in one-day seminars can be forgotten quickly. With this conference being online for an entire month, people can interact and engage with it at their convenience and multiple times.
This format, according to Crump, could lead to increased attendance. People aren't as committed, she said, to events in the case of bad weather or emergencies.
"So with something like this that is more self-paced, and in the comfort of your home and at the convenience of your time … I think attendance will actually be richer," she said.
But at the same time, there are some disadvantages.
"The loss of connected energy would be something to consider," Crump said. "When you are in person, you get to see people's reaction right away, especially if you are saying something meaningful. Because of that reaction, you can expand on it."
With a virtual conference, which doesn't allow for that, she said the speakers have to try to anticipate what people might ask, and try to engage that way.
In addition to Crump, the speakers are Kinja Dixon (author, speaker, life coach), Katrina Gay (healthcare worker and teacher), Rob Ball (founder of "Tap the Flow"), Josh Roth (entrepreneur and VCU grad), David Morin (entrepreneur, speaker, model, personal trainer who used to live in Hampton Roads), and Rosetta Qadhi (entrepreneur with ties to U.Va.-Wise and businesses in Canada and the Caribbean).
"A lot of times, people aren't aware that our local area has generated people who are now working in a more global type of sense," said Crump, who has worked with or is familiar with each of the speakers. "Our goal is to give people just a little bit more insight into how that works."
She said that global reach just shows how connected everyone is, and how one person can connect to so many.
Riley said it was important, on many levels, to go ahead with the conference even though a format changed was needed.
"Several other businesses and companies have decided to cancel events, but Thomas Nelson was able to be innovative and say we're not going to take away a student's experience," she said.
As a matter of fact, Riley believes the student experience will be enhanced with the event going online.
"The virtual world and the Internet … is a world our students are used to and should be getting used to more daily," she said, adding she expects the College to hold online events on a regular basis.
To register for the "Global View" conference, go to tncc.edu.