(Psst! The world hasn't actually stopped...)

There's a lot of memes out there about sitting on your couch, enjoying the down time, reconnecting with mindfulness, and finishing all those neglected chores, but that's not my reality, and I bet it's not yours, either. My reality is an over-scheduled day filled with video conferences (so we can see each others' faces,) children needing help (and lunch and tech support and schooling), a dog that needs attention (PUT DOWN THAT SHOE!), a house that needs cleaning (because we cut the housekeeping service), a lawn that needs mowing (because we cut the lawn service), and oh yeah - a spouse in there, too (hey, wanna watch a short, 21-minute Parks & Rec so we can get back to work?). I was thinking maybe I'd finally use my treadmill and avoid the dreaded "COVID 19," but since I'm not having to commute anymore, I'm actually starting video conferences even earlier and going even later, so there's no time to go get sweaty, then look camera-ready again!

BREATHE.

But in the midst of all the chaos and clutter of life, I found my happy place.

In 2017, we created Haute Dokimazo as a new way of meeting, sharing, and learning and alternative to the "sit-and-get" style of in-person meetings and events. We start with a hug. We democratize the attendee playing field (first name only). We break bread together at a family-style meal. We add an element of surprise (sloth break! armadillo race! try to break a world record!). We never use technology to crowdsource, relying on oversized sticky notes. We create analog serendipity through peer-led conversations, focused on solving problems.

Then we began doing the same thing for internal teams focused on a single problem. We called this a Haute Dokimazo Strategy Session. Rather than a completely crowdsourced agenda, these sessions have a specific organizational outcome in mind, but leverages the tenets of an HD by making everyone feel heard and building stronger teams through analog serendipity.

Our new world

Now we're in a world where we can't hug. We can't travel. Heck, we can't even be in the same room together. We can't be analog. Serendipity is a lot harder when you're on screen with 30 other people. And surprises? How do you add fun into an event when you're online?

But guess what? We're event professionals. And you know what they say about being an event professional....

PIVOT!

So, like Ross in Friends, we PIVOT. Would it work? Can you do an HD virtually? Will it have the same feel? Will you get even close to a similar level of engagement?

Turns out: Yes.

The magic of Haute Dokimazo can still be felt through the screen! The outcomes of an HD Strategy Session can still drive your business forward. In fact, Haute Dokimazo (often described by participants as the cure for workplace loneliness) might just be the medicine we need right now. Instead of thinking of this as social distancing, let's view it as "because I am remote."

We've tried it twice now, and here's what happened:

On March 16, 2020, we held the first-ever COVID-19-focused Event Industry Haute Dokimazo Strategy Session . We had over 115 people register, 93 people actually joined, and fewer than 10 people departed the session early (it was a 5-hour session). Those are better statistics than some of our in-person events!!! AMAZING.

We used our professional/paid version of Zoom that allows breakout rooms within the tool. We crowdsourced the concerns everyone has with COVID-19's impact on their businesses, their events, and their personal lives and used a hybrid approach of sticky notes to help us organize the ideas and curate down to the Spontaneous Think Tank sessions. Event industry crisis communication expert Alex Plaxen shared useful guidelines and tips while we worked. And what about surprises? Well this was a relatively somber topic, so we kept the surprise to a minimal, relevant stretch break, hosted by Dave Stevens, Event Director at Alation.

But now, down to business. Our Think Tank sessions ended up being:

• Alternatives to virtual events
• Health & family: when worlds collide
• Using downtime for new messaging & marketing efforts
• Helping reduced employees find support/income/state money
• Venue & vendor contracts: rescheduling/renegotiating
• Generating pipeline when all wallets are closed/no one is buying
• Exec/CEO session: cash flow/keeping your company alive

You can flip through the readout below, and I also thought I'd share a few quotes from participants because they make my heart happy:

"Thank you again for such a great well executed session. I think we all needed this to keep our brains firing as usual. As I said I truly believe that “Community” is what will see us through these difficult times. You definitely set that plan in motion with choosing to do your virtual meeting in such a timely manner. As the days start adding up I think we are all going to benefit from a refresher session to be certain we all stay as positive and receptive as we were today. Thank you again for making today possible it was such a positive thinking experience. So very much appreciated!"

"Thank you for the strategy session yesterday. I found it a valuable use of time and enjoyed the experience."

"Thank you so much!! This was so helpful in so many ways. You've impacted lives yesterday including my own. I would have never imagined that I could as well be a part of something so amazing, and a concept for the future. Let's recreate our industry! "

"A huge thank you for organizing the seminar via zoom. It gave me lots of inspiration, ideas and also comfort as we are all in this uncertain times together. I loved the energy of all together, and your way of leading it was great."

Haute Dokimazo Strategy Sessions for Companies

But then on Wednesday, one of our clients asked us if we could run an HD(s) for their team to help them work through pivoting from their in-person events to whatever else they could pivot to in order to convey their message to their target audiences. We created a 4.5-hour strategy session for them via Zoom, complete with breakout rooms to work through challenges, and the team was ecstatic with the results of the day. Oh, and a few fun surprises along the way, like a 90-second in-home scavenger hunt for the first person to find a unicorn, favorite kitchen utensil, kid or furbaby (or pic of them). The winner got a Door Dash gift card!

I think my favorite quotes from them during our retrospective were these:

“I will admit to having planned to multi-task, I will admit to not looking forward to being on the phone all day. I have been blown away how easy its been. There’s some good planning behind this and as we all think about our future virtual lives, we need to add time to the planning cycles to ensure our online programs are this engaging.”

“Dynamic, engaging, multiple ways to keep team engaged.”

“Leveraging same best practices, we’ll use across all programs.”

“There’s so many great ideas that came from this session, we need to move them forward.”

"I wish I could capture in a bottle showing how we made this work right, and show our leadership. They’re going to be blown away on how we continue to create impact in a digital world. We’re all in this together, cheers!"

And the moral of the story is...

It's a digital world out there, and now -more than ever- the world needs Haute Dokimazo. If we can help your organization or your community or your customers or your prospects, let us know. We're reducing our HD Strategy Session fee by 50% to help you keep moving forward in this new reality. We've also created an affiliate program to support those who have been laid off and have no income to rely upon: earn $1,000 for every HD Strategy Session or remote HDx you refer. We're in it for the people, and just because there's a screen between us, there's no reason to be any less human. In fact, now's the time to be more human than ever.

Stay classy, humans.

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Liz Lathan, CMP is Chief Experience Officer at Haute Companies. Haute Companies is a family of companies anchored in human connection. From events to media (podcasts, videos, and more) to direct mail to talent management to strategy session facilitation, Haute Companies can support your goals with Haute Dokimazo, Haute Rock Creative, Swag Hub, Haute Spot, and Haute Rock Entertainment.