‘Hippie’ RTEs celebrate online togetherness

Each morning started with dozens of visitors logging on and saying hi over the chat. From Hungary, from New York, from India. With over 120 RTEs visiting from all over the world, the RTE Summit Global can be called a success in terms of sheer quantity. That Gladwell Academy managed to present a program that kept everyone’s attention, is a success in terms of quality, as well.

“In terms of technology, we had our challenges, of course,” says Annet Metz, who managed the event behind the scenes. “This format is still quite new to us, so some hiccups were expected. The first day was indeed quite hectic, with a flurry of minor incidents and last-minute arrangements. The second day went without a hitch though – I was able to visit session after session, seeing the event unfold by itself!”

“Outside of the handful of people who struggled with audio and connectivity, the vast majority stayed until the end and had a great time,” says Ali Hajou. “True to the ideas of Andres Jansen who pioneered the RTE Summit 5 years ago, we had arranged for speakers who aren’t afraid to be candid about the troubles of a transformation. Jenny van Rinsum and Larry Anderson of Nike; Chris James of Scaled Agile; Amy Doerflinger of Boeing… it was a triple-A line-up and they each delivered an engaging story.”

“In response, the audience really behaved as participants rather than spectators,” continues Ali. “Every Q&A was well-visited, and people were really involved in asking questions and giving their responses. That’s one of the advantages of remote conferencing: the audience can have a lively presence in the sidebar chat.”