I attended a conference last weekend where there were a number of people who I know online. I’ve been on various private forums with them. We are connected on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin. I get updates about slices of their lives on a regular basis. I feel like I know them.

What I learned from being face to face

There is another level of connection that only comes from being together. At least for me. It’s not that I don’t feel connection to those I only know online, I do, but there is nothing like standing together in the same space.

I think it’s about warmth. And the little details you pick up about who they are that they’d never think of mentioning online. I also realized these people are not just smart, they are brilliant in what they do.

Yolanda Facio

This is the Sugar Queen. You can totally transform her tough girl exterior by feeding her sugar. It’s like a super softening agent.

After eating this giant piece of cake, she wanted to go to Voodoo Doughnut. It was the one place she HAD to go in Portland. But really, she had a mission. She wanted a picture of  a Voodoo Doughnut to illustrate a point about something on her blog.

She’s been operating bricks and mortar small business for years. She sees all the small details in everything, and reorganizes them almost instantly. Then she leaps over to how it can become a marketing lesson that can be applied widely. Check out her Red.Hot.Momentum site

No kidding. Watching her do this while just walking through life was pretty amazing. She embodies her brand.

Cate Brubaker

I know Cate from several places, and she has been a VisualsSpeak customer for years. We even taught an online class together. I met her briefly at a coffee shop a couple of months ago. So it was great to see her for a couple of days.

First she’s adorable. She has a pixie like energy about her. But don’t let that fool you, this is one smart woman. After you know her for a while she might causally mention something about her dissertation. So, yes, she is Dr. Cate.

She really knows her stuff about helping people navigate cross-cultural transitions. Get her talking about it, and she opens the door onto a world that deals in story and identity, and how travel changes us. But only if we have a way to make sense of it, and to integrate it in a constructive manner. Otherwise, it can just reinforce stereotypes, and shift blame to the other.

She runs online classes, does consulting, and coaching from her online home, Small Planet Studio.

Jenn Waak

Jenn is another long time VisualsSpeak customer, who I had not met face to face. She has an awesome newsletter where she finds interesting articles related to heath. Sometimes it’s fitness, sometimes food, but it’s always helpful and not what you see everywhere else.

Jenn has a bouncy kind of fun energy, which is a good thing since her thing is to get us up and moving. She especially wants to inspire those of us she calls Keyboard Athletes. As one who spends way too much time in front of the computer, I have found her simple exercises to be very helpful.

Tzaddi Gordon

I’ve met Tzaddi before, and I always enjoy the snatches of time I grab with her when she comes to Portland. She’s a fabulous web designer, but one who does the design and the development. One of the things I’ve come to really appreciate about her is she sees good design and interesting details all around her. I love walking around with her, not so much shopping, but discovering things to see.

Tzaddi develops WordPress sites for people who are ready for a custom design at Thrivewire. She has a passion for working with entrepreneurs, but recognizes that people who are just starting out need good design too, so she developed Startup Superhero to provide a simpler more affordable option.

Although not enough, I loved spending time with each of you

This just reminded me once again, that even when it feels like I am connected through social media and the web, it doesn’t replace face to face. Each time I have the opportunity to see someone, I learn new things about them, see them more fully, and appreciate them ever more.

Jill Chivers

Jill Chivers is a woman with a mission. A self confessed shopaholic, she just completed a year without clothes shopping. Now she’s determined to help others whose shopping has gotten out of hand through her Shop Your Wardrobe Program.

I’ve been in her program for the past three months, and learning all sorts of unexpected things.

She who hates shopping?

What am I doing in a program for shopaholics when I can’t stand shopping? It’s been one of those things I started for one reason, only to discover a whole other side to the process.

Jill is a former corporate trainer. I met her online and we had some email exchanges about visual tools that are available in Australia. I liked her, and after hearing some of her audio, fell in love with her Aussie accent. Honestly I signed up for her course so I could see how she structured the course. It was curious about the instructional design and delivery models.

Stories sucked me in

Jill is a wonderful storyteller. The course emails are always entertaining, and contain direct and indirect lessons. She explores all sides of the issue she is focusing on. I started noticing I would think a lot about them. She gives suggestions for simple action steps, with worksheets and other things to help.

A simple practice built into the course is spending 10 minutes a week sorting something in your wardrobe. I noticed I was avoiding it. But I kept reading and noticing how often I could relate, even if my action was the opposite. She was talking about the compulsion to shop, I had the repulsion to shop. But opposite sides of the same coin share a lot of things.

Food, clothes, books, e-courses– it’s all compulsion

I started noticing how I shop for food. There is always some great new recipe to try. One new special ingredient or spice. Why was I always going to the store when I have cabinets and a freezer full of food?

Why was I buying more books when I have a huge pile unread? Same with more courses, downloading e-books, looking for new iphone apps, or buying fonts.

Reading Jill’s stories, I started to recognize more and more ways I could relate. I didn’t have one bulging closet full of clothes. I just spread the behavior over all sorts of different things. So I could justify it. I wasn’t that bad. Ha!

Starting to see opportunities for improvement

Slowly, I actually started to tackle small areas for ten minute sorting. I started with spices. Then another kitchen shelf. I’m avoiding books, but know I need to get there. I even did a drawer of clothes.

I’m starting to see how my attachment to things is based on associated emotions. I have clothes that no doubt look awful on me, but I keep them and wear them because of how they feel or what they remind me of.

Jill’s course is teaching me there are other ways—  like what works as a wardrobe. What looks good on my current body type. What fits properly. How to think strategically about building a wardrobe that works for me. I’m starting to feel hopeful that I won’t have to dread every clothes shopping trip.

Looking forward to learning more

The course doesn’t take a lot of time. It’s always interesting to read the lessons. And you might be surprised as I have been to find all sorts of ways it helps. Check Shop Your Wardrobe out if it peaks your interest, it’s affordable and very well designed. Yes, I am also seeing some great instructional design and delivery models!

Great job Jill.