Virtual VoiceCon took place last week on June 10 and, phew…what an experience!  I’m excited and relieved to say it was a success.  We received positive feedback all around and people continue to login to explore and experience the virtual environment. 

As the event day approached I was surprised to find myself getting nervous.  I underestimated how similar the virtual event launch would be to opening day at a live event.  It became especially obvious the morning of, when I transformed into “onsite Crystal” (complete with furrowed brow and bossy behavior).   I did not see that coming, although a couple of the VoiceCon team members claim they saw it coming.

About an hour in, my butterflies faded.  Things were going great and even I started to relax.  We had turned our conference room into a war room, where we camped out with our laptops, listening to webcasts, chatting in booths, searching for people we know.  There were some fire drills but with IM, cell phones and team work we solved problems quickly.  The lesson learned, putting on “live” VoiceCon proved to be very applicable for executing Virtual VoiceCon.  Yay!

I was on Cloud Nine at the end of the day.  I planned to celebrate at home with one (or more) congratulatory drinks.  But, surprisingly, I got home and realized almost instantly that I was exhausted; I felt as if I had just finished a week on show site. I had a virtual VoiceCon hangover.  Again, I did not see that coming.

PS – No need to worry.  I perked up the next day and in the evenings that followed (yes, evenings plural) I have celebrated plenty – with real, not virtual, cocktails.