Our Digital, Distance, and Virtual World
Randy Wolken, President & CEO

Our world has been radically altered. I, for one, miss so much about the world we just left. I enjoy in-person and up-close life—and MACNY thrived on it.

I used to joke that MACNY was “events are us.” We would hold over 300 events in a single year. In late March, we went completely digital, distanced, and virtual. MACNY, and my life, will never again be the same.

Don’t get me wrong, as soon as it is safe, MACNY will be again doing 300 in-person events. However, they will no longer be just in-person. There will be virtual options as well. And, our capacity to provide events will double or triple. Yes, I see MACNY offering between 600 and 900 digital, distanced, virtual, or blended events in the near future.

If you had asked me if this was even possible in early March of this year, I would have said “no way.” It is now not only possible, it is highly probable. You can “bet the house” on it. The team at MACNY will make it happen – this much I have learned.

The latent potential of so many organizations has been radically altered. New technology and skills allow us to do things that were once sci-fi – right now. As leaders, we need to not only see this but act upon it.

The only thing holding us back now is our ability to seize this simultaneously daunting and exciting future.

I wish I could tell you it will be easy to adapt and thrive in our new digital, distance, and virtual world. I can’t. I wish I could say that we get to go back to the old, primarily in-person and up-close world. We can’t. However, I can tell you we can have the best of both worlds – if we use visionary leadership to bring our teams and organizations into it.

Are you open to the new digital, distance, and virtual opportunities all around you and your organization? Are you ready to invest the time it takes to be great in a digital, distance, and virtual world? What changes should you make? What should you keep the same? What’s the first step forward? Can you start today?

I know that a part of me is still missing (and grieving the loss of) the old world I had learned to thrive in. I know that I long to be able to go back to my in-person, up-close world. And, I will go back to it someday in the not-so-distant future. However, I am committed to arriving in that place as a retooled leader. And, in doing so, I can ensure MACNY thrives in the decades yet to come.