In Marketing We Trust has been remote since our beginnings in 2012. In the context of today, it sounds absurd to think remote work has been a controversial alternative for the majority of the last decade. People thought it was too hard, too risky, or too ineffective. We had to innovate to overcome hurdles to make remote work.
As an early remote team, we had to find new ways to make remote work for us. We had to find new tech to help us organise our workload, we had to find new communication tools to enable seamless communications and we had to develop processes for effective collaboration.
We also had to persuade people that remote was not a risk. We had to persuade team members to join a fully remote business and persuade clients that capability was more important than location.
We did this because we believed in a remote future, and we still do. We believe that the best of remote is yet to come.
At the time it was difficult, it was time-consuming and it was risky. But it goes back to a core value we hold: Be Bravely Unique.
Bringing Our Remote Workforce Together
Even though we’re a remote company, we realised quickly that colleagues needed to know each other in real life to optimise collaboration. To ensure that our team can connect on a human level we started TrustED Conf, our annual conference to:
- Bring people together
- Share the latest industry knowledge
- Share ideas to increase client performance
- Share unique cultural and entertainment experiences
- Create lifelong friendships
We have held five TrustED Conf’s since 2016, with many unique experiences.
Year: 2016
Location: Cherating, Malaysia
What we did: Sailing
Year: 2017
Location: Da Nang, Vietnam
What we did: Army jeep through the mountains
Year: 2017
Location: Sydney, Australia
What we did: Sailing in Sydney Harbour
Year: 2018
Location: Kuching, Borneo
What we did: Visiting orangutans in the jungle
Year: 2019
Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand
What we did: Temples
Then the pandemic hit.
We were forced to miss 2020 to deal with the fallout of the pandemic, but we didn’t want to miss another year. Today, our team is spread across more than ten countries so travel restrictions made getting together in person impossible in 2021.
But we were determined to have our annual conference, so we asked ourselves:
“How can we organise a global conference during a global pandemic?”
We went back to our core value of being bravely unique to find the solution.
Back to the Future
What about a Zoom conference?
While this is a solution, our team already spends too much time on Zoom. By the end of the day, we have Zoom fatigue. Plus, TrustED Conf was designed to be an immersive and enjoyable event. We all know people can get distracted easily by the screens in front of them when they’re on a Zoom call.
Instead, our solution was to look towards our heritage.
Ten years ago we looked ahead at where we thought the future of work would be in 2020. We got it right. Now, we’re looking ahead again at where we believe the future of work will be in 2030. And we’re going there now.
TrustED Conf VR World Tour
This year, we’re adopting future technology to take the conference to our team. TrustED Conf 2021 will be a Virtual Reality World Tour.
We are taking the event to our team in countries including Australia, France, Thailand, Romania, Vietnam, Hungary, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Poland and the United States of America.
We will be holding a three-day conference in the Metaverse.
As always, TrustED Conf will have a valuable schedule of knowledge sharing, culture and entertainment.
- We will share knowledge in a virtual conference room using Horizon Workrooms
- We will take in culture using Oculus group travel apps like Wander
- We will play together in apps like RecRoom, Walkabout Mini Golf, PokerStars VR, etc.
Here’s a confession. When we thought up this idea, it wasn’t actually possible. Then, the stars aligned. The week after this idea was dreamed up, Meta announced Horizon Workrooms. Suddenly, our dream could be realised (thank you Facebook… or should I say Meta?).
Building a VR Legacy
Is this a gimmick? No.
We are at the start of an emerging trend. I believe that AR, VR and XR have a valuable role to play in the future of work. Meta has a stronghold in this market and there are indications that Apple is going to make a significant XR play through Apple Glasses in the near future. Noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is predicting that Apple’s AR headset will launch in the second quarter of 2022 which is expected to be a development tool and stepping stone toward Apple Glasses.
We are guided by our value of being bravely unique and adopting VR as part of our company culture and our future.
After TrustED Conf 2021 has come and gone, my hope is that there will be a legacy of VR in the company. We will hold certain meetings and workshops in VR and monthly social events.
Meet You in the Metaverse!
TrustED Conf will take place between 17 to 19 November 2021. It is a closed event for In Marketing We Trust team members. However, we are inviting some partners.
Stay posted for TrustED Conf VR World Tour real-time updates across Twitter and Instagram, with full presentations from the team to follow.
Meet you in the Metaverse!
