I'm not over Zoom

I hate to sound like a hipster, but I was using Zoom long before it was cool.

As a solopreneur, I've worked from home for over a decade. I've been doing coaching, mentoring, training, and sales calls on Zoom for over five years.

Coronavirus has of course meant that now everyone uses Zoom, and as with pop music, the more people that like something, the sooner we all get sick of it. (I remember when Hanson's MMMBop went from happy-to-horrific in about 48 hours, thanks to this effect).

As a result, I'm seeing lots of people say "I'm so over Zoom". It's even coined a new (rather clever, I might say) phrase to describe someone who's been on a few too many meetings; "I'm zoomed out!". It's becoming de rigueur to hate Zoom.

So, at the risk of outing myself in holding an unpopular opinion, allow me to announce:

I am not over Zoom. I love Zoom.

Zoom allows me to schedule meetings and sessions back to back, without a gap to travel to a new location. I can compress my workday into the morning so that my afternoon is free.

Zoom allows me to leave a session, walk fifteen steps from my office desk to my front porch, and enjoy a cold drink with a view of the ducks on the lake. (I appreciate that this is a humblebrag and I apologise for gloating about how incredible the view from my porch is, but I just love it).

Zoom allows me to work with incredible people from all around the globe. I mentor people in Germany, Luxembourg, the UK, the US, Canada, and more. With the exception of aligning our timezones, it's no more difficult to work with folks in these places than it is to work with someone in Melbourne.

Zoom allows me to hang out with Deakin until just a minute or two before my next session.

Zoom allows me to run training sessions with peeps all over the globe, at the same time. I hold classes with people spread right across the world, and not only are they not excluded by the tyranny of distance, they actually get a chance to make friendships and network connections that massively expand their reach.

Zoom and all the associated online collaboration tools, are the facilitators of the life I get to enjoy. One thing I hope we see coming out of the massive COVID work-from-home experiment is that many more people are now afforded a chance to work with the same sort of freedoms I work with. There's no reason they shouldn't!

I'll defend Zoom to the death. Like any tool, it's true that people can use it badly, but if that's the case, send them to me! I love zoom, and I love showing people how to use it to generate maximum engagement.