Contributed by Marina Byezhanova, an EO Canada Bridge member in Montreal and the founding father of Model of a Chief, a private branding company that builds and scales the non-public manufacturers of entrepreneurs who encourage and make an affect. We requested Marina about her experiences at EO’s International Management Convention. Right here’s what she shared.
I used to be hugging an entire stranger on the underside of an escalator in Frankfurt, Germany, 1000’s of miles away from my residence in Montreal, Canada. We had been at EO’s epic signature occasion of the 12 months—the International Management Convention (GLC), and the power was incomparable.
Have you learnt that hard-to-describe feeling you get if you come along with fellow EOers? That feeling of instamacy, palpable power, and the conviction that we will—and can!—make the world a greater place? GLC 100X’s that feeling, bringing collectively 1000’s of EO members from all around the world.
The 2017 occasion in Frankfurt was my first GLC, and I used to be absorbing the EO expertise. We loved world-class audio system who shared extra golden nuggets than my hand was capable of seize on paper, socials that made it laborious to get up within the morning however left us with unimaginable recollections, and the connections that had been being fashioned there to final us all a lifetime.
Life-changing connections
It’s the connections made at GLC which are not possible to explain except you’ve lived and skilled them your self. To me, a kind of connections occurred as I used to be driving an escalator on my method from one studying session to the subsequent. A fellow EOer standing subsequent to me struck up informal small speak and requested me the place I used to be from as he caught sight of my Jap European final title on my badge.
I shared that I used to be residing in Canada, however I used to be born in Ukraine. His eyes lit up. “Me too!” he exclaimed. “I reside in Detroit, however I used to be born in Ukraine additionally. Which metropolis?” I shared the title of my not-so-well-known hometown of Kharkiv, and his eyes widened. “I don’t imagine you! I come from Kharkiv too!”
A hug on the finish of the escalator trip later, we fashioned a connection that has remained for years ever since. I’m grateful to Vlad Gendelman from EO Detroit for checking in with me throughout the pandemic, as my enterprise was crashing and burning, and as I used to be pivoting at dizzying speeds, and for fostering different priceless introductions to fellow EOers.
Subsequent-level studying alternatives
GLC was previously open solely to members in management roles, however the pandemic modified that. As all of us all of the sudden turned comfy with on-line studying and digital occasions, EO’s ever-so-innovative International Studying Group has introduced us mind-blowing on-line studying content material over the past two years. Wouldn’t you agree? Additionally they re-imagined GLC, making it a hybrid occasion, now accessible to all members by the digital platform.
I need to admit, I used to be skeptical once I logged onto the digital platform for final 12 months’s first-ever digital GLC. In spite of everything, I’d come to cherish the in-person GLC expertise, having attended the convention in Frankfurt, Germany; Toronto, Canada; and Macau, China—and even facilitating a session for 50+ EOers in Macau! How would the digital expertise ever evaluate to that?
Incomparable EO power in a digital/hybrid format
And but, as all the time, in true EO style, the training workforce blew me away. They by some means recreated the incomparable EO power within the digital format. Swiftly, I discovered myself dancing to the beats performed by DJ Jenny La Femme (a fellow EOer!), blasting from the digital platform. Swiftly, I used to be connecting with fellow members from throughout the globe within the chat, and we had been all messaging one another at what felt just like the velocity of lightning. Swiftly, my handwriting velocity was as soon as once more lagging behind all the studying I used to be consuming from world-class audio system.
GLC 2022 is a hybrid occasion. The educational workforce, with its common ambition, determined to deliver members collectively in Washington, DC, in addition to in Barcelona, Spain, and to make the occasion accessible to all members by the digital platform.
Can’t-miss audio system
The GLC audio system record is slowly popping out, and I’m blocking my calendar to ensure nothing will get in the way in which of my studying from Daniel Pink or from my getting impressed by Platon or Jose Andres. And but, as spectacular because the speaker record goes to be (and it’s the EO occasion of the 12 months—in fact the speaker lineup might be off the charts!), have you learnt what I’m most trying ahead to?
You guessed it! I most stay up for making connections that solely occur if you #MeetAtGLC—just about or in individual.
I hope to satisfy you there!
Be taught extra and register for EO’s 2022 International Management Convention, 23-26 April 2022!
