{"id":5030,"date":"2023-04-24T12:53:17","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T12:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eventible.com\/learning\/?p=5030"},"modified":"2023-04-24T12:54:06","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T12:54:06","slug":"john-chen-geo-teaming-engaging-virtual-meetings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/john-chen-geo-teaming-engaging-virtual-meetings\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaker\u2019s Corner: Featuring John Chen, CEO and The Big Kid, Geoteaming\/ Engaging Virtual Events"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5031\"\/><figcaption>Geoteaming is a company specializing in corporate team building and leadership, with John Chen serving as its CEO.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>John Chen is the CEO for Geoteaming &#8211; A Corporate team building and leadership company that uses technology  to create &#8220;life-changing adventures.&#8221; Chen has written a book, &#8220;Engaging Virtual Meetings: Openers, Games, and Activities for Communication, Morale, and Trust&#8221;, in which he offers concrete strategies and practical tips for bringing teams together across the digital divide. While many struggle to build teams in a virtual environment, Chen has found ways to create team cohesion, promote engagement, and increase virtual participation.<br><br>In his interview with Eventible, he speaks about his background in detail, his introduction to the world of team building and virtual meeting, the difference between geo-teaming and team-building companies, his experience at GatherVerse 2023, among other things. So without further ado, let&#8217;s get started. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Can you tell us about your background and how you got into the team building and virtual meeting industry?<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I was born &amp; raised in Stockton, CA, I went to the University of California at Santa Barbara, where I was a sponsored amateur skateboarder.\u00a0 After I injured my ACL, I went into computer science, leading me to 10 years and 2 US Patents at Microsoft.\u00a0 While at Microsoft, I always said, \u201cI\u2019m supposed to do something, I just don\u2019t know what it is.\u201d\u00a0 I was taking leadership training, and an executive coach said, \u201cGive me a weekend, and I\u2019ll tell you what it is.\u201d\u00a0 I wrote the entire business plan in 48 hours, and now I\u2019m in my 26<sup>th<\/sup> year of business. <br><br>After a successful career in face-to-face team building, the pandemic hit, and I lost 15 paid programs.\u00a0 I don\u2019t make vaccines, but I do know how to make virtual meetings better as I\u2019ve been online for 35 years, and I have been experimenting for years with virtual team building.\u00a0 Over 5,000 took the class, and my publisher asked me to write my 2<sup>nd<\/sup> book.\u00a0 Now I have produced over 4,000 meetings over the past 3 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>How does Geoteaming differ from other team-building companies?\u00a0<\/strong><br><br>Geoteaming is unique in that it uses technology and adventure to create human change.\u00a0\u00a0For instance, while this is a scavenger hunt, we run analytics on the team scores and can tell you teams outperformed or lagged other teams. In addition, we run GoPros on every team and do video analysis to tell you why your team won or what coaching the other team needs.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Can you discuss a successful virtual team building or meeting event that you have facilitated in the past? What made it successful? <\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>One of my favourite stories is about a credit union with a goal of collaboration.\u00a0 They had 160 employees divided into 20 teams.\u00a0 Each team competed for a high score while if every team collaborated, they could all earn a company goal.\u00a0<br><br>The 20 teams collaborated during the event and then brainstormed ideas where the credit union could add value by having 2 or more teams collaborate.\u00a0The CEO was so impressed that he gave a cash bonus to every employee for collaborating. In the follow-up, the collaboration ideas generated over $1M of value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>How have virtual meetings and team-building events changed since the pandemic? Do you see these changes as temporary or more permanent?<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Virtual meetings have changed forever by the pandemic.\u00a0 While I have tried for over 35 years to get people to do virtual team building, virtual team building happens every day.\u00a0 While I predict a big return to in-person, I also predict that virtual and hybrid are here to stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>How do you ensure that virtual team-building events are inclusive and engaging for all participants?<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Using the same principles we use for in-person events combined with our 35 years of research in virtual, virtual team-building is inclusive when you can create psychological safety and activities where every team member can contribute to the end goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Can you share any unique challenges you have faced while facilitating virtual meetings or team-building events and how you overcame them?<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The unique challenge I faced was a Taiwanese company that bought a US company and was asking for a fun team-building event. \u00a0 In the design meeting, it was discovered that there was animosity between the two companies, and the last thing they needed was a fun team-building event.\u00a0 I proposed to them that I would design a 3-hour meeting intended to help start the repair process between the two companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using technology so every person could be seen and heard no matter where they were, we could reconnect the two teams, and the Taiwan CEO realized how damaged the relationship was.\u00a0 They both complimented me on the design and how much progress they made on virtual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>How do you measure the success of a team-building event or virtual meeting?<\/strong><br><br>It depends on the client\u2019s goals.\u00a0 Some measure how much fun they had.\u00a0 Others reckon how much we got people to think differently.\u00a0 The savviest clients measure results based on the training.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>How do you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technology in virtual meetings and team building?<\/strong><br><br>Constant and never-ending education. I\u2019m constantly scanning news, testing new platforms and attending other training to see what is working and what is not.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>How do you think the team building and virtual meeting industry will evolve in the future?<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Team building will continue to stand on the pillars of communication and trust and is having a big in-person resurgence. Virtual will continue to evolve rapidly, and many of us are predicting AI to help us meet better technology such as Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality, and maybe one day, a holodeck will further improve virtual meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Can you share any advice for companies planning a successful virtual team-building event or meeting?<br><br><\/strong>Yes. 1) GOALS \u2013 please be clear about your goals, from fun to making change 2) PLAN \u2013 make a plan that has high odds of success with your teams, such as testing tech and rehearsing 3) EXECUTE \u2013 Execute your team building and have a plan BCDEFGH\u2026 in case something doesn\u2019t go your way\u00a0 4) FLOW \u2013 Watch for the magic\/special moments in your team building and let them happen as they may what helps you go beyond your goal.<strong><br><\/strong><\/li><li><strong>How was your experience speaking at GatherVerse 2023? What was your key takeaway from this conference?<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I enjoyed GatherVerse and followed the key principle of connecting by meeting some of my panellists after the conference. The key takeaway is Gather, whether in person or virtual; gathering together, collaborating, and networking are one of the best ways to make this planet a better place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/eventible.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Eventible.com<\/strong><\/a><strong> is a review platform catering to B2B events. Given how review-driven our lives have become today, will reviews bring transparency to the events industry? Would you rely on event reviews from other speakers if you had to make a speaking decision?<\/strong><br><strong> <\/strong> <br>I don\u2019t know if reviews will bring full transparency to the industry, but I believe it will improve it.\u00a0 Look at interviewers who are now asking for the interviewee\u2019s passenger Uber number.\u00a0 While I rely on event reviews, my #1 tactic is only to hire speakers that I have seen speak and that I think will meet and exceed the client\u2019s goals.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John Chen is the CEO for Geoteaming &#8211; A Corporate team building and leadership company that uses technology to create &#8220;life-changing adventures.&#8221; Chen has written a book, &#8220;Engaging Virtual Meetings: Openers, Games, and Activities for Communication, Morale, and Trust&#8221;, in which he offers concrete strategies and practical tips for bringing teams together across the digital <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5031,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[144,1681],"tags":[154,182,153,2256,2257,131],"acf":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen.jpg",800,535,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen.jpg",800,535,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen.jpg",800,535,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen-300x201.jpg",300,201,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen.jpg",770,515,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen.jpg",800,535,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen.jpg",800,535,false],"cheerup-small":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen-175x117.jpg",175,117,true],"cheerup-medium":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen-450x301.jpg",450,301,true],"cheerup-full":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen.jpg",800,535,false],"cheerup-viewport":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen.jpg",800,535,false],"cheerup-768":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen-768x514.jpg",768,514,true],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen-270x180.jpg",270,180,true],"profile_24":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen.jpg",24,16,false],"profile_48":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen.jpg",48,32,false],"profile_96":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen.jpg",96,64,false],"profile_150":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen.jpg",150,100,false],"profile_300":["https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rsz_2john_chen_john_chen.jpg",300,201,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Ishani Bose","author_link":"https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/author\/ishaniadminbose\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/category\/event-speakers\/\" rel=\"category tag\">EVENT SPEAKERS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/category\/it\/gatherverse-ai-summit\/\" rel=\"category tag\">GatherVerse Summit 2023<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"John Chen is the CEO for Geoteaming &#8211; A Corporate team building and leadership company that uses technology to create &#8220;life-changing adventures.&#8221; Chen has written a book, &#8220;Engaging Virtual Meetings: Openers, Games, and Activities for Communication, Morale, and Trust&#8221;, in which he offers concrete strategies and practical tips for bringing teams together across the digital","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5030"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}