In-person events drive the kinds of encounters conducive to creating collaborations, building communities, and establishing friendships. Aspects that many attendees appear to have missed most during the pandemic include the conference atmosphere, extensive feedback opportunities, and in-depth conversations during coffee breaks, sessions, and networking events for which DRJ is well-known. Travel to events is worth the investment, as many repeat DRJ attendees agree, providing an energizing change of scenery, new inspiration for robust resiliency programs, minds that are fully immersed in the conference topics, and an invigorating mixing of minds and cultures. Some also report the in-person conference experience minimizes distractions from work and home life, eliminates screen fatigue, and allows attendees to make lasting connections. Event organizers, such as DRJ, have a lot of food for thought: should conferences return solely in-person after the pandemic?
DRJ’s decision to return to our traditional “format” came down to our ability to hold an in-person conference that is as safe as possible for our physical attendees, while offering a full virtual experience to all three weeks following our in-person event.
DRJ has seen growing travel willingness from speakers, attendees, and exhibitors, and we will be polling them to get a pulse check leading up to the event. At the same time, we are respecting everyone’s individual choice and comfort level with a physical event. That is why we’re boosting DRJ’s virtual offering this fall. No one should feel left out if they would rather have a digital conference experience.
Here are the current plans for DRJ Fall 2021!
We will be running a full in-person DRJ Fall 2021 event at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix, AZ (Sept. 19-22, 2021). The in-person event will consist of four full days of keynote sessions, breakout tracks, workshop sessions, panel discussions, active exhibit hall and more. As a bonus, all in-person attendees will also receive access to the virtual event scheduled three weeks later. The price to attend in-person is currently set at $1,295.
We are also running DRJ Fall 2021 – A Virtual Experience on Oct.11-14, 2021. This will include live keynote sessions, live panel and town hall discussions, live workshops, live speed networking events, and more than 45 on-demand breakout and solution track sessions. The price for the all access pass for the virtual event is $895 and the limited access pass is $295.
For more information visit https://drj.com/fall2021/.