“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” was the movie that made Robert Redford a superstar. He got his acting start at the Historic Elitch’s Garden Theatre in Denver. He’s given back so much to the industry that made him famous with the Sundance Film Festival.
Listen to story on EVV Podcast:
The festival’s move to Boulder is a great boon for Colorado – and for Estes Park – artistically and culturally, as well as financially.
Motion pictures were an early widespread type of virtual reality. Movies are communication, whether fiction or non-fiction.
With films, we are not in the physical presence of the actors on the screen. Yet we feel that we know them, their ups and downs, their emotions, their joys, and their sorrows.
We love the heroes and are upset by the villains. We can have a strong relationship with actors without ever meeting them in person.
In the “real” world, much communication is virtual: at work and with family and friends. Global connectivity in 2025 means that we create and nurture relationships with others—even if we never meet them in person.
The singer Madonna had a song back in ancient history – 1984 – entitled “Material Girl.” She sang about living in a material world.
Our world still has plenty of material items: wood, dirt, plastics, metals, jewels, and fabric. But the methods of online communication have exploded, and the speed of communication has grown hyperbolically. I can post an email on the public email forum, and it is visible to almost anyone anywhere in the world in a few seconds.
The challenge is to continue to relate to other human beings on the other end of those connections as though those human beings are sitting in front of us.
Millennials and Zoomers (Gen Z – 1990s to 2010-ish) are immersed in it. Generation Alpha (starting with births in the 2010 – 2020 decades) will carry it all forward, despite some CEOs inappropriately issuing “back to the office” orders. And Boomers and Gen X have lived through much of the change in real-time.
Not all employees can do their jobs “remotely.” Some call it “telecommuting” or “telework.” But virtual communication is not going away. So, we have to bring our personality and humanity to the process.
Our in-person relationships require nurturing and attention. So, too, do our virtual relationships. Different employees succeed best with different types of leadership and coaching.
Now, the manager must learn how to lead and coach virtual workers. How do we project warmth and compassion through a computer?
It is possible, with the right words, inflections, and expressions. It is often said that relationships require effort to be successful. Yes, and that includes those at a distance. Working remotely doesn’t mean that we have to be emotionally remote.
When I am using tools to meet with human beings at a distance, I try to bring the same compassion and focus on listening and solutions as if I were in person. I’ve had many excellent relationships with vendors, contractors, and peers whom I’ve never met in person. I’ve maintained and built wonderful relationships with employees who work from a distance or from home.
I very rarely felt that an employee was taking advantage of the situation. I kept tabs on what work they were getting accomplished through whatever measurements and feedback I could gather. Most good employees get at least as much done when they’re trusted to telework.
Sure, they might do laundry during the business day. Who cares? Almost all of my remote employees over the years have been upstanding and hardworking. Their tangible results were often greater and better from their outside-the-office office.
Our virtual relationships are not just work-related. In any interaction, we can’t let go of our humanity and become distant, robotic versions of ourselves.
It is important that we maintain virtual compassion and empathy and watch and listen for signals in the voices – and faces when we can – of those with whom we communicate remotely.
Smiles are just as important as they always were, even icons of smiles. We must learn to sense others through a virtual interface since we may not have the body language to watch. Keep your human antennae up. This all goes for email and non-spoken communication, too.
These are the skills that we need to be successful and connected. These tools are here to stay, though they’ll continue to evolve – and we need to keep up with that evolution. The Information Revolution rolls on, and our best play is to roll with it.