In the rush to go digital, it’s easy to forget the power of simply showing up! For many of us in communications, the pandemic rewired how we build relationships. The experience taught us to become experts in managing interactions through screens. But now that the industry has embraced in-person events again (as well as our return to the office), the value of real human connection has never been clearer.
When people experience something in real life (IRL) – when they actually can see, touch, hear and feel what a company stands for – it builds trust faster than any virtual briefing ever could. Face-to-face conversations carry nuance. Ideas flow more naturally. When you are sharing a room you catch, and can respond to, the offhand comments or flashes of curiosity that rarely translate the same way on a video call.
Across the industry, we’re seeing that the most resonant storytelling and strongest pieces of coverage often begin in these informal, in-person moments. Not in a press release – but in a quick coffee between speaker sessions or a hands-on demo that brings a concept to life. I’ve witnessed it first hand during onsite facility tours, where the physical scale of innovation sparks entirely new lines of questioning and much deeper understanding. When people walk the floor, meet the teams, and see behind the corporate curtain, the conversation shifts. It becomes more grounded, more human, and far more memorable.
The recent rise in experiential activations, such as the growth of pop-up experience store concepts, shows just how effective this tactic can be. These aren’t glossy showcases; they’re practical environments where journalists, creators, partners and customers can explore real-world use cases, try technology for themselves and speak directly with experts. What these formats do brilliantly is remove abstraction. They turn messages into moments that people can engage with, challenge and interpret through their own lens.
That’s why communicators should be building IRL engagement back into strategies – not as a nostalgic nod to pre-pandemic habits, but as a core driver of influence and credibility.
As we all continue to reset our approach, here are a few helpful tips:
- Plan experiences, not events Seek to create moments that help people feel the story, not just absorb information.
- Quality beats quantity Five meaningful conversations will always outperform fifty badge scans.
- Blend physical and digital Let in-person moments spark wider online amplification.
- Show up consistently Relationships deepen through repeated, real-world touchpoints – not one-offs.
In a world defined by misinformation, short attention spans and algorithmic noise, person-to-person connection is becoming one of the most reliable tools we have. And as the industry leans back into real-life engagement, we’re collectively rediscovering a simple truth: the most powerful communications still happen eye to eye.
Fran Ashcroft is senior director, EMEA Communications at Intel.
Photo: supplied by subject