Martin Rieger Sound

I used to roll my eyes at virtual events.
Until one tricked my brain into believing things that never happened.

Rewind Covid. Everything online.
I was supposed to "network" as a cartoon avatar in a fake lobby. Cringe.
I joined one mostly to make fun of it - and had the necessary hardware.

Then I drifted into a small group in a corner. We chatted, got sidetracked, someone made a joke, I laughed out loud in my empty home office.

Twenty minutes later I left and caught myself feeling: I just met those people.
Not "watched a we**am grid."
Met.
My brain filed it under real memory.

Five years later, Microsoft is rolling this exact idea into Teams. Most people will react like I did at first: eye-roll, avatars, why.

I get it. But when it clicks, it really clicks.

What made my moment only half-work back then? That part lives in the slides.

Were you ever in a virtual event that flipped from cringe to actually good?