Our last full day started with the Expo, which was a conference-style session, where multiple workshops occur at once and we all have the option to choose our favorite one to attend. The session was also broken down into two zones – activation and engagement zone. In the engagement zone, I chose data & analytics and JournEY to Resilience; in the engagement zone, I chose metaverse 101, environmental stewardship, and better you. I personally enjoyed each and every one of them and I wouldn’t wish to pick other workshops.
I loved the journey to resilience of Tricia Downing and Erin Hamlin Hodge. Tricia is a Paralympian who competed in triathlon, rowing and shooting, while Erin is the first female American luger to medal at any Winter Olympics. I especially remember their advice to get to resilience is to focus on controlling the controllable and to trust the process that you have worked hard for. This is because success doesn’t come overnight, and life is a marathon, not a sprint.
I also enjoyed metaverse 101 – I think everyone did, as this room filled up very quickly after every intermission. This was the first time I had ever heard of this initiative @ EY and how the company has already built an ideal EY working world; they sometimes even invited their clients for a virtual meeting. The speakers said the goal of the metaverse is to be better than Zoom, as they should be able to provide an interactive and exciting platform for business parties to communicate. For example, they could use the metaverse to create a presentation in tour format. Like you know how Prezi has those navigating and zoom in/out functions? Metaverse could turn those bubbles into interactive buildings and users can walk around to understand projects better. I thought that was a fantastic answer from the speaker. Yes, the metaverse is still in its early stage, but hopefully, in a more open world, the technology will transform the way we work and bring a fun breeze into all business communications, including my field, consulting.
Evening was the final closing event. I met Mickey, danced, and ate with my new friends. We definitely had a whale of a time!
Trang "Tee" Nguyen 