Summary

Already in ancient times, Aristotle said that,

Man is, by nature, a social animal.

This is why, despite all the technological tools we have to communicate remotely, we still like to travel, attend conferences, and take live face-to-face classes conducted by instructors made of flesh and blood. The added value of these live events is the countless informal conversations we have with our classmates and instructors, or with other conference attendees. In fact, a lot happens during these informal conversations: people get to know each other, business cards are exchanged, use cases are discussed, and more. Profitable business partnerships and even true friendships are often born out of these conversations. Believe me, this is a true story! The very book you are reading is a perfect illustration of this phenomenon (Hi, Sean!).

Some say that distance learning complicates or even prevents these social interactions. While it is true that LMSes and distance learning will never...