On Tuesday, I stood on stage in Odense, Denmark, at the 2021 Email Summit, to give a talk in front of a few hundred people. It was the first time I’d been on stage, in front of other people, in 22 months.
There was a moment in time where giving a talk like this didn’t feel all that unusual. I gave a dozen in-person talks in 2019, and had a dozen more planned for 2020. Getting on a plane to a new place — Berlin! Sydney! Montreal! — to talk about email was just something I did.
Since the start of the pandemic, I’ve lost track of the number of talks, webinars, and live interviews I’ve done over Zoom. But I wasn’t sure if — or when — I’d get the chance to do a live talk again.
On Tuesday, I tried to take a moment at the start of my talk to look up at the crowd and remember that feeling I get when I’m presenting. It’s such a privilege to get the chance to share what I’ve learned with others, and while I feel lucky to be able to do so many talks over Zoom, nothing compares to an in-person session.
So I wanted to say thanks to the entire Email Summit team — and to the amazing people I met in Denmark — for giving me that stage, and for the reminder that every opportunity to speak is a true privilege. I don’t know when the next opportunity will come, but I’m grateful to have had this chance in Odense.