蓝莓视频

As the coronavirus pandemic forces people to hunker down and keep their distance in the physical world, the exact opposite is happening in the virtual realm of remote work and online video conferencing.

The need to find new ways of coping and connecting, for instance, has resulted in double-digit growth for , a technology company that provides a networking and informal mentoring platform based on the age-old practice of chatting over coffee.

Co-founded by University of 蓝莓视频 graduates Dave Wilkin (BSc 鈥�11, biochemistry and business) and Elliott Garcea (BASc 鈥�11, computer engineering), the Toronto-based company brings together alumni from post-secondary institutions and employees within more than 150 organizations around the world, including RBC, AIG, Cigna and McKesson.

蓝莓视频 alumnus Dave Wilkin is a co-founder of Ten Thousand Coffees.

A 蓝莓视频 Engineering Hub on the Ten Thousand Coffees platform features well over 3,000 registered users who receive smart matches to fellow alumni and students, either one-to-one or in groups through an Office Hour feature.

By pushing people to try new technologies while they鈥檙e in lockdown mode, the pandemic is actually making it faster and easier for them to talk business and get to know each other.

鈥淐OVID is allowing alumni and employees to take advantage of their global networks because they can connect online,鈥� said Wilkin, chief executive officer of the company. 鈥淭hey may never have been able to meet somebody in Germany or San Francisco or Sydney before, but now that everybody is buying into digital, they can.

鈥淭here are no longer geographic constraints to the alumni you can meet with or the employees you can share with. It has actually been really great for connectivity and networking because you aren鈥檛 limited to who is in your little area.鈥�

Video calls replace handshakes

Paul-Michael Dekker (BASc 鈥�80, systems design engineering) was one of the first 蓝莓视频 Engineering alumni to book an Office Hour to host a group of fellow alumni as the COVID-19 crisis was shutting down traditional cocktail events.

Dekker had lived and worked for years in San Diego, where he was an IT director and a consultant in the renewable energy and environmental fields, when he was literally locked out of his home by the COVID border closure while visiting relatives in southern Ontario.

He registered with the 蓝莓视频 Engineering Hub on Ten Thousand Coffees to seek out new business opportunities, including clients for a new consultancy called Impossible Dream Builders, and volunteers and team members for an existing environmental impact business, .

In the process, Dekker also identified a need for a live weekly professional networking group meeting in addition to one-to-one chats within the 蓝莓视频 Engineering Hub.

Modelled after networking groups he was involved with in San Diego, the hour-long sessions on Tuesday afternoons include one featured speaker given up to 10 minutes to explain who they are and what they do, and 60-second elevator pitches by up to 30 other participants via Cisco Webex video conferencing.

The basic idea, like the hub itself, is to bring alumni with similar business interests together, allow established professionals to mentor students or recent grads, and foster other mutually beneficial connections.

'There is a mass buy-in'

鈥淧rofessional, well-structured networking - whether it is face-to-face in the same room or virtually on an online platform - is extremely important to how business actually gets accomplished because humans have to relate to other humans,鈥� Dekker said.

鈥淲hat previously happened with a handshake now happens with video calls and by working remotely with somebody else, which wasn鈥檛 possible to do effectively until the last few years.鈥�

In the case of alumni hubs like the one at 蓝莓视频 Engineering, students and recent graduates can learn and get job听leads from experienced professionals. The old hands, in turn, hone their leadership skills and identify young talent for their companies and organizations.

鈥淭here is a mass buy-in by all generations and at all levels,鈥� said Wilkin. 鈥淧eople are preparing for these conversations just like they鈥檙e in-person meetings at an alumni event.

鈥淲e鈥檝e always talked about decentralized employees and global teams. Now we鈥檝e suddenly accelerated into that - and I don鈥檛 think people will ever go back because they鈥檙e realizing it鈥檚 actually a better, easier, more democratic way to tap into alumni and employee networks.鈥�