Seven "learners" in the Royal Roads University Masters in Applied Communications program, plus one spouse (my faithful Yumi), met in Vancouver tonight for some face-to-face contact.
The two-year program has an intensive three-week on-campus residency at the beginning of each program year, followed by online work, so the "meat-space" contact is great for staying in touch.
While I've been impressed with how well the online teams and overall cohort discussions have been working, it's also nice to get a few hugs and converse over a brew or two for a few hours.
I've been in the program for nearly four months now, and it is clear how crucial the residency is. Three weeks of boot camp does wonders for developing close working relationships for the online portion of the program.
Now that courses and teams are changing, I already have faces to put to names, which is a huge advantage in getting team processes underway. Not to mention having worked with many of the instructors who will continue in the online portion of the program.