Why Gathering in Person Feels More Valuable in the Age of AI

A recent evening at The Moth brought together a few of my favorite things: storytelling, time with friends and the experience of being in a room with people who want to listen.

It also reminded me why I think in-person events are attracting renewed interest.

Across the industries our clients serve, and within our own, we are seeing more enthusiasm for gathering face to face. I suspect part of that interest comes from how much of our communication now arrives through a screen, polished and prepared before we ever encounter it.

AI has made that preparation easier. It can help people organize an idea, edit a message or create content. It has also prompted a growing suspicion about what we read and see. I encounter people accusing others of using AI based on a phrase, a punctuation mark or a feeling they cannot explain.

Even the em dash has become a reason to question someone’s writing.

That suspicion can be misplaced. Still, it reveals an uncertainty that I think is affecting how people connect: a polished piece of content gives us only a partial sense of the person behind it.

An unscripted conversation gives us more to learn

When we meet someone, we experience how they listen and respond. We hear the follow-up question they choose to ask. We notice whether they are curious about our answer or waiting for their turn to talk.

A conversation can move somewhere neither person anticipated. Someone offers an experience that changes our thinking. A disagreement gives us a chance to understand how the other person approaches a difficult subject. A moment of humor makes it easier to keep talking.

Those experiences help us assess qualities that are difficult to convey through a carefully edited post. We get to know someone’s judgment, attention and willingness to engage.

Meeting someone does not automatically establish their credibility. People can rehearse a pitch or misrepresent themselves in person, too. But a conversation gives us another way to evaluate what they know and how they treat people.

Presence asks something of us

In person, we have to participate as the exchange unfolds. We need to pay attention, consider what someone has said and decide how to respond.

We may have notes. We may have prepared with help from an AI tool. We still have to engage with the person in front of us.

That is part of what I value about gathering. It asks us to practice the communication skills we talk about wanting in our teams: listening carefully, explaining an idea, asking a useful question and responding thoughtfully when we disagree.

Those skills benefit from use. Leaders need opportunities to practice them alongside the people they lead.

Give people a reason to participate

An event needs more than a room full of attendees to create connection. A packed agenda can leave people with little opportunity to speak to one another. A networking session can become a series of sales pitches.

If connection is the aim, the format needs to support it. Leave time for conversation. Ask questions that invite people to share an experience. Give speakers room to respond to the audience. Make it easy for someone attending alone to join an exchange.

At The Moth, the stories were part of what made the evening memorable. Being there with friends, listening together, added something I value just as much. We had an experience we could discuss and remember together.

For business events, I would look for that same opportunity to give people something worth sharing beyond the event itself. A useful introduction or a thoughtful discussion can become a reason to reconnect afterward.

Let the relationship continue

Digital communication remains a valuable way to meet people and stay in touch, including when distance or access makes gathering difficult. The relationships can continue across formats.

After an event, a personal message that refers to the conversation gives someone a reason to respond. Following through on an introduction or a resource you promised shows that you were paying attention.

The renewed interest in events I am seeing makes sense to me. As more communication becomes easy to produce, I think people appreciate opportunities to get to know one another through direct exchange.

That evening at The Moth gave me storytelling, friendship and a shared memory. It reminded me how much I enjoy being present with other people, and how much those experiences contribute to my relationships.

I hope to make room for more of them.