I once knew a fellow who traveled from his home in the Bahamas to a one-day meeting in Switzerland. He was gone for five days but four of those days were spent traveling back and forth. Imagine the jet lag he felt, not to mention the excitement of traveling to a faraway destination. Luckily he was young enough then to sustain the exhilaration. His job frequently sent him on far away travels. After several years he resigned that position for a more lucrative one that kept him grounded.

He is now in his mid-fifties and if he had to do it all again, he says he would do most of it virtually. Virtual meetings are the option selected by many firms today although a lot of people still travel for business and many workers are thankful to get out of town, after a while they, too, realize that some meetings are ok to hold virtually.

The economic climate has changed so much from 20 years ago. Jet fuel has spiraled and airline tickets have increased. The younger work force of today has grown up with the Internet at their disposal and a lot of them have received their training at online institutions.

Virtual meetings have a lot of attributes. Mostly they save time and travel costs. They are almost seen as “politically correct” when it comes to being a responsible corporate citizen. And really, not too much is lost since virtual meetings are conducted in much the same way as face-to- face encounters.

Virtual conference rooms are available at nominal costs so companies don’t have to invest heavily in software that could rapidly become obsolete. They meet in their virtual headquarters where everyone has an opportunity to contribute. These virtual meeting rooms work well for file and video sharing, as well. They can be accessed whether you are holding meetings across town, across the nation, or beyond.