--- title: Ta-Da! I Booked My First Post-Pandemic Business Travel Today description: The pandemic’s disruption to in-person client meetings proved more difficult than imagined. Now, it’s time to get back in the groove. image: https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/hubfs/Blog_images/plane-841441_1280.jpg --- [![White Space Marketing Group](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/ws-logo-header.png?width=253&height=80&name=ws-logo-header.png "White Space Marketing Group")](https://www.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/) ![blogbanner](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blogbanner.png?width=1500&name=blogbanner.png "blogbanner") [Gray Matter at White Space](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com) [B2B Marketing Strategy for Small and Mid-Sized Companies](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com) # [Ta-Da! I Booked My First Post-Pandemic Business Travel Today](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/ta-da-i-booked-my-first-post-pandemic-business-travel-today) ![Ilene Rosenthal, CEO](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/hubfs/IHR%20BioPIc%20643x703.jpg) by [Ilene Rosenthal, CEO](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/author/ilene-rosenthal-ceo) on Jun 16, 2021 - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ### **It feels like it’s been years. Oh, wait. It *****has***** been years…** Sitting face to face with my clients, surrounded by the work we’ve done, meeting some in person for the first time. The energy is palpable, even after day-long (or sometimes *days*-long) brainstorming sessions.![Ta-Da! I Booked My First Post-Pandemic Business Travel Today](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog_images/plane-841441_1280.jpg?width=300&name=plane-841441_1280.jpg) Now that I’ve booked it, this trip just feels better than I thought it would. [For the moment, let’s put aside a few potential hiccups... The wardrobe stress of those pandemic pounds. If my Lyft app is updated. Wait--did I lend a daughter my travel suitcase?] ### **2D Suffices, But It’s *****Nothing***** Like 3D** When COVID-19 hit, I didn’t have to adapt to things like remote meetings. We’re a “distributed” company, and I’ve been using Zoom since 2016. My first thought: no biggie! This will be a seamless transition; easy breezy. [![Need to reduce random acts of marketing that waste time and money?](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/176305/7077545e-b910-4d5d-88db-79bc2bcb46c5.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/176305/7077545e-b910-4d5d-88db-79bc2bcb46c5) But, not so. I didn’t realize how much I’d miss the *option* of getting together face-to-face. There’s nothing like eye-to-eye contact, body language, and no mute button that brings all of “me” to the party. With the anticipation of this upcoming meeting, it’s all coming back to me. Now, for the work. ### **Raising the Stakes** When I first met this client in 2019, we were deep in the struggles of [marketing strategy](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/a-sum-of-marketing-tactics-doesnt-add-up-to-strategy): setting priorities, channel analytics, and timetables. There was also the business of applying left-brain thinking to a [right-brain visionary’s](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/heres-a-marketing-strategy-story-for-you) creative process. > “*This trip just feels better than I thought it would*.” After digging in, the data spoke volumes. But, the “hard truths” needed some massaging to come to terms with. It was--as it is with many of my clients and [Strategy Lab](https://info.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/marketing-strategy-training-video) participants--working from the ground up. Now, 18 months later--after a banner 2020--the stakes are even higher. Strong results are inspiring; a reason to celebrate all the hard work. But, they do beg these questions:  - The processes are in place, but it’s time to turn to the brand. Gulp. - We’re asking: how high is up? - As Q3 looms, we acknowledge: 2022 is around the corner! For the time being, I’ll just revel in the packing details, peruse a Sausalito restaurant or two, plan to see my adorable nieces, and layout the game plan. It’s a six-hour flight anyway…   [![WATCH THE webinar: HOW TO avoid random acts of marketing](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/176305/08bb4240-2fb8-4d8e-aa07-84d9851cd4cd.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/176305/08bb4240-2fb8-4d8e-aa07-84d9851cd4cd) Topics: [marketing strategy](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/marketing-strategy), [strategy](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/strategy), [marketing](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/marketing), [business strategy](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/business-strategy), [CEOs](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/ceos), [B2B marketing](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/b2b-marketing), [Founders](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/founders), [B2B](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/b2b), [small business](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/small-business) About The Author ![Ilene Rosenthal, CEO](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/hubfs/IHR%20BioPIc%20643x703.jpg) [ Ilene Rosenthal, CEO ](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/author/ilene-rosenthal-ceo) Ilene Rosenthal is the CEO of White Space Marketing Group, fulfilling her aspiration to bring hybrid marketing expertise to the mid-market. With a dee... [read more](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/author/ilene-rosenthal-ceo) [![watch the WEBINAR: how to AVOID random acts of marketing ](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/176305/c5f63d26-b091-48d9-822b-8e8904eecef0.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/176305/c5f63d26-b091-48d9-822b-8e8904eecef0) Search this site on Google Search Google ## We're glad you're here. We write about our marketing passions: building digital brands, digging deep for customer insights, tracking marketing effectiveness and ROI for better results. 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