Work.Place.Culture. Conference, Dubrovnik 5 - 7 May 2022
Some of the Work.Place.Culture Conference participants on the steps of Lazareti, Dubrovnik, one of the historic venues used for the conference. 6 May 2022
Reflections on a three (and a bit) day gathering of multi-national, multi-lingual, location-independent professionals.
A week or two of reflection after the Work.Place.Culture conference held in Dubrovnik, Croatia, has given me time to distill the essence of what made it such a rewarding and engaging gathering.
There were the speakers, the content, the venues, the connections made, the friendships created, the a-ha moments shared, of course. But more than these, there was the open and candid sharing of the realities of location-independent living. We tackled issues such as loneliness, safety, diversity, inclusion, the Ukraine war and the environmental impact of travel.
Members of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) panel: Sarah Hawley, Growmotely, Marty Lewis, ABC Travel Network, Dr Irene Cop, SHIFT, and online: Julian Green, Headroom, and Moderator, Carolyn Zelikow. Pic credit: Jose Alfonso Cussianovich, Total Croatia News
The story begins for me when Tanja Polegubić from Saltwater Nomads invited me to join the production team as MC. I’d worked with Tanja before, on her equally original and impactful Dubrovnik Digital-Nomads-in-Residence programme in 2021, and I was very pleased to be joining Tanja and her team again.
Tanja’s philosophy is that the event starts as soon as the invitations are sent out. As the production team, we worked together to make that a reality, welcoming everyone to share their stories as official “speakers” and participants alike. To encourage everyone to network with others they hadn’t met before, we asked people to talk to three new contacts and note a fun fact about them, to act as the entry ticket to the fabulous sixteenth century replica sailing vessel, Karaka, one of the #seafaringnetworking venues.
Tanja Polegubić from Saltwater Nomads and Anna Traylor on board the Karaka sailing vessel, Dubrovnik harbour
The ancient walls of the City became another inspired #netWALLking venue with guides to paint the picture of the City’s rich history and a live streamed session given by Dean Kuchel.
NetWALLking featuring Dean Kuchel and the conference participants Pic credit: DNA Croatia
And in amongst the fact-sharing presentations, there were the intangible but essential breathing space sessions built into the programme, where participants were able to reflect on their own internal journeys. Saturday was an especially effective day. Quiet workshops were held on the island of Lokrum, a 15 minute peaceful boat ride from Dubrovnik’s Old Town Harbour. This island, hosting peacocks, tortoises, botanical gardens, swimming opportunities and GoT film locations, was a long cool drink of water after a busy two days.
Lokrum’s Path of Paradise
And while you may be thinking that this is all far from the reality of working/political life, the most moving moment in the conference came when Orest Zub related his experience of telling the truth about the Ukraine war. Orest is a digital nomad from Ukraine and he was travelling back after this conference with a commitment from Growmotely, the job platform supporting conscious companies hiring remotely, to create a dedicated area on the platform to help Ukrainians find work.
The achievement of such an impactful outcome is the work of many, but the vision, content and line-up were all down to Tanja Polegubić from Saltwater Nomads.
This is one of the most rewarding assignments I’ve worked on, and I so appreciate the candour with which people shared their experiences and the depth of engagement of the participants and speakers. I’ve made friends and future colleagues and hope to return to Croatia very soon!
Pic credit: Jose Alfonso Cussianovich, Total Croatia News
This summary is only a small snapshot of the experience and you can find full write-ups in Total Croatia News Digital Nomad section.