No guest, no Reddit story, no agenda. Just Pinaki, Chris, and Bree catching up after a packed stretch of conference season, and somehow landing on some of the most useful thinking they've shared all year.

In this Between the Seasons episode of Why Does It Feel So Wrong to Be Human at Work?, the three of them recap a whirlwind week at IABC World Conference in Toronto, Comms Reboot, and a string of events that all pointed at the same lesson: people are done being talked at. The best sessions, the best workplaces, and the best events are the ones that make people want to show up, not the ones that make them.

Pinaki recaps The Dance Floor Doesn't Lie, the talk where he and Monique Zitnik literally DJed live on stage to teach communicators about reading the room. Chris makes the case for abandoning 'best practices' and 'consumer-grade' experiences in favor of genuinely human ones. And Bree shares the airport story you have to hear to believe: 45 teenagers, one missed flight, zero parents.

In this episode, they discuss:
• The Dance Floor Doesn't Lie: what DJs and communicators have in common, and why playing for yourself empties the room
• Why 'consumer-grade experience' is a depressingly low bar for how we treat employees
• Abandoning best practices and best-in-class, being the fastest snail isn't the goal
• Why mandating attendance never works, and how to make people want to show up instead
• Messaging is what you say. Storytelling is how you say it to make people feel something.
• The case for in-person: the true self comes out when people are together
• Bree's airport story (45 teenagers, one flight, no parents)
• Chris on 25 years of marriage and giving luck the credit it deserves

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Connect with Us

Pinaki Kathiari – LinkedIn | Local Wisdom

Chris Lee – LinkedIn | Gallagher Communication

Bree Bartos – LinkedIn | Local Wisdom

Special thanks to digital communication agency Local Wisdom (www.localwisdom.com) for really believing in our mission and making this podcast possible.

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