Remo.co - humanise the online experience

Remo.co is a platform to host and organize events (don’t get confused with remo.com which sells music equipment and drum sets). In my opinion, Remo is a good platform for methodologies like World Cafe or Open Space. You can set up different rooms with chairs and furniture, and even different floors - says Melih Özkardeş, who lives and works in the Netherlands as a trainer and project manager, both in the field of youth and at university.

It’s like designing an office space in “The Sims”. The visual interface is very fresh and inviting. Remo is a paid tool, with a limited free option which allows 30-minutes sessions. The platform offers full integrations with other tools like Miro, so it is possible to open a Miro board in a Remo room and the two work together seamlessly. It is possible to be creative and fun while creating an environment. Remo offers a balance between a professional, business-oriented look while still having a fun and creative side to it. This comes at a price, of course. I will recommend it for bigger events when you have big partners or even sponsors -  says Melih. Remo offers the possibility to play sponsor banners in your conference room, which is something I haven’t seen in other platforms so far. The platform offers a pay-per-event or an annual subscription.

It is also possible to share music as a background for your events. People appear as their own photos in the space, and they don’t have to walk from one area to another. They click where they want to go, and they immediately teleport there. So it’s not possible to wander off or even get lost, whether this happens intentionally or not. It is certainly a design choice. 

When I think of methods like Word Cafe or Open Space, it is very intuitive and easy to name different rooms and tables, and I also like the presentation function: even if people are spread into different rooms you can present with one click, and also add presenters - like for a panel discussion. Other platforms also offer this feature, but here I found it particularly easy and intuitive. Also, when I am in a room or at a table I can hear everybody very well, all the time. You cannot just wander off accidentally and miss part of an important conversation – Melih shares his experience.

A funny aspect of Remo is that you can design different floors, connected via an elevator or stairs - and then playfully invite people to use the stairs “because it’s the healthier opinion”. It’s not possible at the moment to have casual chats while in the elevator, which also means no space for casual “elevator pitch”. Who knows, maybe one day this could be a new aspect to develop…

I think online dimension of learning will remain even after the COVID-19 emergency is solved. There are a lot of indicators pointing in that way. Of course this sector received a boost because of the pandemic, but it will remain, as long as we have access to the internet. The advantages are also in terms of environmental protection: there is less traveling, and less CO² emissions. The thing I like the most about online learning is that it is so accessible. Activities are very easy to organize, and in one minute you can achieve more than you could in the physical space. Also you can reach more people, including those who wouldn’t have the time or the money to travel and reach you in a different location – says Melih.

There are of course also problems connected with this aspect. Not everybody has access to good hardware or internet bandwidth . Of course this is the other side of a coin. I still think the result is a net positive, however this happens. Sometimes tools are too complicated to use, and also language can be a divide - a lot of the online interaction and platforms are heavily dependent on English as a language. But people are noticing these problems, and I think they will be solved - Melih remains optimist.

Listen to the full HOP podcast episode: 

Visit the platform's web-site.