Face-to-face meetings are a luxury — improvised, unpredictable, deeply human.

The Greek philosopher Epicurus centuries ago described how atoms swerve in space — randomly, unpredictably.

These small deviations, he believed, are what makes freedom possible.

It reminded me of a sound installation by French artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot — a system that plays itself, shifting over time, never repeating.The sound feels alive. Like it’s breathing on its own. No conductor. No script. Just presence.

That’s exactly how I feel about face-to-face meetings.

After years of working in meeting design, I’ve learned that the moments people remember aren’t in the agenda.They’re in the in-between moments: the pause, the shared glance, the unscripted response that shifts the entire room.

Mike van der Vijver and Eric de Groot put it well in Into the Heart of Meetings:

“Meetings are not about transferring information. They are about creating meaning.”

And what stays with me even more:

“What people remember is not what was said, but what they felt.”

We can send slides, stream talks, or use AI avatars. But we can’t program improvisation.And we can’t fake being truly present.

To me, meeting design is about shaping a space where those human ‘swerves’ can happen.Where trust is built not through perfection, but through real, unfiltered presence.

That’s why I believe face-to-face meetings are a luxury.Because they can’t be rehearsed. Because what happens in unique.And that’s exactly why they matter.

By Mike, Meeting Designer