I think the guidelines should include discussion of virtual meetups. While I understand that the focus of Postcrossing is to focus on real-life connections via real-life tools (hence actual postcards sent vice virtual messages like email), there are some advantages of virtual meetups that cannot be overlooked, especially during the pandemic. For some people, depending on their medical condition, state of mind, or current governmental regulations, it is just not possible to meet face-to-face. Virtual meetups inclusively allow these folks to still participate in the social aspect of the hobby when otherwise they would be excluded.
Additionally, virtual meetups open up the event to a much wider audience, as they can be attended by anyone anywhere in the world. When I host a face-to-face meetup in my local area (Maryland/Virginia/Pennsylvania in the U.S.A.) I will generally attract attendees from this region as well as, perhaps, some dedicated travelers from adjacent states. With regularly hosted events you may start to see the same attendees routinely, but participation is generally limited by geographic constraints. Not so with virtual events. The limiting factors with virtual events are more related to technical capabilities (does the participant have the equipment, level of service and technical savvy to make it work) and time zones. Generally, if they can participate in postcrossing using its website, then they have the capability to participate in a virtual meeting from a technical point of view. By hosting on a weekend (generally Saturday much like face-to-face meetups) mid-afternoon, it is not unreasonable to expect that I include the entirety of North, Central and South America and much of Europe. Outliers (with regard to time zone) are in no way excluded, and indeed we get participants you might not expect.
Another aspect to consider is human nature. Just as there are some folks who are naturally extroverts, there are also some who are naturally introverts. Not everyone is comfortable in a social setting, and I know of postcrossers who would likely never attend a face-to-face meetup because of that. Some of those people will, however, attend a virtual meetup, where they do not have to show their face, or even have to speak if they are uncomfortable doing so. Yet they still get to benefit from the participation of others. Virtual meetups expand inclusivity in this way, and this should not be overlooked.
Through virtual meetups, I have gotten to meet other postcrossers who I would otherwise never meet. Much as I might like to, I suspect it is unlikely that I will ever travel to Kampala, New Taipei City, St. Petersburg or Chennai. Yet through virtual meetups I have had the opportunity to have extended conversations and develop relationships with postcrossers from each of these places. I have met the group of postcrossers who meet face-to-face in Dublin once a month, as well as the group who meet in and around Oslo, and yet another group in Brazil by attending their virtual events.
I have now hosted 6 virtual meetups in the last year. As a result, I have developed relationships with postcrossers all over the world. This has been an amazing panacea during the pandemic. Our overall average has been 30-40 participants. We have made a short educational presentation at each of the last five, and had open-floor totally inclusive discussions at each one. All have been exceptionally well received by the participants, based on their comments. While hosted at 1500 local in our time zone on the east coast of North America, we have had participants not only from all over America, Canada and Mexico, but also from much of Europe, and even as far away as Russia, India, Taiwan, The Philippines, and Uganda. I would note that the participants for those last four countries listed have attended more than one of our events, so we have repeat participants staying up past midnight or getting up at 0430 in the morning to attend. If that doesn’t speak to what this form of meetup has to offer, I don’t know what does!
Virtual meetups are part of the hobby, and I respectfully submit that the guidelines should recognize that.