Global Reunion Online

Mike hosts an interactive livestream from Portland, experimenting with simultaneous livestreaming and teleconference tools following a board game night. He welcomes friends from Montreal and Florida into the broadcast to catch up on life, travel, and mutual acquaintances.

Hi, this is Mike George here. I am trying out all these wonderful new tools that we have in the virtual world of Facebook. I don’t even know if you guys can hear me, so some feedback from you guys would be appreciated. After all, as I say at the beginning of every one of these Facebook Live broadcasts, I like to make these things interactive—not just a monologue, which gets kind of boring after a while.

I’m just testing out the system and all the bells and whistles that Facebook has given us to keep in touch with friends and loved ones in this world of social distancing. If you guys have a camera or microphone on your device, dial in! I have two things going: this Facebook Live and a Facebook Room associated with the board game night Jonathan and I organized earlier today. We played 'Twunk,' and it was a small but potent turnout. Check out the event page for screenshots and strategic analysis of the highlights.

I’m livestreaming from my desktop computer for the first time, not from my phone, so the interface is a bit different. I can see your comments coming across the screen. Hey, Michael Weaver! Thank you for commenting. I go by Michael when I’m in trouble, but you seem like a sweet lad who doesn't get into much trouble—cheers to that! I’m drinking coffee innocently enough, but the night is still young here in Portland. It's about 20:30 here and 23:30 on the East Coast.

I’m trying out the polls and questions features. I’ve published a poll asking 'Can you see me?' so you can let me know without having to type a comment if you're shy. I also have a 'Facebook Room' open, which is an artifact from the board game night. If you want to jump over there, we can try a 'dual-dimensional' thing and see if we can blow some minds and overload the Facebook servers!

Wait, I have a friend, Cameron, joining the room from Montreal! Hi Cameron! We met ten years ago in 2010. You're in the 'safe zone' in Canada, though I hear Montreal is a bit of a hot spot. Cameron is a teacher—thank you for your service! He’s also lost some weight recently, so congratulations on that. We’re catching up on mutual friends like Phil, who just got married to Thiago. Cameron says Montreal is the third-best city in the world after New York and Berlin. I think Portland is a close contender, but we'll save that debate for another time!

I've also got Sam and her husband Sona joining the call from Florida. Sona used to live in Wilsonville, just south of Portland. They're sitting outside having cocktails, which sounds like a great idea. I’m feeling a bit brain-dead from all the talking, so I’m going to take a quick break to step out on the porch for a cigarette. I’ll leave the music running—hopefully the 'Universal Music overlords' don't take the video down!

I’ll be back in a bit to see if anyone else wants to join the conversation. In the meantime, enjoy the music and take care of each other!