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Today I launched Spot Meetings, an app for walking meetings. AMA.

After months of building, evolving, and a whole lot of walking, we are proud to announce that Spot is now available to the public! Check it out here —> https://spot.mt

Spot is a byproduct of the remote work revolution

After a decade of remote work, I started to feel stuck. Tethered to my desk. Dependent on video. I was living in the most amazing places in the world yet I was physically trapped indoors. So, I took my meetings outside as audio calls. And after spending 10,000+ hours on walking calls, it dawned on me: all of the tools available for remote collaboration are built for sitters.

Don’t get me wrong - sitting can be great! But once I took my meetings as walks, I noticed how much happier and healthier I felt. Being outside and active enhanced my focus and creativity, too. So where were the tools for walkers?

Spot combats “Zoom fatigue”

In the last year+, many folks experienced a similar journey to mine. After going all in on video upon transitioning to remote work, they eventually began to crumble under the weight of it. People are spending an average of 19 hours on screens every day, and, even more tiring, most of that time is spent exclusively on video meetings. Forty-five percent of people who started working from home during the pandemic feel they are working more, and 52 percent said that they are in more meetings (Source: Buffer). Pair that with the fact that the average American is active less than 20 minutes per day, and well, it’s no wonder many of us were desperate for an alternative.

Some people experimented with their own solutions and hacks and found joy in returning to voice calls. Turning off the video reduces fatigue, but also allows them the freedom to walk around and even get outside. Walking boosts creativity and is beneficial for mental health. Yet unsurprisingly, these walkers faced the same challenges I did — scheduling audio calls in a professional setting with the tools that exist is very difficult plus it’s hard to be productive on mobile when using tools built for a seated, desktop user.

Spot supports healthy collaboration

And so we built Spot. Spot is the first collaborative platform to support walking meetings. It’s mobile-first, and we’ve engineered the entire experience for meetings on the go. We’ve spent the last few months listening to what people need and designed features and capabilities to enhance the meeting experience. Agenda sharing, hands-free note taking, and note storage and accessibility are all possible with Spot.

Today’s launch is momentous for a lot of reasons. But what I’m most excited about is for more people to experience what I did when I took my first meeting away from my desk. With the ever growing remote workforce, it’s time to change the way work gets done. We should be encouraging each other to add movement to our work days without feeling guilty for it. Walking meetings should be normalized. Let’s break free from our desktops and mobilize our meetings. Join us.

  1. 1

    This is really neat! Is there a way to try the transcription feature? It was grayed out on the app and mobile site.

    1. 1

      It turns on when a second person joins the meeting. Invite somebody to meet with you and you can check it out :)

  2. 1

    It's interesting for sure, best of luck for the launch Greg :)

    1. 1

      Thanks Merrill! What piece is most compelling to you? What would you like to see us do?

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