Had a fun in-person meeting today with Andrea J. Lee and Sarah Van Male. For three people who normally communicate virtually, it was a real treat to be in the same room at the same time.

In fact, it was the first time Andrea and Sarah had met in person, even though they've been working together for two years. And in the six years that I've known Andrea, today marked just the third time that we've met in person.

We met at Serious Coffee in Nanaimo, which happens to be my second office (I'm there three or four times a weeks for a half-caf latte). Coincidentally, it's Sarah's favorite coffee place too when she's enroute to her home on Hornby Island.

Andrea's on Vancouver Island for a bit of a holiday, and Sarah was returning from a trip to Vancouver. We talked about work, pets and the men in our lives, although not necessarily in that order :)

Sarah's the creative person behind the graphic art for the various CD products that Andrea and I are collaborating on. We discussed ideas for the covers for the 11-CD Coaching Masteries product, and came up with a really exciting concept. You can see Sarah's portfolio here.

I was intrigued to hear that Sarah and Andrea connected via Elance. Sarah advertises her graphic services there, and that's how Andrea found her. Great example of the win-win of using online freelancer listing services.

As much as I enjoy doing business virtually, there's really nothing like an in-person meeting to connect and find out things about colleagues that just wouldn't make it into an email. For example, how Andrea and I both have a big hearty laugh!