Context Travel’s Virtual Seminars

Thanks for the heads up. I've used Context Travel for tours in Europe and have found the docents great. I saw the seminars project early in the epidemic; it has really expanded!

Dave, yes, their offerings have greatly expanded. Someone (sorry, i forget who) on this forum mentioned these seminars months ago. When I started taking these seminars in late September, there were far fewer and those were usually offered only with two weeks notice. Now there are several hundred seminars (excluding the multi session courses) and some of those are posted several months ahead of time.

Also the majority of the seminars are recorded so if you have a conflict with one that you’re registered for, you can view it later. Or with at least 24 hours notice, you can ask Context to give you a credit or transfer you to another seminar. One caution re the recordings is that those don’t play back on some iPads (Context knows about this issue) but I’ve been able to view those recordings on my iPhone. (I’m avoiding using my work laptop for personal use.)

Thanks Valerie, this the first I’ve learned of these offerings. Many look terrific, I will definitely pursue some. Do you know, if you sign up and attend a seminar, and enjoy it, can you view it again (recorded) during the 7 days your link is valid?

Hi, Larry. The emails which I receive notifying me that the recording is available says that I can view it if I had to miss the seminar or if I wish to review the presentation. One thing to keep in mind is that while the majority of experts agree to having their presentations recorded, apparently occasionally they don’t agree to that. So you might want to confirm with Context ahead of time that a particular seminar will be recorded if you find after buying your ticket that you will have a schedule conflict.

Another nice aspect is that often after the seminar, the expert will have Context send an email to the attendees with a list of related resources. And sometimes the expert or the Context moderator will say that you can email Context with your question if there wasn’t time to answer it during the Q & A and Context will relay your question to the expert to get an answer for you.

Thanks again Valerie, for this thread. I have watched, really participated in through Q and A, several of these Context Travel programs over the past couple of weeks, and enjoyed them very much. There is certainly a great variety of subject matter offered, and the instructors are highly knowledgeable, often academics, and very passionate about the subject matter. Also very responsive to questions..
One disappointment I have experienced is that many of the presentations focus primarily on history and architectural sites (or paintings in some), with minimal attention to the lives of the people of a place. This is a contrast with Rick Steves’s video programs, which stress local people, their personalities and daily lives. Personally, while I value and enjoy the historical figures, arts and architecture, etc., my interests are much more geared toward lifestyles of communities. .

Larry, I’m glad to hear that you’ve really enjoyed the Context seminars which you’ve taken and have participated in the Q&A’s. It sometimes still amazes me that I can ask questions of an expert somewhere overseas in a live session. In one seminar, there were only eight learners so at the beginning of the Q&A session, we were encouraged to unmute ourselves and (if we wished) turn on our videos while asking questions. Several of us got to ask a couple of questions each of this expert in Italy. And the experts are so enthusiastic about their subject matters. They are actually disappointed if there aren’t any questions already in the chat at the beginning of the Q&A section. If that happens, the questions usually proliferate after that.

As far as the seminars not focusing on specific people, I guess you can continue to balance things out by watching Rick's videos where he has conversations with locals (experts and otherwise).

I should mention for the benefit of those who haven’t yet checked out Context’s seminars, that they also offer seminars in locations all over the world - not just Europe. (I have no connection with Context other than being a customer. Just trying to help all of you dealing with the symptoms of extended travel deprivation.)