These are trying times for everyone. It is abundantly clear that business, as usual, will not work in today’s world where everything we do has been turned upside down due to COVID-19 (the coronavirus). Social distancing, ‘stay at home’ orders and lockdowns are forcing everyone to rethink how they have been operating and what needs to be done to adjust. That includes businesses and associations…even FPA and our network of chapters.
Like most associations, FPA each year hosts dozens of national and local in-person events across the country. The new reality is forcing the association nationally, and our chapters locally, to either cancel events or find a way to make the events available virtually. From the technology to the speaker and sponsors to the attendees and delivering a great experience, there is a lot that goes into making the determination of whether an event can be held virtually. Across the association, we are all grappling with this issue.
FPA of New Jersey was planning to hold it’s Spring Symposium this month. Each year, the event draws hundreds of attendees from across the state and is a key revenue driver for the chapter. In light of the new reality, the chapter had to quickly pivot. To explain how the chapter navigated the challenge, we asked Steve Weiss, the executive director of FPA of New Jersey, to join us for a quick Zoom discussion (we are practicing social distancing!) on the steps the chapter took and how Steve was able to connect with his FPA staff colleagues to turn their annual in-person symposium into a virtual event.