By DAVID CHAUVIN //
March marks the one-year anniversary of widespread shutdowns because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll read many articles and essays grappling with the implications of this moment, trying to make sense of the indescribable pain experienced by millions during the last 12 months. It’s crucial that we take this time to remember what’s been lost.
I’ve been extremely fortunate, in so many ways. My family has stayed healthy. I work for a company that has prioritized my family’s health and safety by allowing me to work primarily remotely for the last year. I’m eternally grateful for my good fortune and the kindness of the people surrounding me.
But as another month goes by working from home, I can’t help but truly miss the countless media friends and colleagues I’ve made over the years.
The last 12 months have been all Zoom-meeting crashers and conference-line confusion, all masks and distance, at least during the few events that didn’t “go virtual.” There are people I saw every day for years that I haven’t seen in person in 12 months – it’s totally surreal and totally typical for millions of professionals around the country.
Writing these columns for Innovate LI has been a meaningful and valuable experience over the past several months, helping to keep me plugged in and engaged to the most salient Long Island media stories, even while eschewing many traditional media events. The Long Island media family did a remarkable job adapting its regular events to the virtual space, but one thing I genuinely miss about pre-pandemic life is my once-booked calendar of networking events.
David Chauvin: Up close and personal.
Virtual events have their merit. But they’ll never match the efficacy, or charm, of traditional, in-person networking.
Networkers have been the backbone of Long Island’s business community; COVID-19 nearly eliminated them overnight. I used to dread the parking situation at Crest Hollow Country Club, the traffic all the way to Oheka Castle – now I’d pay extra to go.
It seems like almost every week I’d attend some executive breakfast or congratulate winners at some awards ceremony or celebrate young professionals on some power list. Typically, around this time of year, I’d be preparing for one of my favorites: the Long Island Association’s annual State of the Region Executive Breakfast.
The importance of such networking events – of rubbing shoulders with industry colleagues – cannot be overstated. As we reflect on the one-year anniversary of the pandemic shutdowns, I anxiously await the chance to fill my schedule once again.
But what will the post-COVID networking event look like? Even with vaccinations increasing daily, and restrictions loosening all over the country, mask mandates and limited indoor capacities are likely to remain for the foreseeable future. And people will be understandably apprehensive about jumping back into normal social situations; organizers will have to keep this in mind.
Not every event scheduled in the second half of 2021 will be virtual, but many will be modified. Social and professional events will need to be structured, coordinated get-togethers. That will take some getting used to for those of us who appreciated the laisse-faire vibe of past events, but it’s not a deal-breaker – if 2020 taught us anything, it’s that Long Island media professionals are capable of adapting.
It’s not farfetched to imagine that by this time next year, the world will be back to normal. We’ll be choking down dry event-hall chicken, lousy coffee and disappointing pastries. We’ll be bemoaning the commute home on the Northern Expressway and lamenting how the Mets have underachieved once again, all while passing out press packets. I can’t wait.
David Chauvin is executive vice president of ZE Creative Communications.
I hope you are right, David. I, too, miss in-person networking, workshops, executive breakfasts, and the like. What I think about is, what will be the rules of engagement? Dr. Fauci says the handshake is dead. See http://tiny.cc/8vlutz. Will it really be replaced by an elbow bump? And if the handshake is dead, then certainly so is the peck-on-the-cheek and the hug. We’re going to have to collectively as a society agree to a whole new set of greeting norms.