One Year Later

Can you believe it? This time last year I moved out of NYSAE headquarters at Kellen on Lexington Avenue and into my home office on Long Island. To think how just two weeks earlier we were at the Marriott Marquis with over 500 association and hospitality execs for Meet New York, followed by an amazing evening at the Lunt-Fontane Theater for Tina, the Tina Turner Musical. Then it was March and NYSAE had just completed its public affairs workshop with Venable in the Building Trade Employers’ Association’s (BTEA) conference room. I recall the details like it was yesterday. We knew very little about the coronavirus, and I remember the NYSAE attendees were fist-bumping and elbow-bumping instead of shaking hands. No one could have predicted what would happen next.

The next few months of getting used to our new virtual working conditions are a blur, but I do recall how incredibly lucky we were that just a few months earlier Kellen had set up a global enterprise account with Zoom for all of their client associations and trained their employees in using the video conferencing software. So, despite all the uncertainty around us, the NYSAE team was prepared and excited to use the technology.

We were able to quickly kick into gear and launch two virtual programs in March and branded them the Engagement Lounge. The first was “Predictions for COVID-19 Recovery” and the second “Meetings, Special Events and Trade Shows.” That first month of lockdown was a new beginning of a slow and steady stream of virtual programs NYSAE would produce. By the time the summer rolled around, all our members and strategic partners were experts at producing virtual programs via Zoom, and every week I was invited to either a morning health and wellness event or an after work happy hour with trivia.

When will COVID-19 end? Experts are unsure, but here we all are one year later and we’re surviving a pandemic. As the snow melts and the vaccine continues to roll out, I remain optimistic. NYSAE and its community will continue to innovate and gather safely as NYSAE committees continue to meet and work on a 2021 calendar packed with groundbreaking virtual programming. In the meantime, we are scheduled for live events in the fall starting with Meet NY on September 30 and the Synergy Awards on October 29. I hope to see you in person this year!

Stay safe and healthy,

Holly

 

Holly Koenig, Senior Vice President, Kellen
CEO, New York Society of Association Executives
hkoenig@kellencompany.com