At the beginning of the webinar Marg Lange, the host of the webinar series, Survival to Relaunch, introduces the panelists to the audience and giving an overview of how networking has changed due to COVID-19 on Oct. 14, 2020.
COVID-19 has changed the way people interact, network and hold meetings with each other all over the world. It is a global pandemic that has changed the world in many different ways.
To protect people from contracting COVID-19, North America went into lockdown in the middle of March. Ever since then, things in the world haven’t been the same.
To stop the spread of COVID-19, the Alberta government has implemented gathering restrictions. There are now restrictions on how many people are allowed to gather for worship services, restaurants, cafes, bars, casinos and trade shows.
To reduce the risk of catching COVID-19 at gatherings, it is recommended that you: wear a mask, don’t leave your house if you’re experiencing any symptoms of COVID, stagger arrival and departure times, wash your hands often and frequently clean surfaces that are touched often.
When it comes to business meetings and networking, there are also restrictions in place. A webinar series called Survival to Relaunch that happened Oct. 14, 2020, discussed how networking and business operations have changed due to COVID-19.
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Jordan Clark, the CEO and managing partner of Face2Face Meetings & Incentives hopes that virtual meetings will have a positive impact on people.
“My hope is that as meeting professionals across the world get more involved in meetings, that also the quality of the meeting goes up itself and therefore, we’ll have more of them.”
Clark has several years of experience in virtual meetings.
“From the attendee perspective, everyone is tired of zoom, we’ve been using zoom for eight years in our business. I personally have in my last two roles. It’s a norm for me.”
Serina Bird, the founder of The Joyful Business Club misses face-to-face meetings.
“It is so nice to meet people face-to-face.”
Mary Sparksman, the Managing Director of YRD in Queensland thinks conducting meetings virtually is a good idea.
“We do a lot of virtual meetings and people are loving it.”
The general consensus of all three panelists is that people won’t take face-to-face interactions with each other for granted and meetings need to be made meaningful for people.
In Lethbridge, the way meetings are conducted has also changed due to COVID-19.
For city council meetings, there is a limit on how many people can be present. However, viewing arrangements have been in the City Hall atrium and meetings are also livestreamed and recorded on the city’s website.
Since public hearings happen during council meetings, they follow the same procedures. They are also streamed online through the city’s website.
Most council boards, commissions and committees are postponing their meetings for the time being.
For audience-type outdoor events, there is a maximum of 200 people allowed in attendance. Festivals, sporting events and outdoor performances fall into this category.
For other outdoor events and indoor audience events, a maximum of 100 people are permitted to attend.
For indoor social gatherings a maximum of 50 people are allowed to attend.
