EDUCATION It’s a Whole New World By Jim Hancock, CML, CMST to next year and how well it was received. This year, that won’t happen. What I can write is now real time. With the world in turmoil over the rapid spread of the Covid-19 virus, the total po- T 56 liticizing of who, what and where it started and the very real fear of losing jobs, business and homes, there is no joy in Mudville, and Mighty Casey never made it to the plate. But like so many other events in our history, this can become seminal moment, a defin- ing chapter in the history of mankind and the future of all things — including ALOA. The SAFETECH and ALOA conventions are the two sustaining events for the as- sociation. While Training Center classes, bookstore sales and PRP testing add to the pie, the biggest wedges of that pie are no longer available in 2020. And though the loss in revenue is troubling, the biggest concern for the ALOA Education department is, well, education. Without these classes, many people are being denied the opportu- nity to learn a new career or enhance their existing skills, both of which could lead to that loss of business, jobs, homes, etc. ALOA Education Webinars To help mitigate some of the loss of educational offerings — and yes, have a degree of financial gain for ALOA — we are offering one- to two-hour webinars on myriad subjects. These sessions have a live feed where you can see and talk to the instructor directly, ask questions and get real-time hands-on instruction. These sessions generally will range from $30 to $50 each and will be conducted during the week at various times to try to accommodate as many as possible in various time zones. Thus far, we have held two sessions on Ethics for the Locksmith, Small Format Interchangeable Core Pinning and Bypass and Basic Group 2 Safe Lock Service and KEYNOTES JULY/AUGUST 2020 his is the issue of the magazine where I am usually writing about all the great things that happened at the ALOA Conference in Whatever City, USA, and how we are all looking forward to next year. While it gets written beforehand, every word has been true re- garding how much we have enjoyed it, how much we look forward Combo Changing. Coming up, we have Basic Master Keying, Cabinet and Cam Lock Service, Basic Automotive, a more Advanced Master Keying session that will span three days, Life Safety Codes, Busi- ness 101, Corbin Russwin Core Pinning and many more. We are also — for a limited time — of- fering web-based PRP testing proctored by ALOA staff. The number of people who can take them and the number of tests al- lowed is limited, but with the testing cen- ters closed and normal online unavail- able, this is a great way to spend some slow or down time to get that credential or get it upgraded. We have a lot of new and (we feel) exciting ideas coming soon for mem- bers and non-members to help you with your business, from training and testing to new ideas that we hope will make your continued support of ALOA worthwhile. While we are indeed in a “Whole New World,” if you and your family wake up every day healthy and you have a job or sustained income to get you through, be thankful and say “Hakuna Matata.” And know that every day is a giſt, and good or bad is what you make it. Jim Hancock, CML, CMST, is ALOA’s educat ion manager. You can reach him at [email protected] or (214) 819-9733. WWW.ALOA.ORG
