EDUCATION Don’t Know What You Got ’Til It’s Gone homes. Phone and internet services had to be changed to work-from-home con- figurations, and each employee had to schedule a trip to the headquarters once a week for a limited time to gather what- ever they needed and leave items for other departments to gather. A Time for Change If there was a bright spot, it’s that the overall overhead of operating an 18,000-plus-square-foot building went down considerably. But along with the ups come the downs. While the building itself was not costing a lot in utilities and such — being empty, save a few hours a week — ALOA was forced to do some- thing that had not happened in its more than 60-year history: have its conferences (SAFETECH 2020, ALOA 2020 and IAIL 2020) derailed by a global pandemic. For the first time in over 15 years, the association was also unable to offer in-per- son training in Dallas or send instructors to our education partners and chapters. This was a huge financial burden to the association and an even larger burden on the psyche of those charged with provid- ing education and testing to the member- ship, which was still needed. It was also a blow to morale. The personal contact and interactions with old friends and new members at the classes and conventions are something everyone that has ever at- tended an ALOA, SAFETECH or IAIL training knows all about. It’s like a large family reunion. 54 KEYNOTES JUNE 2021 “ALOA 2021 is a full go at this point.” As discussed in previous issues of Key- notes, ALOA Education found a way to continue the education program through live and blended learning webinars. Testing has continued through ALOA- proctored Zoom sessions. Some new things have come from the time in quarantine (it feels like ex- ile sometimes). These include a success- ful podcast that will continue as long as there is interest and at least three new ALOA-published reference books on gen- eral locksmithing, legal matters for lock- smiths, boilerplate personnel manual and forms. And there are a few more things coming soon that will be designed to ca- ter to the membership but also enhance ALOA’s position in the industry. Back in the Saddle Okay, Aerosmith or Gene Autry doesn’t matter; this is the theme for 2021. While SAFETECH had to be rescheduled based on the protocols in Nevada and Reno spe- cifically, ALOA 2021 is a full go at this point. With July looming on the horizon, there seems to be no reason to believe it will be postponed or rescheduled as of this writing. There is a full slate of classes: some new, some classic and some older but revamped. The host hotel is a new venue for ALOA (contracted three years ago) and is be- ing very accommodating and looking forward to having us there. As a fam- ily destination, Orlando is nonpareil — with SeaWorld, Universal Studios and all the Disney properties along with the smaller attractions and proximity to the beaches 90 minutes to the east. And let’s not forget the Cape Canaveral area and Daytona’s famed high-banked speedway. Every bit of this makes Orlando a won- derful destination. I know some are still a bit circumspect when it comes to being in the close con- fines of an airplane. For those within a 1,000-mile radius of central Florida (from mid-Texas in an arc through upper New York), a road trip is an easy 15+/- hour drive with great highway and byway sys- tems that take the traveler near the many regional attractions that dot the landscape of this great country we love. And, oh yeah... the dot on the “i,” the cherry on the sundae, the icing on the cake is that we are back in the saddle with ALOA 2021! Enjoy all of the education, trade show, fellowship and fun in the sun. (Just make sure your theme doesn’t become “I Fought the Law and the Law Won.”) Jim Hancock, CML, CMST, is ALOA’s educat ion manager. You can reach him at [email protected] or (214) 819-9733. WWW.ALOA.ORG
