EXECUTIVE PERSPECTIVE Stay Safe and Healthy So much of our lives has been affected, from our social gatherings with friends and family to our workplaces and everyday activities such as running errands. It’s been no different here at ALOA for T board members and staff. During the COVID-19 public health threat, ALOA’s highest priority is the safety and peace of mind of our association and division members, our staff, our students and the public. We consider all of these people part of our ALOA family, and ALOA has the greatest concern for all of those im- pacted by the virus and those potentially affected either directly or indirectly. Convention Updates The situation with this pandemic is flu- id, and there is no blueprint on how to best move forward in these unique times. While some of your businesses have been affected with downtime, I understand that many of you are as busy as ever, and we are grateful for that. For those suffering financially or otherwise, our hearts go out to you. We want you to know that ALOA is taking this seriously and making changes to programs and events as needed. 6 KEYNOTES MAY 2020 here is no doubt that this has been a challeng- ing time for everyone, and it likely will continue to be in the near future. As you’re likely aware, we had to make the sad decision to cancel the SAFETECH Convention. As of this printing, we are still a go for the ALOA Convention at the end of July, but registration has been pushed back for now. We have moved the printing of the full registration brochure to the June issue of Keynotes, and online registration is delayed until then as well. For now, please continue to save the date and view all of the convention informa- tion available online at ALOA.org. We will send out updates to members as we have more information, so please keep an eye out for those communications. ALOA Operations While the world seems to be in limbo, here at ALOA, it’s business as usual — although we are mostly doing our work from home! Like many workplaces across the world, ALOA staff has been mostly working from their respective homes, but we continue to provide our members the same services we’ve always been able to. We are still here to answer your ques- tions, update your member profiles, send out materials and help you as needed. If you need anything at all, please do not hes- itate to contact [email protected]. For questions about future education events, please contact [email protected]. One education opportunity of note: see the What’s New article on our new online Fundamentals program. This is a great way to educate your new employees during this pandemic! ALOA board members have also been making use of remote conferencing, and they have been in constant communica- tion about emerging information. We will continue to consult with local health officials to determine the best course of action for any in-person events and gath- erings, from our own office operations to our conventions and classes. Please continue to check ALOA.org for updates, and we will keep our members and constituents informed of ongoing de- velopments. Stay healthy. Our thoughts are with everyone in getting through this challenging time. Please be there for each other, and we’ll continue to be a strong as- sociation for you now and in the future. Mary A. May Executive Director [email protected] WWW.ALOA.ORG
