AICC REPORT >>
AICC’s Life After COVID Will virtual be the accepted new meeting norm? By Lou Fiore, Chairman, AICC
To my amazement, some members who originally opposed AICC’s going online found the virtual venue more appealing. Among the reasons are less time away from the office and no travel to Washington, DC. But the lack of personal interaction is still given as one negative. It seems the positives outweigh the negative. At out our last meeting, I proposed that we try to have some meetings in person and some on-line. I proposed a 50-50 split. Perhaps we go on-line for the “bad weather” meetings, such as March and December.
I am sure, you will see many articles with a similar title. This is my version and it is somewhat directed to AICC’s future after COVID. It should be noted that these are only my views. A recent article in Security Systems News pointed out that the industry seems uncertain about attending industry events in 2021. Only 19 percent said they would attend an in-percent event, with 50 percent saying “maybe.” Surprisingly, 31 percent have already made up their minds that they are not traveling in 2021. They all seem to be waiting until the vaccination threshold reaches the “heard immunity” level. The recent CES show, billed as one of the largest shows in Las Vegas, was conducted entirely virtually. For years I have resisted having AICC go online, even in a hybrid form, i.e. in[24]
person but with some members on-line. The argument, not only from me, but from other members, was that we would miss the in-person interaction. But, suddenly and dramatically without a choice, we were thrust into an online “virtual” experience. For the record, we usually have four meetings a year – early in the months of March, June, September and December. We do our best to avoid any holidays, religious holidays, and any other industry functions. I like to joke I believe that we have made it when other organizations look at our meeting schedule to avoid a conflict. After some experimentation, we evolved to use Zoom Webinar for our morning session, which is usually the presentation portion, and a regular Zoom session for our afternoon portion, which tends to be more interactive.
I conducted an unofficial poll at our last AICC meeting, asking members how I should proceed. What came back is that whatever I decided was fine. At this point, no decision has been made, but I am leaning toward a hybrid schedule – two in person, two online. That is what 2022 will probably look like. That leads me to my main subject, Life after COVID. What will our world look like after the pandemic is in the rearview mirror? I believe we will see a fundamental change in our business world. We have gotten so adept at doing business virtually that the expense to revert to our previous world will take a long time and, frankly, may never happen. The AICC experience I related above is just such an example. With a new sense of apprehension, I believe we will see a revolution, more of an epiphany, in business travel that might last for a number of years. For those jobs that can “work from home,” a certain percentage, albeit small, have Spring 2021 | TMA Dispatch
