Division 7 Embraces Online Staff Meetings By Dave Rockwell, Flotilla 72

By Dave Rockwell, Flotilla 72, St Petersburg FL

The Division 7 staff , lead by Tony Novellino, Division Commander, and Kevin Buckley, Division Vice Commander, has embraced online video teleconferencing using Zoom, in place of face-to-face meetings. Most of the division staff offi cers have joined the meetings. The venue has proven to be extremely valuable in reinvigorating discussions and information exchange. Though Division Board of Directors, the Flotilla Commanders of the constituent fl otillas, have joined in on our division staff meetings. Online video conferencing has proven to be an extremely valuable tool for our division.

Faced with the restrictions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Division 7 ceased all our inperson meetings. At fi rst, we thought the situation would improve within a couple of months, so the division leadership decided to forego any awkward arrangement to get together. Many of our Auxiliary members fall within the high-risk groups for COVID-19 infection. Tony Novellino, adopted an “abundance of caution” approach, ensuring the division members were not exposed to the virus. As the ‘couple of months’ grew to half a year, it was evident that the Division 7 staff needed to meet in a forum where the latest information could be shared. Tony Novellino and Kevin Buckley used email dissemination eff ectively to keep people informed, but the personal touch was missing.

Many staff members recommended to the Division Bridge that we establish teleconferences as a means of meeting. John Robbins, Staff Offi cer-Information Services, recommended the Zoom video teleconferencing service. Others in the division had embraced online video teleconferences as a means of conducting training. Tony Hooper, Team Coordination Training Facilitator, used Zoom to conduct Team Coordination Training (TCT) refresher sessions to keep division operations staff current in Risk Management. Dave Rockwell, SO-CM, used another video teleconferencing service to conduct multiple sessions to the 2020 National Telecommunications Workshop. Some of the fl otillas have adopted online fellowship meetings to keep their members informed and motivated. Almost all of the division members embraced the new technology.

Division 7 held its fi rst online session Nov. 11, 2020, hosted by John Robbins and lead by Tony Novellino. Novellino announced the results of the division elections. Tony and Kevin will continue for another year. Tony told the team he was looking to formalize the roster of staff offi cers and contact each of the candidates. All those attending agreed that the meeting was extremely valuable. Some recommended that we consider the online format for future meetings even after the pandemic restrictions are lifted. Ω