Looking Back at the 2020 Virtual Summit T
he 2020 PSA Summit and Trade Show was months in the planning and was coming together seamlessly with the Hyatt Regency Schaumburg as the backdrop for a wonderful week of continuing education. We were preparing for the U.S. Open, rating exams, networking with fellow coaches and trade show vendors, and attending the many social events plus the multitude of things to do in Chicago. The theme was “20/20 Coaching Vision: A New Perspective on Coaching.” Well, then came March 2020 and COVID-19 hit. We had to scramble as events all around us were being cancelled because of the pandemic. We had great content already planned around four session series: 1) Professionalizing the Profession – focus on professionalism, 2) Technique Acuity – technical detection and correction, 3) Rules and Programs – rules in view for coaching success, and 4) Sport Sciences – coaching with athletes in sight and mind. PSA was committed to the health and safety of its members, registrants, and presenters, so the decision was made to transition to a virtual event. The schedule was modified and all presenters were contacted to see if they would be willing to be a part of the inaugural “PSA Virtual Summit.” Our PSA Summit Chairs Tim Covington, Becky Stump, and Teri Hooper stepped up to serve as showrunners for the event. Tim Covington said “Working on the summit during the pandemic was a Godsend for me. I was able to devote my time and passion for skating in
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the middle of this crazy turn of events into a Virtual Summit. It was so much fun being behind the scenes and working with the presenters. And best of all I learned and learned and learned!” “I was so honored to be asked to be a 2020 Summit Showrunner and my biggest hope was that I could live up to the enormous job I was given and help direct a positive strong education for all members. Yes, it was a success and a Summit to remember. I now am looking forward to 2021 when we will hopefully be able to all be together again,” shared Teri Hooper. Becky Stump reminisced saying “it was such a joy to work alongside the U.S. Figure Skating, the USOPC, the PSA Staff, and our Summit presenters to build this Summit! We all became a team, working together and discovering new ways to bring quality education to our coaches.” The virtual summit was a huge success with a total of 974 registrations by the end of the week and with registrations still coming in on the PSA TV platform. Nine of the registrants were judges, and coaches registered from all over the world including Canada, Mexico, Europe, South America, Asia, and of course from the U.S. Some presentations were recorded “live” while others were prerecorded. Perhaps the best part of going virtual is that all sessions can be viewed over the next year. All registrants were awarded 35 PSA educational credits for attending the Summit. PSA Senior Director of Coaching Development Heidi Thibert stated “I
think that what we all learned was that all the years of collective coaching experience of problem-solving and creative-thinking enabled the PSA staff, showrunners, presenters, and coaches who registered for the Virtual Summit the ability to pivot from a traditional event to something we never thought possible—a widely popular and effective educational event—completely online!” Maude White, a PSA member since 1959, had this to say: “I liked the fact that the presentations were all recorded and that you could go back and review them again when you have time. I always love Christy and I really like what Janet has to say as it’s easy to get to. Although we weren’t able to see people in person, we saw them in a different way.” The fact that the summit was presented virtually gave many more coaches the opportunity to attend because they did not need to travel. One coach from Europe was in the middle of moving back to the United States. The Virtual Summit was the perfect solution to fit into her timetable and not conflict with her schedule. “I love that the Summit was presented virtually this year. What a gift to have a full year to grasp every last bit of information given!” commented Diane Miller. Betsy Wilson shared her feedback saying “presentations could be watched at your convenience and when I
