ASK YOUR BOARD
Ask Your Board
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sk Your Board is a new feature that will run in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Quarter issues of Welding & Gases Today. The purpose of Ask Your Board is to ask common business questions that all GAWDA members might be dealing with and to see how GAWDA’s Board of Directors are dealing with these issues within their own companies. To submit a question for GAWDA’s Board Members to consider, please email steveg@gawdamedia.com THE QUESTION
How has your communication, both internal and external, evolved over the past year? Are there any changes that were made that you anticipate continuing long-term?
ABYDEE BUTLER MOORE 2021 GAWDA PRESIDENT Butler Gas Products We really upgraded our communications technology in 2020, learning and embracing new (to us) platforms like Zoom, RingCentral, Online Meeting, and Teams. We also remembered the personal health and wellness side of safety, connecting with our colleagues on deeper levels and having their backs. We communicated with our customers however they chose, either in person or on video. We got creative with customer networking like park walks, outdoor 32 • Fall 2021
dining, and ski excursions. We also engaged further in the communications of our Associations. From sales training to safety roundtables, we leaned on GAWDA heavily throughout the bench depth of our organization. We learned many of these things in 2020 as necessity, like technology expansions and creative selling, yet kept them up through 2021 and plan to build upon them in years to come.
BOB EWING 2021 GAWDA PRESIDENT-ELECT Red Ball Oxygen Pre-pandemic, electronic meetings were rare. Now, for better or for worse, they have become a standard method of communicating. We now have regularly scheduled calls on Microsoft Teams, and frequent video “huddles” throughout the day, as needed. It’s no substitute for face-to-face, but it does help us shrink the perceived distance between HQ and our branches. These tools can be over-used, but I think, overall, they have improved collaboration and teamwork.
BRAD PETERSON 2021 GAWDA FIRST PAST PRESIDENT Mississippi Welders Supply Company, Inc. We assembled a small group in the very early stages of the pandemic that enabled us to look at multiple facets of our operation and communicate very quickly throughout the
