COVID-19 (the coronavirus) is forcing everyone to adjust. That goes for everything…even this blog. We created this space to provide a glimpse into the progress being made throughout the OneFPA Network beta-test with 11 FPA chapters, but the new reality we find ourselves in means the original game plan needs to be adjusted as FPA and all of our chapters (not just the beta-test chapters) try to adapt to the current situation.
While the pandemic is causing headaches for many FPA local and national volunteer leaders and staff, it is presenting a unique opportunity to explore how we are adapting on the fly to keep our operations going and continuing to serve our members. We are in a position to use this space to see how some FPA chapters are changing things up so we can learn from each other. In fact, we shared a recent video interview on this blog with Steve Weiss, chapter executive for FPA of New Jersey, about the chapter’s decision to make their annual Spring Symposium a virtual event and, more importantly, how they were able to make the change quickly. But FPA of NJ isn’t alone (obviously) as other chapters are also adjusting. One of those chapters is FPA of Metro New York.
FPA of Metro New York also had their Annual Symposium planned for this month but acted quickly with some support and guidance from FPA national staff to postpone their event for later in the year. In this video discussion, we explore this decision with Rob Hernandez, CFP®, president of FPA of Metro New York, and Clary Delano, chapter executive of FPA of Metro New York. And because the discussion also explored other ways the chapter is working to virtually connect members to content – and each other – we decided to focus this post (a.k.a. Part 1) on their Annual Symposium and will do a second post (a.k.a. Part 2) on April 20 that looks at the other virtual programs the chapter is working on. Enjoy!