What a wild ride it has been. Throughout the pandemic CTS continued to meet the first Saturday of every month at the same time as always, but in a virtual environment. After experimenting with conference calls, we settled on Zoom, and now we have it down to a science.
As things start to normalize (in theory) we now need to think about what the future holds. Meeting online offered a lot of benefits, including making it easier for past members who had left the DC area to reconnect with the group and for ongoing members who had long commutes to get to us to attend more frequently. It also enabled us to use technology like PowerPoint and Kahoot! Trivia in ways that wouldn't have been possible in person.
But we also missed getting to see each other face-to-face, enjoying organic side conversations and practicing reading for one another after the end of our formal presentations and meeting activities.
It became clear that CTS will need to have a hybrid format going forward, so we could have the best of both worlds. The question, though, was what that format would look like.
We surveyed our members to get their opinions on multiple options, which fell into two main umbrella categories: 1) an alternating schedule, where we stick to a single meeting each month in its traditional format, but alternate in-person and online every other month, or 2) online meetings every month with supplemental in-person activities. These supplemental activities could include a second monthly gathering without a structured presentation, or a quarterly special event, like a party or field trip.
The survey results were clear: An obvious majority of our membership wanted to stick to our traditional meeting format once a month, and to alternate between in-person and online meetings - so that's what we'll do!
Starting in 2022, meetings that take place in odd months will be online, and meetings that take place in-person will be in-person. This ensures our beloved December holiday party falls in an in-person month.
Obviously, the world is changing rapidly, and this is new territory for us, so we may need to make adjustments going forward. But, for now, we're happy to have settled on a solution that works well for our members.
