Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1367446
MAY 2021 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 13 Johnson: at's how I can get started. anks to the pandemic, we're now a year into using different methods and meeting styles. Are you finding that working virtual/online makes the meetings more accessible for volunteers right now? Or is it less accessible? Rowe: We have seen a lot of volunteers contrib- uting during task group meetings over the past year that we don't typically see in person, or they would have participated in a face-to-face meeting once a year prior to the pandemic. e cadence for meeting also changed. Some task groups were excited to be meeting every other month—in some cases every other week—to keep their projects moving. ey didn't want to lose the focus because we were all sitting at home in lockdown. ey wanted to keep pushing forward. I heard from a few people who said, "I'm so excited to just be able to see people again." Johnson: I know exactly what you're talking about. Rowe: One interesting thing I heard was about IPC APEX EXPO when we're in San Diego. Before, we were all on Pacific Time. We had to get up early, start at 8 a.m. for a meeting and end at 5 p.m. But now, sitting at home, it might be 2 a.m., and you are sitting in front of your computer for this committee meeting, and thinking, "Well, I'm here." And that's what I keep saying: "But, you're here. ank you so much for joining us no matter what time of the day it is in your time zone." Johnson: Nicely put. I'm hearing that there are about 3,000 volunteers working on commit- tees and standards. at is a lot of people! Rowe: It is. We're excited to have the support! Johnson: How is the morale amongst the vol- unteers and staff right now? You were just talk- ing about how some task groups are working virtually to maintain their momentum, push- ing hard, doing a lot of work. Does that seem to be the prevailing motivation or are there strug- gles as well? Rowe: It is the prevailing activity. Most peo- ple are anxious to keep moving forward. Our industry hasn't stopped and technology hasn't stopped. We have professionals looking for- ward to new things in our standards. We actu- ally have situations where people said, "I'm sitting here and don't have a lot to do in the evening. What action items can I do? Can I work on something? What can I do?" Turn- around time has been phenomenal. Now, obvi- ously, when that person is back at work, we have to be sensitive to that, right? But for the most part, it has been very good. We have seen very few groups say, "Hey, I want to take a break." ey will slow down a little bit, and then they'll ramp right back up. We do have some committees that published in January. While we were working on type- setting the document and getting it published, they were kicking off their next revision. Johnson: What are some of the key takeaways for you as far as how the IPC can use pandemic lessons to move forward in this sort of work? Rowe: I'm going to take a step back here and explain that we have a platform called IPC Works. It is a network for our committee par- ticipants. ey have an opportunity to look at any files we're working on. ere is a place for them to message each other. ey can reach out on chat. ey can become a working fam- ily for an activity. As awful as the pandemic has We have professionals looking forward to new things in our standards.