Page 58 - FDCC Flyer Summer 2021

Craig Marvinney Walter Haverfield Cleveland, OH
Frank Ramos Clarke Silverglate Miami, FL
The whirlwind came in mid-March 2020. COVID-19 shut down our physical offices and halted travel. Abrupt short term interruptions proved long term. Our business and individual culture suddenly disrupted. Even handshakes became shunned. Remote offices ruled. Physical isolation was preferred as public venues became ghost towns.
the tempestuous changes roiling the American economy.
We learned to communicate
and fellowship remotely. Using available technology and combining smart phones, texting, and social media, along with the seemingly new “Zoom”, we created and strengthened bonds that previously relied on in-person interactions. As an organization, we learned we could meet many of our members’ needs during these COVID times – not in person, but virtually.
Through President Mike Glascott’s leadership, the officers saw the opportunity for the FDCC to take charge of the virtual space. To find ways to meet the ‘value proposition’ for our members confirming FDCC exceptionalism despite the constant change cascading across the country.
This gave rise to the Virtual Programming Committee, the “VPC” -- to extend FDCC excellence into the virtual space and set the path for the Federation’s eventual transition back to in-person meetings once the COVID crisis abates. As a result, the VPC touches every facet of programming within the FDCC delivered in any fashion to its members. While the core
VPC works in the background of much of the FDCC’s programming seen since the crisis began, the extended committee is formed of leaders throughout the Federation from the leaders of many FDCC committees and sections as well as varying constituencies from within the organization impacted by programming.
The VPC established new programming designed to nourish our members’ relationships, such as the Weekly Speakers Series, the FedReads book club, and “Table
Every voluntary bar association faced an avalanche of canceled conferences and seminars. For us the pandemic was unprecedented. Yet through all this, our FDCC retained our adaptability, found our resilience, and became quite resolute, moving forward despite
56 summer | federation flyer
www.thefederation.org
FDCC News
Controlling COVID’s
Cascade of Change
FDCC’s Virtual Programming Committee Works to Set the Path to Our In-Person Return
By Craig A. Marvinney and Frank Ramos