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As we mark the 82nd Maine Credit Union League Annual Meeting, it could be one that is seemingly unremarkable. It will have the perfunctory reports, updates, and votes that we are all used to, and perhaps take for granted. It will be much like the annual meetings before it, and time will march on until the next one.
Everything would seem the same, but it isn’t; everything is different.
It will be our first annual meeting held remotely and will mark what may be the start of our new normal. This is not to suggest that all of our future annual and other meetings will only be remote. They won’t. But it does pave the path for increasing options for engagement and enabling those that might not be able to otherwise to participate in League activities.
Just as your credit union has shifted to digital and remote service options because of COVID-19, the League has too. You’ve seen some of it already with our town hall calls, increased online education offerings, more website content, and heightened emphasis on our web-based Financial Fitness Fair. As COVID-19 persists, more will come in the form of committees, councils, and other networking done using web conferencing. At the annual meeting, we will make an announcement regarding online fundraising. All of our advocacy work is being done remotely and will continue that way for the foreseeable future.
We were doing the above before the pandemic and it is not new. What is new is the level of depth and breadth of our use of digital and remote service options to serve you. We are using them in ways we may not have otherwise like holding the annual meeting over the web.
As COVID-19 subsides, our use of digital and remote delivery will subside too. But not completely, and not back to the way it was. Why? My guess is that you won’t want it to. Coming together in-person will never go away. It is just too important. But coupling in-person meetings with digital connections will provide us even greater flexibility and opportunity to advocate, learn, and collaborate.
While I am looking forward to seeing you all face-to-face again, I am glad we are using the time we are physically apart to strengthen our digital services by marrying the high touch with the high tech. The result, the new normal, will mean an even better, more accessible association for you.