No. 3.2: PRESERVATION WEBINARS
Well this past year has been one that I don’t think any of us will forget. The year 2020 carries a weight that will be difficult to release. I don’t think I need to go into all of the details. You have had to be living in a bubble to miss the chaos of last year. In March of 2020, we received the green light to start working from home. As a homebody, I had been waiting on this day. For the most part, I remained productive throughout my 8 hour work days. The transition was seamless considering everything that was occurring in the world. In my off hours, I found things to keep myself occupied. This was a prime time for me to indulge in all that I enjoyed to do in the comfort of my own home.
As I was adjusting, the rest of the world was adjusting as well. Companies were embracing the virtual environment swiftly in order to maintain their performances. Organizations were taking advantage of our new normal by offering their content more frequently via the virtual environment it seemed. My email inbox was quickly getting filled with webinar offers that covered varying preservation topics. I was reacquainted with mailing lists that I had forgotten I signed up for. My evenings weren’t boring but rather informative. At one point, I was on a webinar at least once a week. Whether it was a discussion about a case study offered through the University of Kentucky Historic Preservation Graduate Certificate program or it was a session from the Brown v. Board series offered through the National Trust for Historic Preservation: Preservation Leadership Forum, I was exposed to a wealth of information to add to my resources.
I couldn’t catch all of the webinars. Depending on the time of day the webinar was offered, sometimes I would catch bits and pieces of a discussion as I read through my work emails. Nonetheless, the offering of preservation content in the virtual environment has been beneficial for staying abreast to the current preservation conditions as the world has been going through drastic events. Despite the heaviness of what was occurring, I managed to make the most of finding the rays of light that peaked through the darkness. The webinars were a resource that helped fill the idle voids.
