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| Businesses of all sizes face an unprecedented challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic as they balance business operations with employee and customer safety. Lyndsay Polloway '06, Vice President of Events at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, works to organize virtual events, meetings, and webinars for the Chamber so the organization can continue to provide timely information and practical updates to their national and international network of members. |
| Prior to the pandemic, Polloway and her team hosted 2,500 events for 65,000 people annually. During just the first three months of remote work, the team managed 500 events and reached 100,000 people online or through teleconferencing. |
| "It was a really fast turn for us," Polloway said. "Within the blink of an eye, you have an entire department that is not only learning to work as a fully remote team for the first time, they are also learning an entirely new skill and platform and means of communication." |
| In addition to a high volume of virtual events, the Chamber caters to a variety of audiences with unique interests and needs. Along with providing information on resources available such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the CARES Act, and Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, conversations have also shifted to workforce management, re-incentivizing employees to return to work, and structuring business operations so they are safe for the consumers and employees. |
| Along with providing a variety of content for business owners, the Chamber now structures events with a virtual audience specifically in mind. |
| "As we translate what was in-person content to a virtual audience, we are even more invested in being respectful of a participant's time and attention span. In this remote environment, people's time is actually more precious than it is in person," Polloway explained. "It is kind of a contradiction. People's attention spans are also a lot shorter right now due to all of the additional pressures that now exist at home, whether that's email or childcare. We are thinking about all that and focusing on it in a way that we may have not needed to before." |
| Although the work environment for the Chamber Events staff radically transformed over the past few months, their mission to help American businesses and the economy remains steadfast during an uncertain time. |
| "It feels very real and personal to the organization, especially with all the events that we are doing for small business owners and the number of members that we are able to serve at scale," Polloway said. "They are eager for information from trusted sources. It feels good to be the folks that are facilitating some of that information and allowing them to ask questions from a trusted source. We are serving and communicating with people individually and in real time, understanding their emotions, and working to solve for that. It is really fulfilling." |
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