Curt Wilson, AIA
Executive Vice President / CEO
A Google search of the term “COVID 19 Unprecedented Times” has more than 64 million results, so it may be overused, but I don’t know a better description. As the Executive VP/CEO of a state chapter of a professional organization, I recognize our members aren’t looking to AIA Oregon as a primary source to help you live through this, but we aim to provide you resources to help address some of the difficulties you are experiencing in your firms. This message is intended to update you on how AIA Oregon is trying to provide assistance.
Event Schedule
All engagements, including video conference calls, meetings, and events have been cancelled through the end of March so our leaders, volunteers, and staff can focus on health, family, and community. At this time, we have cancelled all in-person meetings and events from April through mid-May, but we have not cancelled meetings that can occur through video conference calls. As circumstance change daily, we may change our approach to scheduling, and if we do, we will post it to our website.
Follow this link to learn more about our current management approach to event scheduling and operations.
Resources
We added a Resource page to our website over the last few months, and recently added a COVID-19 page. We’ve organized the page into the following categories: Stay Informed, Workplace, Business Support, Social Health and Engagement, and Legal and Insurance. All of us are receiving an abundance of information on COVID-19 and our intend with these resources is to provide information that seems useful to the architectural community in Oregon. If you have suggestions for additional information, please send it to me at cwilson@aiaoregon.org. Conversely, if you concerned with content and/or sources we are linking to, please contact me.
Communication
We will continue to issue this weekly enewsletter every Thursday at 3:00, and for the near future, the content will be focused on helping all of us get this painful moment. We will also manage our website daily to provide access to useful information and changes to our event schedule. However, we recognize you are all overloaded with emails and other sources of information, so we won’t send email blasts unless something in the judgement of the board or I is determined necessary.
What’s Happening
I reached out to some of you recently to ask you to share your observations and how your firm is managing the work situation. The responses are very similar, and these are the highlights:
Working from home is very common. While some firms have shut their offices and requiring staff to work elsewhere, some offices remain open with a combination of work from home and work from the office.
Firms are rapidly responding to the remote work arrangement by purchasing more devices and/or updating firewalls and anti-virus protections. Some are moving to cloud-based services because those protections are incorporated. Most firms are expanding their video conference and/or chat apps to better connect remote teams.
Where staff is still present in offices, some firms are enacting procedures to manage social distancing guidelines. This includes reducing the number of chairs around tables, eliminating multiple people sitting together to view a workstation screen, and consistent use of disinfectants.
The implementation of construction phase services is challenging because site visits are a primary component to CA. Many teams are exploring with Facetime and similar services that allow someone off site view on site work.
I’ve heard a few comments that General Contractors are discussing considering reducing the work force on site to better enable social distancing guidelines. The expected result will be extended construction schedules.
The status of projects reported to me varies. A few firms mentioned some projects are going on hold, but more report no change to project schedules. Some have expressed concerns that due to circumstances, including work from home, difficulties in scheduling project meetings with clients and consultants, and difficulties in submitting for permits, that it will be difficult to maintain project schedules. Check the COVID-19 Resources for advice about contractual schedule obligations.
Please send me a message if you would like to share your observations and experiences.
Engagement
I’ve worked from home the last two days, which my dogs thoroughly enjoy because I’m liberal with the treats, but even they’ll get bored with the situation in a few weeks. For those of you with school age kids at home, are they ready to go back to school? As we move forward, AIA Oregon staff is exploring options to help you better engage with others in our community of architects, and remote access replacements for our continuing education programs. We’ll update you on our progress.
AIA Oregon uses the messaging service Slack to connect our committees and leadership teams. We encourage our members currently part of committee channels to engage and share during this time, and we encourage others to join our Slack community to engage in conversations to help us get through this. If you aren’t in Slack, but interested in being added to the AIA Oregon Slack work space, please send a request to info@aiaoregon.org.
If you have any ideas of suggestions for how AIA Oregon can support you and our other members during these unprecedented times, please reach out to me at cwilson@aiaoregon.org, or message me in Slack.
Sincerely,
Curt Wilson, AIA
Executive VP/CEO