2 minutes
Pace your ‘peopling’ and follow the event guidelines.
In-person learning is back!
This is a celebration, to be sure.
The period of pandemic restrictions has felt long to many—like me—who love to connect with CUES members, learn in person and check out a new part of the world in the process. CUES shares your enthusiasm for safely traveling to see industry peers and learn new things now that the vaccine rollout is well underway, cases are falling in many areas and the list of protocols to follow is being shortened.
If you’re thinking of heading out to do some invaluable in-person learning and networking, I have two suggestions for you: Pace your “peopling” and follow the event’s COVID-19 guidelines.
Pace Your ‘Peopling’
Even extroverts like me have spent the last year largely with members of our immediate household. Some of us have started to expand our social events to include being with small groups of people. But most of us have not been in a large-group setting in a long time—and certainly not for an entire day.
That’s why my top tip for returning to in-person learning is to pace yourself. While the hubbub of airports, hotel check-in, and event sessions, meals and networking will all feel tremendous, we might tire more easily from spending time with people than we did in the past.
Suggested actions: You know how you learn best, so if you need breaks take them. You might want to stand in the back of the room for a while or walk a bit to stretch your legs. Maybe you need to get outside for a few minutes or listen to your new favorite song or podcast. Do it. You might even want to spend a few minutes in your room to refresh before heading out for the next dose of people.
Follow the Event Guidelines
Meeting planners, including the team of us here at CUES, are closely following the changing COVID-19 health guidelines as set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the local health officials where our events are being held. We’re also talking regularly with hotel and conference center staff members.
Our aim is to have a safe learning event for everyone. So, we’re developing guidelines to protect everyone’s health—and updating them regularly as more data becomes available.
Suggested actions: Follow the guidelines. Go to the CUES website to see our latest ones.
I look forward to seeing you on site!
P.S. If you’re not quite ready to travel for in-person learning, CUES has you covered with wonderful digital learning opportunities. Here are my tips for making the most of that!
Sara Dyer is director of executive education and meetings for CUES. In her role, she is responsible for the research, planning and execution of CUES’ conferences, seminars, and meetings. Previously, she served as the events & engagement manager at Member Loyalty Group, a member experience CUSO based in Chicago. She was also a member of the CU Water Cooler production team. Dyer has been in the credit union industry for almost 20 years and enjoys creating memorable learning experiences. In her free time, she enjoys crochet, reading, and running her high schoolers to every music lesson, play rehearsal and school event they find.
