Just when we were ramping up again for business networking, spring fun and frolic, concerts, and patio lunches all of us globally have been very suddenly relegated to “Healthy at Home” social distancing status.  Two trade shows cancelled, multiple community meetings indefinitely postponed, even SXSW and Derby until maybe September they say!?? No juleps, no spring hats, no ponies….

So this is what they mean now by going viral?  We are beginning newly defined work in the age of a possible pandemic.

Most surprising during Covid-19 have been the efforts to reconnect. Calls from senior friends and relatives joking about being “in lock up” and to send more craft supplies.  All of the airlines sending email begging us to fly.  A personal call from a business banker checking on our business after only the second week.  Are we alive?  Are we working?  Do we need anything?

Truthfully, we said we had lost a couple of marketing clients temporarily but happily gained some business coaching client projects trying to find their way through the current economic crisis.  We have familiarized ourselves with the online forms and paperwork steps needed to coach some people through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan process with the SBA.  It is pretty much like preparing a fresh business plan, just a bit darker in tone.  You are telling the lender numerically how you plan on finding your way during the pending economic crisis and how you plan to stay in business.  Very challenging to coach someone through it.  A deep dive into crisis management.

We have also been watching the daily 5 pm fireside chats with Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear to check for updates for updating client social media accounts.  He has become an overnight meme celeb with his empathy and his tough talk to get bingo parlors in Pikeville to shutdown to protect their clients and encouraging all of us to flatten the curve.

We learned a new hashtag:  “#doomsurfing” and have resolved not to do any more of it just before bedtime.

The biggest business lesson has been finding inner resolve to stay positive within a now very, very quiet office and resisting the urge to binge the daily firehose of negative news.  Staying productive, doing some computer updates and consolidating computers with some data migrations, catching up on paperwork, finally reading all of the slides from last year’s Pubcon workshops and tackling a few new virtual management workshops will be on the top of the list.  Maybe a little distance walking, garden weeding, and furniture restoration in the garage on the back side.  And of course, we welcome your cheery phone calls:  859 816 5176.

Stay healthy.  We will be meeting face to face again soon.