From Where I Stand

School’s out for summer. ly googling how to figure out corresponding angles of a trapezoid.

School’s out forever. Almost every school across the entire country pivoted to an e-learning curriculum. Was it ideal? No. Was it perfect? No. Was it frustrating

School’s been blown to pieces. and maddening at times? Yes. Does my kid know how to determine -Alice Cooper corresponding angles of a trapezoid without Googling? Yes, well, maybe. School ended this year on a whimper. The State of Illinois has an extremely science Normally, the last few days of school are filled and data-based, methodical 5-Phase plan to reopen with finals, field days, locker clean-ups, and graduIllinois called Restore Illinois. As I write this, we are ation parties. Wound-up kids count down the final moments before they burst out of the school doors to freedom, glorious freedom. Yearbooks are currently in phase 3 and inching closer and closer to Phase 4. Then, there is a big jump to Phase 5 where signed. Tearful hugs are given. Kids promise to basically life returns to normal. COVID-19 may not stay in touch. The next three months are all about be entirely gone, but we either have a vaccine, effecfree time, lazy summer jobs, air conditioning, and tive treatment that decreases its lethality, or have case having no particular place to go. counts near zero with adequate testing and contact

This year begged the question, “Can school be tracing to stamp out hotspots. Most of ILCA’s most out if it was never really in?” For any parent forced popular education and networking events lie in Phase into “e-learning” this year, it was normal to have 5. For us, it cannot come fast enough. five family meltdowns even before breakfast. On Yet, the first 3 months of COVID-19 showed us its face, e-learning seemed simple enough. I have a that ILCA is not just the producer of education and 2nd grade son and a 5th grade daughter. We were networking events. We kept this industry working not talking about advanced physics and trigonomwith our advocacy. We kept our industry well-funded etry. My son had simple spelling sheets and mulVirtual with our immediate embrace of the PPP. We kept our industry safe through passing along safety guidelines, tiplication tables, my daughter had social studies and basic geometry. No problem. In my mind, the Reality testing information, and training modules. Like so many primary and secondary schools, we didn’t just kids would plow through their assignments while I wave goodbye and say, “See ya in Phase 5!” We banged away at my computer in my non-essential spent hours on webinars and reading dense CDC home office. We’d all meet for lunch and they’d fill guidelines and federal regulations so we could extract me in on the educational journey they went on that morning. Yeah, the small nuggets that would be valuable to busy landscape profesthat never happened. sionals. We became information brokers and gatekeepers knowing our

If you were lucky, it would only take 45 minutes to get past the members could only handle so much at a time. “E” in e-learning. My kids’ assignments were buried in a patchwork As weeks bled off the calendar, ILCA braced itself for what will of 3rd party apps, many of which I am convinced have already stolen be a wild year. ILCA staff attended a number of webinars on virtual my kids identities. A friend posted a meme after another brutal day event strategies and platforms. One of the best told us that immediateof e-learning. It showed a frustrated parent with the instructions from ly researching platforms was the absolute worst way to proceed. You the teacher, “Just log into Zablezoot, scroll down to the Zorki app and will simply recreate the e-learning nightmare of Zablezoot, Zorki, have the kids work through the assignments sent through Kracklezam Kracklezam, Drumblkick, and Doodlebob. We will get lost in the or check the link posted in Drumblekick.” That was every morning. “how” and never ask ourselves the “who” or the “why.” Instead, the My son would helplessly hand me his tablet and I’d spend 40 minutes advice was for smart organizations to do a self-assessment on what its screaming at the screen like I was trying to diffuse a time bomb. members want and need from virtual events before ever considering

E-learning combined all the fun of school with the joy of remema platform. We knew this exercise would add weeks to our RFP probering log-ins and passwords. I just wanted to touch a physical text cess, but it would leverage ILCA’s greatest asset - our organizational book again. Feel its weight and riffle its pages. I wanted to see pages structure. and pages of charts and graphs and horrible stock photos from the ILCA has over 20 standing committees that are overseen by 1970s where every math problem seemed to involve dividing up a a Board of Directors. Further, a special subcommittee called the pizza. Professional Oversight Committee performs a metric-based process to

The morning Zoom calls with our kids’ teachers turned into determine if our committees are hitting their objectives. This bottomfull scale parental mutinies. You’d hear parents off-screen trying up structure is why ILCA succeeds. It relies on 200+ volunteers a to whisper to their kids, “Ask her how you print assignments from year, but is the reason this association can do so much with a staff of DoobleBob” and the kid would translate, “My Mommy wants to 5 and a reasonable budget. The Board authorized the staff to work know how you squint at breath mints in BobbleDoop.” The first with our committees to determine each of their audiences’ needs and month was an unmitigated disaster. My goals for my kids dropped if meeting those needs would work in a virtual environment. All had from “use technology to excel in a flexible home school environment” to complete a detailed questionnaire and that data was fed into an to “hold the line” to “knowing the alphabet is overrated, anyway.” RFP spearheaded by staff.

Lo and behold, we eventually got through it. My son’s teacher For some events, it was a no-brainer. Clearly, the Golf Outing gave up and finally mailed everyone a paper packet. My daughter is not going to work in a virtual environment and is being reschedwas sharp enough to figure out her apps just like she teaches Grammy uled for next spring. Other committees have programs where their how to use the Comcast remote when she comes over to babysit. We audience is used to online learning and will transition more readily. eventually built daily schedules and didn’t hide the fact we were totalFurther, they have had speakers they have not been able to attract The Landscape Contractor July 2020

because of budget or travel constraints who can now participate in their programs. Turf Education Day and the Impact Conference will press forward with virtual events this fall. Other committees are looking at alternative ways to bring content whether through a webinar series, standalone webinars, specialty publications, or additional resources. All of our committees have been spending hours deliberating the pros and cons so the ILCA can continue to bring value to our members until we reenter Phase 5.

I will be the first to admit that associations are slow to react. We are methodical and have multiple layers of oversight designed to protect us from going down rabbit holes. Further, we have an obligation to the silent majority of the membership who vote with their dues. I have never seen the Association react so quickly to a crisis and also to the commitment to evolve along with our members’ needs. I now need to ask for three things from the membership.

First, I need to ask for your trust. ILCA is still committed to advancing our mission and exposing the membership to the best educators, speakers, and minds our industry has to offer. We will use alternative formats until it is safe to return to in-person gatherings. We will work around the schedules and constraints of busy professionals who are already dealing with Zoom and webinar fatigue. We will not rush forward with junk content or clutter that merely allows us to check a box. We want to deliver the same value you have come to expect from 61 years of ILCA programming and education.

Second, I ask for your patience. As we explore this new space, we will make mistakes. There will be technical glitches. There will be formats that worked well on paper that don’t work well in action. We will learn from these missteps and provide programs that respect your time and your dollars.

Third, I ask for your support. The ILCA is in uncharted waters. We have a diversified budget based on dues, sponsorships, advertising, and, yes, event registrations. We are not eligible for the PPP. We are not going to double the price of membership. We are going to head out into the darkness with a budget, a Strategic Plan, a dedicated staff, and 200 of the sharpest and most selfless volunteers in the landscape industry. We are relearning our association and business model in real-time. I ask that we close the circuit and our members are there to guide and shepherd us like ILCA has done for the industry since March.

In a few weeks, we will pass July 15th. That date serves as the first lull in the landscape season (well, “lull-ish”). That is when school for the ILCA is back in session. Our e-learning will begin. It will look and feel different. Out of the gate it may cause frustration and confusion. Please have trust and patience in our ability to make things right. ILCA will approach the virtual space like we do the physical space. Our Board, staff, and army of volunteers will work tirelessly to make sure you and your teams are educated, connected, inspired, and ready to face the challenges of your jobs. We will make you proud, so don’t be late for class.

Regards,

Scott Grams Executive Director, ILCA June 18, 2020