News Detail

Resiliency

10/1/2021

Resiliency is important in many areas of human activity. In the world of structures, for example, disasters such as blasts, tornadoes, and earthquakes can endanger lives and quickly destroy years of work. Structures must therefore be designed with the resiliency necessary to resist extreme loading conditions. Even though these extreme events seldom occur, failure to plan for them can result in structural failure and the loss of life.

Similarly, people and organizations need resiliency to cope with unexpected events. This includes ACI. Covid continues to challenge our ability to remain nimble, efficient, and effective. In short, it continues to challenge our resiliency. In March 2020, the entire world was thrown into chaos by the Covid pandemic. ACI staff and leadership quickly modified plans for our Chicago convention and, in a matter of weeks, successfully transitioned it to a fully virtual event. Since then, we have continued to hope for a return to live conventions and other events, only to have our hopes derailed by Covid. Most recently, the decision was made in early summer to proceed with our Atlanta convention in a hybrid format—optional live or virtual attendance—which would have been our first live convention in 2 years. I was excited about that, as I’m sure many of you were. In fact, I wrote my September President’s Memo, titled “Convention Time!” about the convention activities we would be engaging in and the benefits that would accrue. It would have been an opportunity to connect once again and enjoy face-to-face contact. And then the Delta variant struck. Covid rates spiked, and the decision was reluctantly made by ACI leadership to transition our Atlanta convention to a fully virtual format. It was a difficult but necessary decision.

Looking ahead, there is little certainty regarding what the world will look like post-Covid. No one even knows when “post-Covid” will be. It’s possible that we will experience serious repercussions from the pandemic for many years. Although travel is returning and business is moving toward more normalcy, large events such as the conventions ACI has traditionally held might be in limbo indefinitely. We hope not, but no one knows.

Despite the questions swirling around Covid and the long-term impact it will have on people and organizations, one thing is certain: resiliency will be important. Very important. Going forward, ACI leadership and staff will need to remain nimble in our planning, efficient in our execution, and effective in our delivery of value to members and stakeholders. Nimble, because final go/no go decisions for our events might be delayed by unforeseen Covid-related issues; efficient, because our resources will need to be used wisely; and effective, because we need to adhere to our mission and maintain leadership in the concrete industry.

Now, here’s the bright side. First, ACI has coped with Covid uncertainty very well. Leadership and staff have worked cohesively, and the value ACI provides to its members and stakeholders has been maintained. As we gain more experience in managing ACI in a digital world, you can expect that value to grow, regardless of the direction Covid takes.

Second, we live in a world where technology is rapidly improving the efficiency and effectiveness of everything we do. Remember the fax machine? Or the typewriter? Or a phone booth? As humorous as these questions are, they refer to equipment that was once indispensable not so long ago. All of it was displaced by newer and better technology. So, going forward, what technology in use today will soon be as out-of-date as a phone booth? And how will these new inventions improve our ability to plan and execute conventions and other events? It’s anybody’s guess. It’s certain, however, that regardless of what the post-Covid world looks like, ACI’s ability to engage with our members and provide value to them will steadily improve, thanks in large part to new technology.

And finally, the transition to digital conventions has allowed wider participation by our membership, especially internationally. In fact, attendance at recent virtual conventions has broken all prior records for live conventions, a trend we expect will continue. As ACI gains more experience in planning and managing the digital components of our conventions, even after they return to optional live or online attendance, the value we deliver to attendees will grow.

Covid has challenged ACI in many ways. But thanks to the resiliency of our leadership, staff, and members, we have risen to the challenge. Our future is indeed bright.

Cary S. Kopczynski

ACI President