I got a couple emails from people suggesting my daunting list of 2020 challenges was a little depressing. Sadly, this note may not make amends.
Coronavirus is the epicenter of every conversation, the awkward shadow of each new social interaction, the root cause of the great unknown that we are facing as a society. We are all experiencing some form of disbelief, fear, or defensive posture right now.
Society’s response and the proactive measures institutions are taking to reduce the spread of Coronavirus are focused on a simple and moderately effective method: social distancing.
Tripepi Smith was built for this scenario. Our remote-work-first arrangement empowers our team to be anywhere, but also means we don’t need them to be in an office. Our team works from home or wherever their travels take them any particular day. I am deeply aware that working remotely does not work for every job. We are fortunate. Police officers and first responders, public works field staff, parks and recreation teachers, medical professionals, and many others do not have such a luxury. Their work requires their presence.
Tripepi Smith has
implemented a policy
of avoiding all unnecessary travel and in-person meetings (indeed by the time we publish this or you read it such meetings will be disallowed by public health orders). Where travel is required, like video shoots or stock photo shoots, we will seek to either delay or plan appropriately.
Remote work arrangements are being swiftly implemented throughout the economy. Tripepi Smith has 10 years of experience with this arrangement. I even
spoke on a panel last year
in Washington State about the benefits and resilience created for organizations by having remote work capabilities. It was unfortunately prescient.
Coronavirus is a threat to our health, our way of life, our liberties, the rule of law. It will stress our society in ways we have never experienced (I am 45) and at a time when we were already stressed politically. How our local institutions respond and communicate will play an important role in helping society effectively weather the coronavirus threat. It is a time when our work at Tripepi Smith helping cities can be more important than ever.
It is also a time to step up for America.
To that end, Tripepi Smith has launched a
resource portal
and ongoing blog series on coronavirus messaging, responses, priorities, and more. We are making available free graphic templates that anyone can use - client or not. We will be offering ideas for best practices and critical messages and showcasing other agencies that are doing a great job. We are hosting conference calls to bring agency communicators together for conversations in a quickly changing environment.
We are all in this together.
#TeamAmerica
Onward,
