The Value of Seeing Your Face

I have to admit it - I miss you. Part of what sparks my day, every day, is talking to you face to face. Sometimes, it's in the office. Sometimes, I have to hop in a car or take a plane to see you. But that personal connection, the flow of ideas, the excitement of starting new ventures, that's what makes my chosen profession such an exciting place to be.

But as someone who's spent the last 15 years of her career thinking about how to keep our communities strong and safe, I believe that social distancing is the right approach, right now, to confront this new challenge. At my employer, Halff Associates, our management and IT department have done an amazing job at using technology to bridge these gaps by providing a digital platform for face to face conversations between colleagues, and with our clients. It's good to see my colleagues faces, and know they're well. Seeing their kids, and their fuzzy "co-workers" flash past the screen connects us in new, and more personal ways. And we're helping our clients find new solutions to keep the wheels of govenment turning through outreach and training on best practices in Virtual public engagement

This week, I had planned to see a lot of you, and to welcome you to Texas at the National Planning Conference in Houston, where we hoped to show off that City's resilience after the massive hurricanes and floods of 2017. Alas, a new type of disaster got in the way. I'm proud to see that the American Planning Association is continuing to find ways to connect us through #NPC20atHome. Look forward to seeing you in this virtual space, and continuing to build community and adapt to new challenges as we all collaborate with colleagues at home, around the country, and around the world.