COVID-19 swept the country in what felt like a matter of moments. Many of us were forced to shelter in our homes for months during the initial quarantine, bringing an end to in-person gatherings and events.\u00a0 At the Ball State University Foundation, we had to adapt to embrace a virtual world at a pace to match the rest of the country for the sake of our program and our alumni.<\/p>\n
Before the pandemic, attendance for in-person events was declining nationally with the rise of convenient and adaptable virtual options, and plans were already in place to move forward with our program\u2019s digital initiatives. We quickly learned that our new approach to event planning had many advantages, mainly reduced cost and quicker turnaround for events that could be shortened to twenty minutes online instead of an entire dedicated weekend.<\/p>\n
Embracing our virtual identity allowed us to plan popular events such as cooking and fitness demos, tips for decorating for the holidays, and virtual scotch tastings in regional markets. We now have the ability to curate events for our niche audiences with virtual meetings\u2014no longer would the underwater basket weaving club be ostracized! Instead, breakout rooms and carefully crafted events allowed us to embrace and appeal to even our smallest demographics.<\/p>\n
We are profoundly fortunate to have our efforts supported by our extraordinary alumni. Initially, we posted content rapidly to meet the new demand of a country confined to their homes. Though we worried our efforts would go unnoticed, to our pleasant surprise, our alumni showed up in droves with love and support for our actions. We had more participation virtually for some events than we would have ever had in-person. The energy and excitement that we have felt from our alumni towards our initiatives have solidified our new hybrid approach to events. Whether it was learning to cook the perfect burger with Scotty Wise or watching the \u201cPeyton\u2019s Places\u201d episode with David Letterman and 1,200 of our closest Ball State friends, our new offerings have proven themselves to be valuable and appreciated. Even after this pandemic has passed, we will continue to expand our offerings with both in-person and virtual opportunities.<\/p>\n
Looking forward, our focus is to provide exclusive, on-demand, and meaningful career and professional development opportunities for our alumni while delivering more of the same for our most engaged members and volunteers. We hope our new hybrid approach will open the door for increased corporate engagement opportunities, and reunions and award programs. Looking back, we are so proud of what we, as a community, have accomplished and proven through pride and determination\u2014That together, We Fly!<\/p>\n
Learn how we adapted, evolved, and survived the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 swept the country in what felt like a matter of moments. Many of us were forced to shelter in our homes for months during the initial quarantine, bringing an end to in-person gatherings and events.\u00a0 At the Ball State University Foundation, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":258,"featured_media":284,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,40,2,73,70],"tags":[25,71,21,72,52],"class_list":["post-253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-alumni-association","category-features","category-foundation","category-one-ball-state-day","tag-alumni","tag-alumni-engagement","tag-cardinals-connect","tag-covid-19","tag-one-ball-state-day"],"yoast_head":"\n