“It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter.” Alfred Eisenstaedt
“It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter.”
– Alfred Eisenstaedt
How quickly this new year is flying by! We’re already into February and our recent weather has reminded us that spring is just around the corner.
I fully endorse the famous quote that I’ve used above—it is more important to click with people than to click the shutter of your camera. Covid shutdowns threw the world into a new normal. Schools closed, businesses allowed full time “working from home,” medical care was reserved for the millions of seriously ill Covid patients, and NVPS immediately switched from in–person to virtual meetings.
I had never heard of “Zoom” before Covid made it a household word. The world learned that work, business, commerce, school, and family contacts could be maintained through remote programs like Zoom. Cars remained parked on the street and in garages, buses stopped running, the air became purer, and we saved money on transportation. After almost three years of being “remote,” it became the new norm.
As for NVPS, we found that we could enrich our club’s learning opportunities by engaging speakers from all over the country, not just in our own area. We also found quality judges whom we’d not been able to invite before. All of the members could tune in to every meeting from the comfort of their own homes. Did we occasionally hear an inadvertent noise or comment when the “mute” button was off? Sure. That was part of the learning.
Now, the world is slowly getting back to an “adjusted normal” with a combination of virtual and in-person meetings and this NVPS club year is our transition to our new normal. I certainly have been enjoying seeing club members in person again and having the opportunity to chat one–on–one.
I’d like to thank the amazing volunteers of this organization who came together during Covid to keep the club operating on its normal schedule while achieving new heights with virtual meeting skills. It takes hard work, dedication, and caring by a number of volunteers to make NVPS the success that it is.
I challenge all of you to return to our in–person meetings for Education & Training, Member’s Galleries and Forums, and Competition with Prints. You are missing a lot of important information and beautiful images if you don’t come since these meetings are solely in–person. I also challenge you to step up in volunteering your time and talent as a volunteer for next year. We are starting our process for selecting new board members and key volunteers so please speak up.
Don’t forget to join me for dinner at 5:30 p.m. at the Silver Diner at the McLean Tysons before in–person meetings.
Ginger Werz–Petricka
President
2023–2024