Returning to Gatherings with GBA

Here at GBA, we have spent the past year and a half adjusting to life online and safely gathering and learning together over our screens. We have been incredibly pleased and grateful for our community’s ability to connect and build relationships from home, all while advancing healthy and high-performing buildings in our region.

As we now navigate a return to in-person events, we are taking our responsibility very seriously for designing engaging educational and networking experiences that are also safe. Because of this, we have taken our re-entry slowly, keeping an eye on the evolving news around COVID-19 and subsequent CDC guidance. If you are wondering what GBA activities will look like in the future, here are some things to expect, but please understand that our policies and protocols will likely evolve as time progresses.

1. GBA’s offerings will include multiple ways to engage: Moving forward, we plan to offer a variety of live in-person, live online, pre-recorded, and on-demand content. We know everyone has different needs and comfort levels around re-engaging in person. Since we have found some fun new tools we think are worth keeping around, there will be a variety of ways to learn and connect at GBA. We will decide which formats to use on a case-by-case basis as we plan out our education and events calendar.
2. We will start outside: To begin our re-entry, we started with outdoor gatherings and are slowly working towards indoor gatherings when circumstances allow.
3. We are now requiring advanced registration: So we can communicate any protocols or changes with all event participants, any live in-person events will now require advanced registration (sorry – no walk-ins). This will assist us with contact tracing, communications, and expectations related to any necessary protocols.
4. We will shift as needed: We will continue to keep an eye on the positivity levels of COVID in our region as well as any changes to CDC or Health Department guidelines and recommendations. If at any time we need to alter an event from its originally planned format, we will communicate that with participants. This includes special events like Emerald Evening – our team remains prepared with multiple, high-quality plans for all GBA experiences!
5. We will have some new protocols: For due diligence, GBA will incorporate some new protocols into our in-person events, including pre-event surveys for all participants regarding exposure or symptoms related to COVID-19. This is a best practice we have identified. For some events – particularly those indoors – our spaces and experiences may look or feel slightly different based on evolving recommendations and guidelines and our desire to keep our community healthy.
6. You are always welcome to wear a mask: We ask anyone who is not vaccinated to wear a mask at GBA events. Otherwise, our guests are always welcome to wear a mask if necessary or desired. We will also notify participants if/when masks are required at our events (for example, recent CDC guidance in August has resulted in masks being required for any indoor GBA events).

If you have any questions, recommendations, or requests from GBA’s Education & Events team, please feel free to reach out to us, and we will do our best to accommodate.

Looking forward to seeing you at a GBA event soon – either in-person or online!