With most members fully vaccinated and restrictions on travel and meetings being eased in some regions, signs that life is returning to a pre-pandemic normal were the talk of ASJA’s Pacific Northwest chapter meeting on May 19.
“Work is definitely coming back,” said Fred Gebhart, a medical writer whose latest projects have included virtual medical conference coverage and an assignment from a medical association.
Both Caroline Miller and Catherine Kolonko had just picked up assignments from clients they haven’t worked for since the start of the Covid lockdown last spring. Catherine had also set up meetings with five editors through ASJA’s 2021 Tele-Connections, a program that gives professional members a chance to meet one-on-one with editors, content managers, agents, publishers, and others. And Randy Stapilus, who recently contributed an essay for a book about a politician in Idaho, recently participated in a University of Idaho forum on Zoom with other contributors to the book.
In chapter business, the group discussed:
the possibility of changing the monthly meetings to an earlier time of day
plans to resume in-person meetings in Portland this summer, with out-of-town members linked in by Zoom or another video-conferencing platform.
Both items are on the meeting agenda for June.
ASJA members attending the April meeting: Maxine Cass, Fred Gebhart, Catherine Kolonko, M. Carolyn Miller, Randy Stapilus, Darlene West.