--- title: "What Should You Keep From Your Pandemic Pivot?" id: "61537" type: "post" slug: "what-should-you-keep-from-your-pandemic-pivot" published_at: "2021-01-25T14:00:35+00:00" modified_at: "2026-07-11T18:10:06+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2021/01/25/what-should-you-keep-from-your-pandemic-pivot/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2021/01/25/what-should-you-keep-from-your-pandemic-pivot.md" excerpt: "Changes born of necessity last year may be keys to your organization’s future success. As the COVID-19 crisis finally begins to abate, consider which new ways of thinking and working are worth holding on to." taxonomy_category: - "Executive Leadership" taxonomy_post_tag: - "Associations Now" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" taxonomy_persona: - "Executive Leadership" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » What Should You Keep From Your Pandemic Pivot? Part of the Deep Dive[Lead2021](https://associationsnow.com/deep-dives/lead2021/) When the pandemic began to spread in the United States last March, Beth Brooks, CAE, was scrambling. As executive director of the Texas College of Emergency Physicians, she was working to get scarce supplies of personal protective equipment to members, finding ways to support weary first responders, and turning its annual business meeting into a virtual event. At the end of the year, with cases spiking, TCEP’s needs were still acute. But Brooks says she has developed partnerships and digital strategies that have helped the association survive the crisis—and will make it more resilient in the future. Early in the pandemic, Brooks began sitting in on daily calls with the Texas Medical Association (TMA), which occupies the same office building. Eventually, more state medical groups participated in the calls, which helped TCEP coordinate its own responses. “Every TMA department reported out: Here’s what communications is doing, here’s what legal is doing, here’s what advocacy is doing,” she says. “Committees were being formed to work on public health, legal and legislative clarifications, PPE. We got to hear what TMA was hearing and what was happening at all the specialty societies.” Over time, the COVID-specific calls diminished to once or twice a week, but Brooks says she considers these regular check-ins essential to TCEP’s work now. At the same time, calls with the board have ramped up and are staying that way: Quarterly meetings became monthly Zoom calls, conversations that are part strategy session, part wellness check. “We talked business, of course, but we were also just hearing how everyone is doing,” she says. TCEP also saw the power of countering disinformation during the pandemic. For the first time in years it hired a public relations firm to encourage people who needed emergency care to head to ERs instead of staying home due to fear of exposure to COVID-19. The messaging was so relevant—and reassuring to members—that TCEP plans to keep PR in its budget in 2021 to encourage vaccinations. [Mark Athitakis](https://associationsnow.com/author/mark-athitakis/) Mark Athitakis, a contributing editor for Associations Now, has written on nonprofits, the arts, and leadership for a variety of publications. He is a coauthor of The Dumbest Moments in Business History and hopes you never qualify for the sequel. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/mark-athitakis/) Tags: [#Associations Now](https://associationsnow.com/tag/associations-now/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## More in this Deep Dive - [Strategic Planning in 2021: The Same, but Different](https://associationsnow.com/2021/01/25/strategic-planning-in-2021-the-same-but-different/) - [Reinventing Association Business Models](https://associationsnow.com/2021/01/25/reinventing-association-business-models/) - [Beyond Data: How to Decide What’s Next](https://associationsnow.com/2021/01/25/beyond-data-how-to-decide-whats-next/) - [A Reckoning With Ethics and Injustice](https://associationsnow.com/2021/01/25/a-reckoning-with-ethics-and-injustice/) - [Keep Your Board Focused on Strategy](https://associationsnow.com/2021/01/20/keep-your-board-focused-on-strategy/) - [The Evolution of Board Selection](https://associationsnow.com/2021/01/25/the-evolution-of-board-selection/) [View the full Deep Dive →](https://associationsnow.com/deep-dives/lead2021/) ## You Might Like - [VideoAmerican Geophysical Union: Standing Up for Science: AGU’s Year of Action for Scientists and SocietySeptember 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/24/american-geophysical-union-standing-up-for-science-agus-year-of-action-for-scientists-and-society/) - [VideoInt. 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