Written by Vanessa Ramirez
Planning for ideas or events is a rigorous task. No, it does not require you to do physical heavy lifting, but it does require you to keep tabs on what is going on. The month of June involved learning how I could support others in their programming efforts. When there is a lot of great programming simultaneously occurring it can be difficult to stay afloat on every update. This month I was able to work on a variety of different projects that allowed me to invest time in research, create, edit and review information and available data so that partners could help move this work upstream.
Although these changes have been occurring for weeks, it is always a great reminder to note all the planning that goes into the work. Planning looks different for each project or person. Some days it may just involve talking about your ideas with professionals or organizations in that area and finding ways to help each other move that work forward. Some days it can be working with internal teams and finding how to support each other and brainstorming sessions. Other days it might be self-lead work where you create or revise documents or having a research session before going back to the group.
Another moment in reflection came from meetings I was able to sit in, and it was refreshing to see more partners recently. With the beginning of my term starting during the heavy trends in COVID-19, it made it difficult for many to participate in their regular job functions. As summer has kicked off it has been nice to see others planning for fall as they get ready to implement what they’ve been able to learn these past few months.
Interacting with more partners lately has been exciting as it has allowed me to participate in current and upcoming programming efforts. I look forward to the continuous collaboration, and I am excited to see the rollout of all of these exciting projects.