We are living through a crazy time in our life right now! (I apologize if my use of the word “crazy” is politically incorrect!) If you are like me, you probably thought that the Corona Virus was going to be “a thing” that only affected other places in the world. I never thought that COVID-19 would rear its ugly head here in Grant County! This is God’s Country after all! (I won’t apologize for the use of THAT one!)
Five short days ago the staff of the Silver City Grant County Chamber of Commerce and the Grant County Veteran’s Memorial Business & Conference Center was preparing for a busy weekend. We had just had a short string of events with lots of visitors to the Conference Center for the High Desert Gun Show and we were preparing for the Spring Fling with the Grant County Home Business Network when BAM!!! The Corona Virus debacle made its presence known in a big way.
If you’ve paid attention to the world over the latest 2 or 3 decades you have seen that our society has faced trials of one sort or the other over time. You remember SARS, the Swine Flu, the Bird Flu, H1N1 and the countless others that we have heard about or lived through. All of these scares have been real and they each played out in their own proper time. For the first time in my life, this one is hitting close to home mostly because it has affected my day-to-day work life!
Before I go on let me say that if you, or anyone you know, is directly affected by the Corona Virus or if you have become infected by the virus, or if you are a person who treats those who have been affected by the virus, please understand that I am not trying to minimize your case or demean what you’re going through. I want to share with you, from my own perspective, how the Corona Virus has affected me and my advice to you about how to handle it.
As soon as we were notified about the order from the NM Department of Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel, we sprang into action trying to decide how to proceed. The story about a pandemic actively making its way through your country is different when you’re watching it on the nightly news from when you’re dealing with it head on. I kept thinking about the maxim that was once shared with me which says, “the only thing you can control in life is the way you react to what happens to the situations you are faced with.”
Our team immediately began calling the event organizers whose events were coming up, and sharing the news with them and, for the most part, everybody was completely understanding. Romeo, Sabrina and Nancy were all troopers when they were faced with the temporary directive. Operationally, my team became concerned with the most important thing on the bottom line… YOU!
We began dismantling the event rooms and storing all of our equipment for use after the all-clear is given. We began reorganizing our rooms and storage so that we could be more efficient when we are able to host events and meetings. And we began to clean every surface. We began to prepare for your return to the conference center.
We know that it’s difficult when you are forced to change venues or postpone events. We understand that it’s not fun to refund money to your patrons when WE are forced to cancel your events. And we realize that your event may not be able to happen on another date later in the year which means that it may not happen at all! BUT we also know that if we take a chance and you get infected with the virus you may not be here next month or next year. YOU are the reason we do what we do! You are the person that makes our jobs fun!
So, my advice to you is this: Follow the advice of those who might just know a bit more than you do about virus management and stay away from the crowds. Retreat to your home and take a breather, catch up on Netflix. Slow down and maybe watch “Days of our Lives” for a couple of days. (Spoiler alert; Marlena and Roman are probably still having marital problems!) Just take care of yourself and stay healthy. We will still be here when you get back.