City Trees

4 CityTREES President's Message Darren Green Executive Director's Message Jerri J. LaHaie I know we are all adapt- ing to new ways of doing things, thanks to the pandemic. At SMA, we are thinking about how we can help you connect with one another, learn from each other, and share your knowledge and experience with your fellow SMA members. Although we will not be meeting in person in Louisville, Kentucky this year for the SMA and PCF conferences, we are working on bringing everyone together virtually, through the power of the internet. We are planning for 5 hours of education, along with some of the favorite parts of our annual conference, like our awards presen- tation where we honor the best in urban forest- ry, and the Tree of the Year presentation, where this year's tree will be poetically unveiled. Mark your calendars for Thursday, Nov 19, 2020! We got off to an interesting start with our first Town Hall/City Hall Meeting and we are looking forward to scheduling lots more. We are working on some other ways to connect, to provide online educa- tion, and to continue the peer-to-peer learning that SMA is known for. If you aren't signed up for the Listserve, following us on Facebook, or subscribed to our LinkedIn page, this is a good time to do so. Although these are trying times, they do provide us opportunity to explore things we might not have otherwise. If you find yourself with a little extra time on your hands, this is a great time to get involved in SMA where you can enhance your leadership skills and learn right along with us as we venture into new ways of doing things. We hope to see you on our computer screens in the coming months at one of our virtual events. Human beings crave real, meaningful, in-person interaction. Unfortunately, we hav- en't had a lot of that lately due to restrictions on workshops, confer- ences, social events, and even on working in person in an office. I don't know about you, but I need to connect with more folks than the few people I see on a regular basis. As you know by now, SMA along with a host of other allied organizations will not be hold- ing an in-person conference this year. We will however be doing a virtual experience during the week of our previously scheduled confer- ence time that promises to be as meaningful and informative. Look for more on this soon. In the meantime, we will be hosting a series of virtual gatherings for small groups centered on an array of topics. These casual 30-minute small group therapy (of a sort) sessions are meant to give folks opportunities to engage each other in conversation or to simply listen to what's going on with our colleagues around the globe. The issues addressed will be based on current "hot" issues and will be led by members. These sessions will be scheduled at varying dates and times so that everyone will have ample opportuni- ty to participate. If you are interested in facilitat- ing a session or have a topic that you think would interest your colleagues, please let us know. We are in uncharted water here folks, but if we adapt we can get through this together and hopefully come out even bet- ter and brighter on the other side.

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