In an unbelievably short period of time our lives have been dramatically transformed. In the UK and abroad, countries are in lockdown with many freedoms necessarily limited. Healthcare systems are overloaded or fast heading that way and there is uncertainty over every aspect of life.
I count myself and Aluminati incredibly fortunate to be in a position where we, as a company, were able to transition ourselves readily to this new world. We have been working from home for several weeks already and I am proud of how the team has adapted. We are all doing our part respecting guidelines on social distancing and limiting travel to protect the vulnerable and slow the spread of this disease.
Even as a tech company we have had to quickly adapt and adopt processes to ensure our work continues to get done and our valued clients continue to get served. I can confirm that Aluminati is on very solid footing both from a personnel and infrastructure perspective. The show goes on!
New World, New Challenges
Over the last two weeks I have been holding a series of conversations with clients, listening to their challenges and learning how we might be able to support our customers and their communities. Emerging trends include:
- Student anxiety over a ‘lost term’, especially those with exams, looking for support and reassurance.
- Alumni suffering from job losses, income reduction, a challenging job landscape and looking for advice or rare work opportunities.
- Isolation and loneliness of individuals living alone.
- Staff anxiety over delivering lectures remotely, looking for support from more digitally savvy colleagues.
- Genuine institutional existential concern over an almost certain reduction in students arrivals (especially foreign students) for the 2020-21 academic year.
“Business as Usual” Isn’t Good Enough
Like you, I have received various emails from companies saying everything is ok and they are continuing to operate. I have received opportunistic emails from other companies trying to pitch products that are, at best, loosely related to coping with the pandemic. Finally, I have admired companies who have stepped up with real offers of help, such as Zoom suspending fees to ensure they can help as many people as possible.
It is now Aluminati’s turn to step up. I am pleased to announce our COVID-19 Client Support Package to help our clients grow their engagement platform to properly address these new world challenges.
Aluminate COVID-19 Client Support Package
In short: Any of our Aluminate engagement platform clients who wish to adopt any of our engagement modules will be able to have these added on to their platform free of charge for the remainder of the financial year (ending 30/Jun) with no obligation to continue past that point.
This removes any financial budget approval barrier to the immediate expansion of your community engagement solution to help address the many issues at hand.
In addition: for those who have our Online User Directory, we are also offering to add, free of charge, special COVID-19 fields so that users can volunteer themselves as suitable connections.
Finally, as time is of the essence, we have created a streamlined process designed to get you up and running within just 24-72 hours.
Full details of this offer, as well as how each module could help, can be found on our COVID-19 Client Support Microsite.
If you are interested please contact our Client Projects & Service Manager, Rebecca Whitton, who leads the express deployment team.
New Virtual Client Roundtables
We are going to host a series of virtual roundtables to create connections between the many engagement professionals we work with. All attendees will be invited to share their biggest challenges from this crisis and how they are responding to them. This will enable you to calibrate your strategies against others in the sector as well as make sure you are aware of all the risks and opportunities at hand. For notifications and exclusive invites please sign up to Community Builders.
Details of upcoming roundtables can be found here.
NHS Volunteering & Recognition
Finally, I wish to take the opportunity to highlight a way we can all directly help in the fight against COVID-19 through the GoodSam App. This is an app that is like an ‘Uber for Volunteers’ allowing you to specify how you can help the NHS and the vulnerable. Several at Aluminati have registered. Please help if you can.
As someone whose partner is working in the NHS, I want to say how much I appreciate the bravery of anyone who voluntarily travels towards the front line where there is a very real risk of danger to life. NHS workers, teachers, supermarket attendants, and everyone who continues to make this country function are our modern-day soldiers and they are all my heroes.
Wishing you all good health and safe passage through these turbulent times.
Daniel Watts
Managing Director
Vist the COVID-19 Client Support Microsite.
