Dear CALBO Colleagues,

Pandemic. I don’t know about you, but that was a word that was new to my vocabulary until this past March.  Since that time, like you I have been working to change practices and procedures in this aggressively changing environment. CALBO has been no exception to this, and I wanted to share with you some insights over the past nine months as the CTI Chair.

Just like our members, CALBO and CTI has adapted to the ever-changing protocols.  We have tried hard to keep our educational offerings afloat and staggered throughout our populous state, but unfortunately, we had to cancel our in-person ABM and two of three of our Education Weeks.  However, with adversity comes opportunity and I’m very proud of how we have seized great moments to shine as an organization and profession.

CALBO had “dabbled” in online training, but our goal was to roll out a robust, holistic virtual model that would offer an enhanced and personalized experience for the student. With the pandemic, we rolled these offerings out sooner than expected and they have been an unparalleled success. CALBO webinars last from 90-120 minutes each but are instructed by subject matter experts in real-time.  This enables all students to participate, pose questions and participate in a simulated in-person setting. We have been very pleased by the response from both our students and online instructors.  Please continue to check the CALBO website for the latest offerings.  At this time, registration is open for 12 future webinars over the coming weeks.

Our biggest offering of the year has come in the form of a hybrid Education Week, which we will roll out December 14-17, 2020 in Newport Beach.  Why Newport Beach you ask?  Well aside from the obvious being that it’s a nice place to visit, the hotel venue was large enough to accommodate full social distancing.  This enabled us to offer both in-person and virtual training for our profession. Although we’d love to be in Ontario in the south and San Ramon in the north in 2020, the venues would not let us offer an Education Week this year.  We look forward to returning in 2021 to both locations as scheduled.  

I’d like to offer a little more information on Education Week Newport Beach in hopes that you may consider joining us in just two weeks.  We have worked with all state and local health agencies to ensure the safety and welfare of our students and instructors.  We are able to offer in-person training on a limited basis, but some classes are still open if you’d like to come in a traditional setting. Please see the CALBO website for a full listing of open courses for in-person instruction.  However, ALL classes are still open for virtual students. 

The virtual student experience will be second to none, as the classes will be taught again in real-time.  However, unlike what you have seen at Education Weeks in the past, this time CALBO has hired the services of a full production team to live stream the classes.  In addition to this, a second instructor will be in the room to work exclusively with the virtual students.  This means you will be able to pose questions and interact just as you would in-person.  We are very proud of this hybrid model and we look forward to its upcoming launch.  Please consider joining us for this new day in CALBO training.  

We appreciate your understanding and flexibility of our entire membership with regards to CALBO and our cherished events. Like all of you, CTI has been working to keep as much of our structure in place while adjusting to and following the requirements of the pandemic.  I want to take this moment to thank my fellow CTI Commissioners, Instructors, the CALBO Board and our Director of Training Lauren Herman for their leadership in this time of transition and change.  I’m very proud of all that we have accomplished, and I hope you too take pride in how our organization continues to forge the way.

With all of this, CALBO needs your support.  We have continued to keep the organization running in the black while offering all of our benefits to the membership without modification or delay.  CALBO is able to operate due to our training offerings, so please, make sure you take advantage of the webinars and Education Week offerings even if virtual training is not your preferred modality or classroom. Your support goes a long way, and we don’t often call upon the membership with our proverbial hat in hand.  

I hope to see you in a CALBO classroom soon, whichever venue you may choose.  Thank you for your continued support of CALBO training, and I personally wish you the very best of the holiday season.  

Stay safe and well, 

Bob Latz
CSG Consultants, Inc. 
CTI Chair