CEO Column

“Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.”

I recently reconnected with David Bernstein, my high school history teacher. We had a great Zoom call and caught up on each other’s personal and professional lives. (We both look exactly the same as we did in 1980). Mr. Bernstein frequently liked to quote Jean-Baptise Alphonse Karr’s observation that “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

SWANA invites you to test that statement with us in June.

We are converting SWANApalooza into a terrific virtual event that will include timely keynote sessions, interactive roundtables, breakout sessions, networking, and opportunities for our exhibitors and sponsors to be visible to participants. There will, of course, be several sessions on the impact of COVID-19 on the solid waste industry, including how local governments and others should prepare for the “new normal.” Virtual SWANApalooza will take place on June 22-25, and I invite you to participate.

Over the past month, SWANA staff has spoken with other associations, consultants, and technology experts about the best way to host a virtual conference. We are excited for you and your colleagues to be a part of it. It will include a mixture of short live and pre-recorded presentations, lots of opportunities for interaction, and a virtual exhibit hall. On June 23-25, we will provide 3-3.5 hours of live content (starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT each day). There will be familiar educational tracks that mirror what we had planned for Atlanta – landfill management, landfill gas, waste conversion/energy recovery, sustainable material management, and of course, safety.

Imagine participating in a SWANA conference without getting on an airplane or sleeping in a hotel room! Consider how helpful the travel cost savings will be during the current economic downturn! While many of you were looking forward to peach pie or pecans in Georgia, and we’re disappointed that SWANA’s Georgia chapter won’t be able to host everyone in Atlanta, we’re committed to providing you with a top-notch educational and networking experience – via your computer. It will be better than most of the Zoom calls you have been on the past few months, I promise.

We rely heavily on revenue from SWANApalooza to fund our operations and to provide you with the useful programs and services that make SWANA the leading association for waste professionals in the United States and Canada. If you registered for SWANApalooza, we look forward to your participation in virtual SWANApalooza in late June. If you did not register for SWANApalooza, please join us for this unique event. If your company was scheduled to exhibit in Atlanta, I urge you to be a virtual exhibitor – and receive a discount on exhibiting in person in 2021.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. The past few months have been unlike anything any of us have experienced in our lifetimes. The personal and professional challenges have been substantial. Through it all, SWANA has worked hard to provide you with COVID-related resources, news, and information that have helped you respond successfully to these challenges. As we slowly transition out of quarantine, the serious solid waste issues that were on our plate pre-COVID, such as recycling, PFAS, landfill gas, and worker safety, will rise to the top again. Join us on June 22-25 to hear from industry leaders on these topics and COVID, network with each other, and to support SWANA.