Page 1 - CooperatorNews New Jersey Spring 2021
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New Jersey’s Biggest & Best VIRTUAL   Condo, HOA, & Apartment Expo     e Annual Must-Attend Event Goes Digital  BY COOPERATOR STAFF  Spring 2021   NJ.COOPERATORNEWS.COM  that attendees can explore by clicking the signs posted for dif-  ferent events, or on the booth of an exhibitor they wish to visit.   While the idea of an all-online expo may be new territory for   attendees who make a point to visit Cooperator Events’ on-site   trade show every year at the Meadowlands, Robbins says, “nev-  er fear”—along with the same features that make the in-person   shows must-attend events, the virtual version brings an unprec-  edented level of convenience and flexibility.  continued on page 16   The day-to-day life of a property   manager—while not quite as predictable   as that of, say, an accountant—does re-  volve around certain cyclical tasks, like   building inspections, staff meetings,   and keeping boards informed of what is   going on with various projects in their   buildings. That’s not to say that there   isn’t an occasional emergency, of course;   a boiler fails, a visitor slips and falls, a   vendor doesn’t deliver. And while any   good manager takes these challenges   in stride, there’s little that could have   prepared managers for what they would   face with the arrival of COVID-19.  The novel coronavirus is called ‘nov-  el’ for a reason. It’s a newly emerged   public health threat that you can’t see,   smell, taste, or feel—at least until you’ve   contracted  it. It’s there, everywhere,   and at the beginning of the pandemic,   no one knew exactly where. It created   paralyzing fear for both our leaders and   individuals, particularly in New York   and  New  Jersey,  where  the  pandemic   hit hard early on. In a hyper-urban en-  vironment where people were packed   in like sardines to begin with, physical   distance between loved ones, neighbors,   and strangers went from being a luxury   to being a requirement. The many non-  verbal cues we receive and interpret   from facial expressions disappeared be-  Over the past year, you may have been one of the many people who tuned in   to  Cooperator Events’ popular webinar series—but did you know that Cooperator   Events also produces Cooperator Events Expos, a series of must-attend annual and   biannual trade shows in markets from New Jersey to South Florida to Las Vegas?   Thousands of board members, managers, co-op shareholders, and condo owners at-  tend Cooperator Events trade shows every year, making personal connections, learn-  ing about new products and services, and gathering invaluable information and in-  sight from the best and brightest professionals in the industry—all at no cost to them.  For 2021, Cooperator Events has expanded its range of educational and informa-  tional offerings yet again—this time to include our new New Jersey Virtual Expo,   taking place on Wednesday, April 28, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT.  This latest addition has been in the works for a while, says Yale Robbins, president   of Cooperator Events and publisher of   CooperatorNews:   “We’ve worked hard to de-  liver a virtual experience that’s immersive, educational, and provides attendees and   exhibitors alike the ability to meet, engage with people, and ask questions of experts   in the field, either one-on-one at their booth, or in the group seminar setting.”  The virtual exhibit hall is a graphical environment accessed via a web browser   Last spring, amidst the panic and con-  fusion of the burgeoning pandemic, con-  dominium,  co-op,  and  HOA  communi-  ties were faced with the difficult task of   deciding what to do about their shared   gyms, pools, clubhouses. Almost univer-  sally, these and other popular amenities   were closed as a hedge against infection   by a  little-known  virus.  Community   leaders and boards of directors reported   being hopeful the closures would only be   temporary. Once more was known about   the virus and its transmission, and then   as the pandemic waned, a return to pre-  pandemic life would await us.  Now,  a  year  into  the  worst  public   health  crisis  in  over  a  century,  we  are   faced with a situation very similar to last   year. While our knowledge level about   the virus is higher and vaccinations are   underway throughout the United States,   we are still facing a second summer of   COVID-19. Along the way, the pandem-  ic has raised issues that have made learn-  ing to live with the problem even more   complicated for boards and managers.   Those factors include liability, cost, con-  tinued  misunderstanding of  the  short-,   medium-, and long-term realities of CO-  VID-19, and perhaps most difficult of all   to maneuver, politics.  Liability  Perhaps  the  greatest  impediment  to   associations and corporations trying to   develop plans to reopen their ameni-  ties in compliance with CDC and other   health department recommendations is   the fear of liability. A survey of insurance   providers and brokers for this article in-  dicated that insurers have taken a posi-  Management in Crisis:  How the Pandemic   Changed an Industry  BY A J SIDRANSKY  COVID-19 and   Opening Amenities  Questions of Ethics, Liability,   & Resident Demands  BY A J SIDRANSKY  205 Lexington Avenue, NY, NY 10016 • CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED  continued on page 17   continued on page 16  WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM FREE REGISTRATION: NJ.YREXPOS.COM  NEW JERSEY’S BIGGEST & BEST VIRTUAL CONDO, HOA & APT EXPO


































































































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