Page 1 - CooperatorNews New Jersey Spring 2021

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