Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM OCTOBER 2020 64 W ell, it has. The issues surrounding COVID-19 stand alone. Society exploded in several of America's largest cities in ways we haven't seen since the late 1960s, and maybe worse than back then. Add an overheated political season with its unending ads and hyperbole, and the weather – the endless fires in California, hurricanes in the Gulf Coast, and – go figure – a "hurricane" hitting Iowa! (Okay, it wasn't really a hurricane, it was a "derecho," not even named by the Weather Channel, but for more than 40 minutes with winds of up to 140 mph it was hard to tell the difference.) All of these challenges mean that our lives and our world have been upended in ways we really couldn't imagine a mere 12 months ago. It's hard enough to keep track of what's happening, and it's natural to wonder what might be coming next. Here at PSA, we tried as hard as we could to hold our annual convention, scheduled for late September in Orlando. But try as we might, the unending pandemic news, the statistics, and the bloviating finally made us realize that it just wasn't in the cards. After 30 straight years of providing a forum for training, education, networking and getting together with peers in the appliance service industry, we were forced to cancel our 2020 event. It was a very difficult decision, but we feel it was the correct decision under the circumstances. We trust that things will get better – and they will. We have finalized the arrangements for our 2021 convention at the Westgate Resort in Las Vegas October 24-28, and we'll also be back in Orlando in 2022 at the Rosen Plaza. We look forward to the opportunity to get back together with friends in the industry and do what we do best. We hope that you all will join us! In the meantime, there's a lot of time to fill. PSA is working on a plan to provide a virtual convention experience by joining with our partners to provide online training sessions, management classes and seminars and thought-provoking chats with some of the leading people within our industry and beyond. We expect our sessions to be held 2-3 times per month from October through March, and we'll be getting out the word to everybody as the classes are finalized. We know that people are getting tired of webinars, but we need to look on it as another chance to improve ourselves and our businesses. Face-to-face, in-person training is hard to get right now, so be sure to take advantage of the opportunities to learn and grow that you come across. We trust that conventions and other live training classes will be returning to our world, but don't just sit back and wait – get out and get better! You've been hearing for months how we're "all in this together," how we're "alone together," and so on. It does get tiring and frustrating, but it's also true. And we WILL get through this, and we will be better for the experience. We'll have the chance to travel again, we'll be able to dine with friends, and we won't have to guess who that really is behind that mask! But for now we need to stay together and work through things. Our appliance service industry is a required vocation, and that bodes well for our future. Many of our folks stayed open and provided needed service to our customers. We masked up, sterilized everything we came into contact with, and did our jobs. We learned a lot about ourselves and our capabilities. And sometime soon we'll be able to leverage all of that. Stay safe, stay healthy, and we hope to see you in a PSA webinar soon, and in Las Vegas next fall. OK – LET'S FIRST GET THE OBVIOUS OUT OF THE WAY: 2020 HAS BEEN A MISERABLE YEAR Bet you haven't heard that. S E R V I C E D E P A R T M E N T RO Ralph Wolff, Industry Relations, PSA Certified Service Center www.certifiedservicecenter.org

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