From social distancing to face coverings, the coronavirus pandemic has forced the world to adapt to new ways of doing things. For many cooperatives, this includes creative solutions for the annual membership meeting.
Earlier this month, Cherryland Electric Cooperative and Alger Delta Cooperative Electric Assn. held virtual annual meetings online—a first for both co-ops.
Incumbent directors Tom Van Pelt and David Schweitzer were reelected at the Cherryland meeting. Eleven percent of Cherryland’s members voted in the election—70% of the votes were cast online and 30% were mail-in ballots.
The event was live-streamed with multiple camera angles on Facebook and YouTube, but only board members with a speaking role were able to attend in person. Members were encouraged to submit their questions on the social platforms, while directors in attendance stayed 6-feet apart and only removed face coverings when speaking at the podium.
“We’ve live-streamed previous annual meetings using a phone, but the upgraded technology setup we used this year will enable us to broadcast an enhanced live-stream in future years,” said Rachel Johnson, Cherryland’s member services manager.
Incumbent directors Ivy Netzel, Kirk Bruno and Ray Young were seated at the Alger Delta meeting. The event was live broadcast via Zoom webinar, with each director attending on separate devices at the co-op office in order to maintain a safe social distance. Members were invited to submit questions via the Zoom platform.
Both co-ops expressed a preference for in-person annual meetings, but lessons learned from this year’s virtual events could help make annual meetings more accessible for co-op members in the future.
“We hope to do a hybrid approach next year,” said Amanda Seger, Alger Delta’s CFO. “We want to get back to in-person, but adding a virtual option just makes sense.”