Before each SAG-AFTRA Convention, there is an orientation for delegates to attend so you know what is going to happen and so you can be prepared for the weekend. Normally, this is done in person and with just the delegates in your specific local. So for me, it’s usually just with the delegates from LA. But of course, this year things aren’t really normal. So even orientation was different.
This year, orientation was done virtually, just like how Convention will be. And because the orientation was virtual, it was done with all the delegates all over the country! While I am still sad that I won’t have time with some of the delegates from other locals in person this year, it was nice to see their faces in the orientation Zoom session. And it was nice to get a bit of an idea of what things might be like when we actually have the convention.
We did have a lot of the same orientation information as we have each year. They went over some of the policies of the convention and what we can expect with different types of voting and discussion. And the voting will be similar to what we did before, but this time it will be done from our computers and not with the voting sticks (which I think most of us are happy about because the voting sticks liked to not work just as we were trying to vote). We won’t get to do all of the same networking as we normally do, but there still will be chances to gather in small virtual rooms with other delegates and there will even be a virtual expo!
But because this is the first virtual convention, there were a lot of other things that the orientation went over. We have a virtual convention space with different areas we can go to for different tasks or activities. So the orientation went over the sections of the virtual space and where we will need to click so we can be in the correct area when we need to be voting or listening to the resolutions. We also saw how we can do our voting this year.
It was a lot of information and I was working during the orientation so I couldn’t give it my full attention. So I was glad to see that the orientation will be available as a replay so I can watch it again when I don’t have to keep looking at my work screens. Even though this will be my 4th convention, this one is different from the rest and I don’t want to waste time figuring things out that I can make sure I know how to do in advance. And the staff of the union understands that we all want to make sure we don’t have issues during the convention, so they set it up so we can go into the virtual convention space the day or two before it starts so we can make sure we don’t have technical issues or other concerns. I really appreciate that they thought about that and made sure that we didn’t have to have that additional stress the first morning we all need to be logged in.
The best thing about this orientation was that it really got me excited about Convention. While I do love Convention and look forward to it each time, I have had some hesitations about it being virtual. But seeing how the virtual Convention will work really got me excited to be a part of something that will be a first. And maybe how things go with this Convention will influence future ones so more people can participate even if they can’t be there in person. It’s exciting to think about what this might lead to for the Convention in 2023!
But for now, I’m counting down until Convention 2021 and I can’t wait to see all the hard work we can get done and what new information I will walk away with!
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