Online Networking During COVID-19

Let’s face it, if you’re reading this, then you probably consider yourself a maintenance and reliability geek… and when you start to tell anyone not in the “field”, their eyes start to glaze over, they struggle to look interested and maybe even yawn.

It’s easy to feel alone in this challenging, sometimes “unrecognized for its value” field of maintenance and reliability. Asset management is becoming widespread, but still not talked about in social circles. However, we are out there. And we love to learn about how everyone else is doing things.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, networking and meeting in-person has not been happening for awhile, but with conferences going online, and advances in virtual meeting technology, it has made learning from others more accessible.

Online conferences are getting better, and planning for PEMAC’s annual MainTrain 2021 conference is already underway. I am excited to be part of the planning committee. MainTrain is Canada’s largest annual maintenance and physical asset management conference, exhibition, and networking event, and it is taking place in September.