I wanted to make the first informal MAA Board of Directors meeting special. In the past when we met in person, after a full day of work, we would share a meal and get to know one another better. Those moments of community, making connections with interesting people, is a tremendous perk of serving the organization.
Our last face-to-face meeting was January 2020. There are people serving on the board that I have never worked with in person. Zoom meetings are efficient, but they don’t lend themselves to networking. So I decided to have an informal meeting—no agenda, no minutes—just gathering and sharing what we have learned about MAA since we last met at the beginning of January.
I learned a lot. People have been busy. Good things are happening. I felt like it was definitely worth my time and I hope other board members thought so too. (After all when you are fiscally responsible for an organization, its good to know the current state of affairs.)
So how did I make it special? It was just a Zoom meeting after all.
Well I sent each board member a care package with dried fruit, nuts, and seeds, chocolate covered almonds, a breakfast bar, a Lindor chocolate, a 3D printed Yoshizawa origami butterfly press designed by Dr. Laura Taalman (@mathgrrl), and some origami paper.
We had snacks as if we were in DC together and a toy to fidget with if a distraction from the meeting was needed. A few of us stayed afterwards to fold butterflies together and talk. Yeah! Just what I was hoping for.
Math in the Time of Corona 