NZSA update – IMPORTANT

Meeting protocols for NZSA in response to Covid-19

NZSA recommends that branches cancel in-person meetings from March to June and then review. The Covid-19 situation is evolving and we will update you as things change. I am sure you all know the Auckland Writers Festival and many other launches and workshops are cancelled until further notice. Containment is our best defence.

The Auckland Branch of NZSA will offer digital events for the foreseeable future. We have asked Auckland Branch Chair and former doctor, Weng Wai Chan to tell you why –

Kia ora fellow members,

In light of the current situation with the Covid-19 pandemic, we regretfully advise that the Auckland Branch meetings for April will be cancelled.

New Zealand has to date only eight confirmed cases but we have seen from the examples of Italy and Iran and, closer to home, Australia, that lacking strict measures of containment leads to an exponential rise in cases over the course of days. Australia’s confirmed cases went from 28 on 1st March to 376 two weeks later.

We currently have the opportunity in New Zealand to do better, and I urge you to consider cancelling branch meetings and even smaller writing and critique group meetings for now.

I’m thinking about not only our older and more immune-compromised people but also of our doctors and health services providers who will be overwhelmed if New Zealanders don’t change their behaviour now.

Options for Virtual Meetings

Just because you are not meeting in person doesn’t mean you can’t meet! New technologies are key at this time and can bring us together and provide a community in virtual spaces. For example:

• Host a meeting on Zoom. Anyone can join a meeting at a set time by computer or phone and the software is built to allow you all to seamlessly see each other in gallery mode like you are sitting around a table together. It is free for meetings up to 40 minutes long.

Host a Facebook Live video or Facebook Q&A. For example, Auckland will be holding a Facebook Q&A with Eileen Merriman during their normal April meeting time slot. This website has good advice for promoting and holding a Q&A or find out more about Facebook Live video.