At the end of this year, we’re pretty tired of a lot of things: the words “unprecedented” and “uncertain,” the smell of hand sanitizer, that coronavirus graphic your media outlet of choice has been using for every single case-count update, every single day. It’s enough already, right?
So we understand if you’d rather not take a look back. Our title is not merely rhetorical. There really is a lot of 2020 in 2020’s top blog posts.
But danged if we didn’t make the most of it. The people you’ll hear from in these five posts are searching thoughtfully for meaning amid the meaninglessness, reevaluating their positions in the world based on new information and insights, and realizing that there’s no single answer to the question: How do we deal with this?
Go All IN: Stuff We’re Sharing While We’re Social Distancing
Even in the pandemic’s early days, it wasn’t long before many of us were feeling the effects of isolation. To encourage our audience to stay in and flatten the curve, we wrote a series of blog posts with ideas to make isolation more bearable—and therefore more doable. Our creative director, Ken Honeywell, led off with this list of things the staff of Well Done had shared with each other.
Log IN: Challenges Introverts and Extroverts Face While Working from Home
Speaking of isolation, was it possible that a lucky few of us were feeling the effects less keenly? During the first several weeks of the lockdown, we heard rumors that this social distancing thing might secretly be an introvert’s paradise. Searching for answers, our writer/producer, Rob Peoni, discovered that even for introverts, the stay-at-home effort came with a downside. He also brought back some expert advice on how introverts and extroverts alike can get back in their comfort zones.
(Un)comfortably Numb: Musings on Working from Home During COVID
Writing close to the six-month point of working from home, our director of operations, Mindy Ford, shared some of her own observations on how this was going: uncomfortably, to be sure, but not without big bright spots. We all found plenty to identify with on her list.
Reflections on a Book Club Reading of How to Be an Antiracist
This summer, the Well Done web team book club read and discussed Ibram X. Kendi’s book How to Be an Antiracist. Our digital strategist, Christine Hudson, shared her own impressions of the book, as well as her perspective on discussing race openly and honestly among non-POCs (people of color). Read her post—and then read the book. As Christine herself observed, “It’s so difficult and awkward to talk about racism…but before we can treat it, we first have to detect and acknowledge it.”
Public Relations Strategies: If the Shoe Fits
With traditional media consumption declining, your public relations closet has to boast a good variety of shoes. Our director of public relations, Casey Cawthon, wrote this blog very early in the year, before we realized we might never wear shoes to a meeting again. Still, Casey’s PR advice is actually more relevant than ever, and Casey is keeping her shoes.
We all are. Because we have a feeling we’re going to be stepping out—big time—sometime soon.