Some things just don't work in a virtual format. Raise your hand if you've attended a virtual wine tasting or beer festival. Certain iterations of this idea have promise – those that, for example, offer up a selected style of beer while an expert shares tasting notes, and participants experience the style's defining characteristics through the expert's lens. Other attempts are less successful – those involving paying festival entrance fees, picking up an assortment of bottles and cans, and joining a Zoom call with random attendees while drinking alone in front of your screen. It lacks the je ne sais quois of a festival.

On March 11, the WHO declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and we started to come to terms with the many ways this would affect our daily lives. In our roles as Filene's marketing and events leaders, that meant quickly accepting that our plans for in-person events and member meetings would be disrupted, while pivoting on a dime to make sure we could still deliver on the promise of the value of our events in a new virtual way.