Spring 2021

Welcome to the Spring issue of Connect Converge

“Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.”
– unknown

When I say welcome, Spring, it is heartfelt. On my honor, I pledge not to mention any pandemic buzzwords created in 2020, especially after discovering the tool Buzzsaw that works to strip what I call fuzzwords from press releases, speeches, blog posts, and editor’s letters.

While we can’t extricate ourselves from the past year, we have to admit we have learned things we never imagined we would. We became more productive work from home people. We honed up on our Zoom etiquette, or did we? And who feels as if they have watched almost everything on Netflix?

It is often said that there is no playbook for any journey, but in our feature article, “A COUNTY GOVERNMENT MEETS ITS HARDEST TEST: COVID-19,” Kern County breaks the mold and redefines the standards of preparedness. Kern County was prepared even before they knew they should be. Leveraging their relationship with HPE and centralizing IT infrastructure under HPE GreenLake was a big win for their ITS and residents.

I am proud to report that we made new strides here at Connect. All and all, we remained optimistic, hopeful, and confident. We met the virtual world head-on. We send out a special thank you to this incredible community for making it possible. If “stronger together” is deemed a Covid buzzword, I will own it, and you can’t edit that!

In fact, read on for some real-world examples.

Wishing you a healthy and beautiful Spring.

Stacie