CWA Blog Archive-Maneuvering Through COVID-19 With CARE

Maneuvering Through COVID-19 With CARE

Pdf Summary

This article recounts how the CWA responded to the pandemic's shock to the climbing industry and introduces the CARE framework from its Survive &amp; Thrive Workshop. It frames the pandemic as devastating to the entire industry through gym closures and disruptions, making clear that the path forward cannot be the same one previously taken, a new path had to be forged. The CWA itself was equally impacted, canceling its annual in-person CWA Summit to instead focus on creating resources for members and the industry. It details that pivot: hosting twice-a-week Community Calls, publishing a Roadmap to Reopening plus more than two dozen helpful articles, and organizing its first-ever virtual workshop, the Survive &amp; Thrive Workshop, still accessible on-demand. The workshop's goals were simple: provide actionable survival strategies, generate ideas for growth and forward thinking, foster connection, inspire creativity and optimism, and have fun. Crucially, within the first 30 minutes, gyms were empowered to look inward for the answers. Opening keynote presenter Sam Thiara, a business coach with Ignite the Dream Coaching and a calm, introspective storyteller and professor, showed a picture of a monk in yellow robes, beginning a reflective framing that ties to the CARE concept the title references (Collaboration, Adaptability, Resilience, and Empathy). The throughline is that the CWA responded to the pandemic crisis by rapidly pivoting from its traditional in-person offerings to a suite of virtual resources, Community Calls, reopening guidance, articles, and the Survive &amp; Thrive Workshop, designed to help members survive, adapt, and stay connected, all anchored in the CARE philosophy of introspective, values-driven resilience. Recognizing that the old path was gone and a new one had to be forged, the CWA modeled adaptability itself by canceling the Summit and building digital support, while its workshop empowered gyms to look inward for answers rather than await external rescue. Sam Thiara's reflective keynote, invoking imagery like the monk, set a tone of calm, intentional resilience captured by CARE. For members, the article both documents the CWA's substantial pandemic support and introduces a mindset framework, Collaboration, Adaptability, Resilience, Empathy, for navigating the crisis, showing how the association helped the industry forge its new path through resources, connection, and inspiration during an unprecedented disruption.

Asset Caption

This piece recounts the CWA's pandemic pivot, canceling the Summit to create Community Calls, a Roadmap to Reopening, articles, and the virtual Survive & Thrive Workshop. It introduces the CARE framework (Collaboration, Adaptability, Resilience, Empathy) from keynote Sam Thiara, empowering gyms to look inward for answers and forge a new path forward.