The New Normal: NASBA Communicates Early and Often to Keep Members Informed

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The COVID-19 pandemic has turned traditional methods of communication on their head. Our everyday vocabulary has been augmented to include “quarantine,” “social distancing,” “stay-at-home,” “remote work” and “virtual or Zoom meetings.” Now more than ever, individuals and entities are demanding instantaneous information to remain connected. As a result, overcommunicating (which pre-corona was taboo) is now the new normal. Information is crucial and NASBA has ramped up its communications to keep State Board executive directors, Board members, licensees and CPA Exam candidates in the know.

For more than a century, NASBA has dedicated itself to enhancing the effectiveness of Boards of Accountancy by sharing regulatory updates, accounting news, guidelines and legislative changes. Under the current coronavirus crisis, there is deeper dependency on online communications and NASBA has shifted its communications strategy to respond to this necessity. We are committed to deliver relevant information and breaking news through our online channels with greater frequency and continued transparency.

In the last two months, for example, there has been a significant and concerted effort to increase posts on our social media channels: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Our social media followership has increased to more than 131,000 followers. More importantly, engagement among followers has increased more than 200 percent. State board members, candidates, firms and licensees engaged on these channels are seeing the latest news and updates.

As news breaks, we will continue to email targeted communications to specific stakeholder groups (e.g., executive directors, board members, licensees or candidates). We understand that everyone has different information requirements and we also know that information can be overlooked or lost in the bombardment of daily emails. In response, the Communications Team created the “NASBA RECAP” email blast, which summarizes the entire previous month’s communications. We hope this recap will give individual members the opportunity to select or review news and information most relevant to them.

Under this new communications strategy, The State Board Report newsletter, normally published monthly, will now be released on a quarterly basis (in conjunction with NASBA’s January, April, July and October Board meetings). The newsletter, in addition to providing the latest in regulatory developments, will include decisions and positions issued by the NASBA Board of Directors.

This new strategy to communicate early and often will also allow members to be selective while receiving timely and instantaneous information. We hope you will enjoy and join us in embracing The New Normal.