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Thu, 18 Jun 2020 18:50:47 +0000
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                                                                                                                             Rome, 18 June 2020

Dear Members,

We are glad, that the complete lockdown, which was imposed on us as a result of the pandemic Covid-19, is over, although of course there are still a number of restrictions, with which we live since early March. Particularly we as pensioners, who belong to the group which is most at risk, should behave in a responsible way and follow the advice from the authorities to avoid being affected by the virus. The existence of the virus does not only have an influence on our personal life, but not surprisingly has a significant impact on the way we do our business as an association of pensioners. The objective of this letter is to bring you up to date on how we are meeting this challenge of keeping a well-functioning association, where members cannot meet physically.

Upon a proposal from one of its members, the Executive Committee in its meeting of 16 April decided to establish a Working Group on Virtual Meetings to explore and implement technology-based solutions that could help adapting to the new “modus operandi” imposed by the pandemic. Earlier it had already been decided to postpone the General Assembly, which was scheduled for

27 May. At the same time the frequency of the issuance of FFOA Flash News was increased in order to keep the membership up to date with the large number of necessary adjustments.



One of the first activities of the  new Working Group (WG) on Virtual Meetings, which met on

 23 April for the first time, was to identify  software, which could be used to have virtual meetings in support of day-to-day operations but also for larger gatherings, such as the General Assembly and possibly for webinar-based seminars as well. As it is being used by the Rome-based Agencies(RBAs) the software Zoom seemed to be the most appropriate solution and it was chosen for this purpose. A Quick Start Guide was developed and tested in training sessions with  interested members late May. Based on our own experience and the inputs from the participants, whom we warmly thank for their contribution in  this important undertaking, adjustments were made to the Guide to facilitate the use of Zoom on different devices. On 12 June we had our first webinar with Representatives of our After Service Health insurance provider CIGNA, as well as with panelists from  RBAs Social Security Services. This successful event was moderated by our President,  Ed Seidler. 102 members signed up to participate in this event by asking a number of questions related to health insurance issues. In the near future  sessions will be organized on other subjects, such as our pension, but could also be of a mere social nature and eventually, if needed, our General Assembly could be organized this way.

Of course our main objective remains to keep all of our members engaged in the activities of the Association. Given the current circumstances and the restrictions still being experienced, the challenge for this WG is to identify a “modus operandi”, where we would give the opportunity to most of our members to fully participate and to the others, who do not have access to Internet, to be aware of what is going on through other means.

In that respect we would like to stress, that other than the email ([log in to unmask])  the numbers of the FFOA Front Office (+39 06 570 55 623 / +39 06 570 56016) are available for inquiries on all the subjects.

We thank you for your continuous support to this “modus operandi” and to  your Association in general. Let us hope, that we will have the opportunity to meet each other at Coffee Mornings,  Excursions and other social gatherings in the not too distant future. So long!


Marius de Gaay Fortman

FFOA Membership Advisory Committee


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