How do you capture history as it happens? When the coronavirus pandemic’s full effects became clear in March, History Factory began its COVID-19 Corporate Memory Project to capture Corporate America’s reaction in real-time and provide insight into how other organizations are responding to the crisis.

In this episode of Authority Figures, host Aaron Schoenherr and History Factory Managing Director Jason Dressel discuss the COVID-19 Corporate Memory project, rising above the noise of standard thought leadership, and how every organization will have its COVID moment.

Aaron and Jason will discuss which organizations are communicating effectively during the pandemic. But they’ll also discuss how technology continues to change corporate history efforts. 

Episode Highlights

1:30 – Jason discusses his background and introduces History Factory.

2:31 – A deep dive into the COVID-19 Memory Project and what Jason and his team discovered.

5:49 – Aaron asks Jason to elaborate on the connection between authority and organizational responses to social issues.

7:16 – Challenges in creating the COVID-19 Memory Project and capturing the nation’s definitive moments as they happened. 

8:48 – Jason explains how an organization’s history supports its own notion of authority. 

10:25 – Examples of organizations that have exhibited authority amid the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest. 

13:30 – Jason describes how every organization will have its “COVID moment.”

15:21 – The role digital archives played in creating the COVID-19 Memory Project. 

16:42 – How technology has impacted responses to 2020’s major events versus those of the past. 

17:39 – Jason reflects on the powerful impact a tangible document holds in a digital world and provides first-hand examples.

21:25 – Aaron and Jason discuss how organizations and leaders have effectively expressed authority in their actions.

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