I've been thinking recently about how and under what conditions businesses will be able to reopen after the shelter at home Coronavirus restrictions are lifted, whenever that happens. I think it's very unlikely that we'll go back to pre-Covid status quo. A short thread. 1/

When we were blending at @TablasCreek last week, we made several changes to do what we could to minimize the risks that if one of us were infected but asymptomatic we might transmit the virus. I talk about some of those in the blog I published Sunday. https://tablascreek.typepad.com/tablas/2020/04/report-from-the-distanced-blending-table-2019-is-a-vintage-of-remarkable-power-and-texture.html 2/

With six people distributed around our big conference table, we all had plenty of space. We all pulled and washed our own glasses and dump buckets. The sample bottles were wiped down before they were poured, and only one person picked up and poured each bottle. 3/

We kept doors and windows open so there was air moving in the room. We'd all been quarantining at home the previous two weeks, and everyone was healthy. As we start physically blending the wines over the coming weeks, we'll be limiting our cellar team to two people at a time. 4/

Agricultural businesses (including wineries) are classified as essential, because they're working with perishable products that often have only one harvest a year. But that doesn't give us leave to operate as though the business environment were normal. We have to adjust. 5/

Once we can reopen, whenever that is, we'll need to operate responsibly. I'm thinking it may resemble the brief period before we had to close the tasting room, where we needed to maintain proper distancing. Restaurants removed tables. We were reservation-only to regulate flow. 6/

How many customers will we safely be able to welcome at a time? What sorts of events will we be able to hold? What will we need to do to make sure that our team is safe? I don't know, but am trying to think about it. Assuming we'll just go back to status quo ante isn't smart. 7/

This great article by @ThomasPueyo called "The Hammer and the Dance" was widely shared last month. We're all working on the hammer now. But there will be a longer period of the dance, where we've reopened but are constantly mitigating risks. https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-the-hammer-and-the-dance-be9337092b56 8/

Now seems like a good time for us all to start thinking about what that will look like, and examining the pieces of our business that will likely have to change. Anyone with insights, I'm very much taking ideas. 9 and END/