Anderson Series Goes Virtual

The Government Law Center’s Warren M. Anderson Breakfast Seminar Series enjoyed a successful spring slate, with a boost in attendance after pivoting online.

The series is traditionally held in the Assembly Parlor, where experts address pending policy issues before the state Legislature. The first two events, held February 11 and 25 at the Capitol, focused on student debt and surveillance technology, respectively.

Then came the shutdown. But the series pivoted to Zoom—and broke its all-time attendance record.

The third event explored voting in the 2020 elections, a topic with many implications in the COVID-19 era. “The speakers set forth the election changes that had already been made due to the coronavirus, and focused their presentations on what is possible or likely to take place going forward,” GLC legal director Richard Rifkin said of the April 20 discussion. “In a period of great uncertainty, the speakers … gave the audience a good sense of the issues that governments at all levels are going to be facing as they attempt to provide for meaningful elections to be held at the time of a national health emergency.”

The series wrapped up May 28 with an exchange on the gig economy and the issues that surround a societal shift to short-term, contingent work arrangements.

Learn about the panelists, read recaps, and watch each discussion in full at albanylaw.edu/ GLC.