On Saturday we sat patiently waiting looking at our laptop
waiting for the National Allotment Society’s (NAS) AGM to Zoom into action.
‘Time for walkies,’ said Lottie as she sat by my side, staring
wantonly up at me.
‘Not today. Mummy is taking you out this morning. I’ve got
an AGM to attend’ I replied.
She gave me a whippet lost look and ambled back to her bed,
flopped down inside and stared back at me with a disappointed look written all
over her face.
I click back to the screen which says, ‘Please wait, your
host will let you in soon.’ How does the host know Iam here? Why can’t they
just ping me and say ‘Hello Martyn, hang on in there we have you logged in to
join.’
For someone who made a living exploiting technology often at
the cutting edge and was one of the first to use Skype to communicate with colleagues
in US, Australia and then India, I find Zoom frustrating and awkward. I realise
it has fast become the conferencing platform of choice. Nodding heads, folk shuffling
around and poking their nose not realising we can see them and then the doorbell
rings and Zoom hands them the mike!
Another glance at the screen tab and the same, but only 15
minutes to go before 100 nodding heads become exposed and business starts. As
we ponder whether to have Zoom, up it pops, and before we know it we have three
galleries of 25 mug shots.
The meeting went remarkably well and cleared the agenda and
closed promptly on time and was a credit to NAS in their organising. You can
certainly hold an AGM if the majority of members are connected and the agenda
is kept basic and open discussions are minimised.
So I am now London Region’s Regional Representative as
elected by a flurry of waving red cards.
This will change my focus, time and engaging with and
learning from as well as representing the London members. Should be demanding
and rewarding, but more of that in days and weeks to come. The big question is
whether I can continue to write these articles. Again, for tomorrow not today.
However, about these articles. We now have published 100 articles
on a wide range of allotment matters and life which have attracted over 22,000 links
through to be read, hundreds of Facebook discussions and reactions.
Lottie returns from her walk and runs up to see what I have
been up to. Where are all the folk you were meeting with?’ she says looking
confusingly round the room.
I reply pointing to the laptop, ‘In there.’
She looks at me and then at the laptop, @You can’t smell
them,’ she says and walks away.
A dog’s life thankfully remains devoid of technology and
AGMs.
