I've only attended three virtual - or digital - meetings as a reporter since the Coronavirus pandemic hit in mid-March. My last in-person coverage of a civic meeting - a local Build the Block gathering - was at the beginning of March, when anxiety and fear first gripped the city over what to do if everything was shut down and put to an abrupt halt. Sure enough, later that week we learned that stay-at-home orders would restrict our ability to come together and share information face-to-face, something we often took for granted.
Before the technology of FaceTime existed, many businesses would have their briefings and "virtual gatherings" via conference calls on a certified "conference phone" some through VOIP service, which offered call forwarding, call waiting, caller ID and a speakerphone. These appliances, which looked like a space alien tripod contraption, is probably still used in conference rooms all over the world to keep companies and teams connected so they can discuss their professional prospects.
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| Let's Conference -- OLD SCHOOL STYLE! |
Being a reporter is not really a job you can do at home when it comes to "on the scene" tactics.
Ground breaking ceremony - ya gotta be there!!
Perp walk at the local precinct - ya GOTTA BE THERE!
Catching first responders at the front lines of their careers - YA GOTTA BE THERE!
Let's get real...Community meetings have always been the "Let's sit down, have dinner and talk about our day," types of gatherings. Eventually, when you attend civic meetings often enough, you see the same faces, the same elected officials and the same activists who make the community so vibrant and solid. Many of those who attend local meetings become family to each other - seeing each other at two to three, or more, times per week at meetings, for different reasons with different representation. And who can forget the meetings where refreshments are served and they don't mind if residents hang around after to schmooze and chit-chat.
It really felt, at first, like canceling ALL meetings would be both a social, emotional, psychological and physical detriment to the progress of our city and communities. It takes a lot of planning, networking, collaborating and coordinating to put a community event together - especially making sure your guest speakers will be booked and that you have enough time to get feedback from the community.
Virtual meetings, while still effective, don't quite offer the same resources as in-person meetings, but I've learned that much can be done and accomplished in a shorter time when you're in a Zoom, Microsoft or Google video meeting - especially as a journalist whose mantra is "Less Is More." I've so far covered a school board meeting, a NY state committee on education town hall hearing and another Build the Block gathering. I did feel a sense of familiarity and community, as the participants and speakers were leaders I'd known/met, corresponded with and interviewed many times.
One good thing about virtual meetings is that, unlike in-person gatherings, many of the stakeholders are getting right to the point! With Zoom's basic meeting app requirements, you're allowed 40 minutes to host your initial conference and squeeze the most out of that time. I've noticed that during most virtual meetings, time is NOT wasted with jokes (which I do miss) and small talk or 15 minutes of hugs and kisses (which I also miss) before the actual meeting begins. To put it simply, there's less lollygagging during the time when a meeting is scheduled to start and instead the civic engagement conversation rolls out as soon as all the invited attendees are present.
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| Local Zoom meeting in progress. |
I do think it will be somewhat easier and more accessible for reporters to get their information while virtual meetings are the only options available. A lot of us will be given exclusive entry to these meetings to ask questions and we won't have to worry about a physically packed room of people to shout over or wait behind in order to address many leaders directly. Hearing our civic leaders is a lot easier, even though there is less time to hear concerns from those who may not be tech-savvy.
And what about all the old-timers who have been going to meetings for decades - the ones who feel the civic gatherings gives them "a reason to get out of the house?" Reporters know these people by heart - like family - and they know their gripes. They're somewhat the pipelines of our community and aptly portray the squeaky wheel that needs the oil! My one concern would be for the old timers who aren't able to just "download this app and connect" - the ones who need help and who need resources but don't have or can't process the directions of going digital in order to stay connected. What do we do for these folks?
When a reporter sees over 100 viewers have joined the online discussion, it seems like a wealth of participants - but how many of those are the older residents who attended every community meeting since ....what was possibly the beginning of time?
The best part of reporting on a digital meeting is that there's really no excuse to miss it at this point. It's as easy as opening an app on your computer or phone - without even having to show your face or voice (try doing THAT in person!!) You're at home, you're probably comfortable and you don't have to get in your car or on public transportation to GET TO this meeting. Hell, you don't even have to have pants on!
I can attest to the fact that virtual meetings may be the way of the future -and they're not a bad thing. They remain interactive, inventive and they keep people connected in ways that we didn't think possible decades ago (although we seemed to hypothesize video calling as a "Back to the Future" fantasy creation). We can still give each other support, we can still influence change in our community and we can still be a vehicle for information in these uncertain times when a novel virus has torn through our state and much of the globe.
All generations somehow adapt to change and other generations work to create more means of communication that will benefit unprecedented conditions and situations. I'm hoping more civic leaders and associations join the virtual bandwagon even though their fan base remains old school and old fashioned, waiting til the first in-person meeting resumes so they can hug their friends and have a complimentary cup of coffee or water before the presentations start.
I still look forward to large social gatherings as a journalist - and the more things change, the more they stay the same.
