Keith explains the criteria he uses for deciding when to get involved. Great advice as we head into a “hybrid normal”

Keith Oliver here from Canterbury.

After a restful Easter, which I hope you all also enjoyed, it’s given me an opportunity to reflect upon the sort of Zoom environment in which we currently live.

Often I’m encouraged to do even more Zooms and I guess sometimes I may even be missed for those I don’t attend or can’t attend, but for a little while now I’ve been finding it hard to manage the increased level of Zooms and Teams and Lifesize and all the other video formats that are being used and I felt a bit Zoomed out.

I recognise and applaud and support social Zooms and chat lines, but for me, I continue to apply the four criteria that I’ve used for the past nine years as to whether I engage in something or not: can I make the date, who has asked me and what is it about, what will be the impact if I say yes upon me and upon Rosemary and what will be the impact upon the piece of work if I say yes or no?

I am looking forward to a hybrid version of the new normal, which I guess will provide a mixture of much-needed face-to-face, but still the required technological links. As someone who used to keep Warren hybrid chickens when I was younger, as an adult, when we had kids at home, I relate the priorities. They were docile and friendly, though productive, they were smartish and loyal if well fed. Maybe I and others will relate to this in the new hybrid normal.

Thank you.