WHO’S
ZOOMING WHO?
I generally give
between 15 and 20 talks every year to a variety of groups: WI, U3A and
gardening clubs. The most popular talk is called ‘BEHIND THE SCENES AT CHELSEA’.
No, not the football club, or the London borough, but the annual, prestigious Royal
Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show where I designed and built three
small show gardens. I talk my audience through the process of applying to
exhibit, sourcing plants and materials and approaching sponsors. Then how, in
ten long days, starting with a patch of bare turf, we create a little bit of
landscape that looks like it has been lifted bodily from somewhere else in the
country and plonked down on the Chelsea show site. The talk, that lasts about
45 minutes, is illustrated with more than 80 high quality photographs.
This used to
mean that I had to jump in the car and drive to the venue. As my ‘fame’ spread
further, the distances I had to travel had increased so the journey there could
sometimes take more than an hour and just as long to return home - often quite late in the evening. On top of that, I had to make sure I could
find the hall and that I’d remembered all the equipment I’d need: laptop,
projector, relevant connecting cables and extension lead. And most importantly
that I’d got the right day. But, like so much else, all that changed a year
ago.
Now I’ve become
used to giving my talks via Zoom. The upside is that I can do this from the
comfort of my own home. No worrying about closed roads or inclement weather
that I’ll have to drive through; no last minute panic that I’ve left something critical
behind or that I haven’t left enough time to get there (yes, I am guilty of
cutting it fine). The downside is slightly different.
People have
become accustomed to, and comfortable with, using Zoom so it’s surprisingly easy to
access nowadays. The groups are well versed in setting it up so all I have to
do is fire up the laptop and click on the link to their group. Once the
preliminaries are over I can start my talk and share the photos I normally
project onto a screen and this is where it becomes strange. Almost without
exception my audience is muted. This means that apart from just four people visible
down the side of the screen, I’m basically talking to myself – which is a
little weird. But, I’m very grateful that groups still want to hear my talks
and long may it continue.
