Meeeeh! Goats for hire for Zoom meetings?
Looking for something to shake up your work Zoom meetings? How about the assistance of a goat or two? Yes, this is a thing and a very lucrative one at that!
Raise your hand if you have been working from home for the better part of 2020 and now 2021.
Whether your work opts for Zoom or Microsoft Teams as a means to communicate and have meetings, it is safe to say that we are all just a little tired of having to join meetings online.
From 'please mute yourself' to 'please switch on your camera', online meetings can become monotonous and to be truthfully annoying. While the rest of us have been under lockdown, the goats of Cronkshaw Fold farm in Lancashire have never been busier!
Believe it or not, goats are a variety of animal breeds that people are booking to join their Zoom meetings.
In the US, Sweet Farm in California has animals including llamas available for video meetings!
We started it as a bit of a joke really, and then we got inundated with messages. I’m on the phone all day and people are just in hysterics because they’ve sneaked a goat into the business meeting and the boss hasn’t noticed. It’s so ridiculous, it’s complete escapism. At the moment people just want something completely surreal so they can forget about everything else
So, what is it like to be on a Zoom call with some goats?
According to new mom Emily, being on a Zoom call with goats is like any other chaotic family video call.
Each goat has its own personality. Best friends Joseph and Owen bicker a lot before playing up for the camera and their audience. Stubborn Reginald reluctantly glances at the screen with a scowl, apparently dismissive of the whole enterprise.
Johnson, who manages the bookings for the goats, shares the following:
The boys are on the whole more confident than the girls, In the boys’ field, you’ll be talking about one alpaca and another alpaca will come up and photobomb. But they are all very friendly, and they all have their own personalities
During the planned Zoom parties, Johnson will introduce some of the alpacas (species of South American camel-like mammal) to talk about their personalities and interesting facts, covering everything from their mating habits to the consistency of their fleece.
The farm offers bronze, silver, and gold Zoom packages, which include options to adopt one of the 39 alpacas and add gift vouchers.
Her goats have now appeared in virtual meetings all over the world, including in the US, Russia, China, and Australia, with some people donating far more than the £5 (R100) charge for an appearance.
We do not know about you, but we think adding some goat friends to our next Zoom meeting would be such a laugh! Sign us right up.
Image credit: Jessica Murray
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