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Zoom, an online videoconferencing software, is being used by businesses to connect with employees and clients during the mandatory shutdown. Personal use is growing, too. A friend recently posted on social media that she attended a virtual “family reunion” using Zoom.
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Finding new ways to connect with family and friends in a time of social-distancing—sharing drawings via iMessage.
CommonGround was conceived as a storytelling venue. We want to share what’s good right now, and our collective struggles as we navigate this unprecedented health crisis.
For many of us, it has been a complicated journey, fraught with concerns about our health, finances, and what kind of society awaits us when the virus threat subsides. These last few weeks have also been an opportunity to rediscover simple pleasures as we reconfigure our work routines at home and find new and virtual options to connect to the people in our lives.
One popular virtual connection option is Zoom, a videoconferencing software service. According to a February 26 CNBC article, Zoom has added more users in the first two months of 2020 than in all 2019.
Since travel is restricted, businesses are increasingly using Zoom, but personal use is growing, too. A friend recently posted on social media that she attended a virtual “family reunion” using Zoom. There’s something very reassuring about seeing familiar faces and hearing the friendly chatter of those you know, if only by way of a desktop computer or iPhone.
How are you reaching out to your family and friends? My husband and I live across the street from our only child, daughter Morgan, her husband Brock, and their two lively children, Quinn, five, and Ellis, 15 months. In better times, our proximity made spontaneous visits the norm. With the current health threat, we stand outside in the sunshine — us in our front yard and our daughter Morgan and her children in the quiet street, talking at a safe distance as our granddaughter skillfully rides her pink scooter back and forth.
A couple weeks ago, I started drawing simple cartoon images and sharing them with Quinn via her mother through iMessage. Morgan prints the image, and Quinn adds her special touches with markers. When she’s done, her mother shares the colored drawings with me. Perfect? No, but a good substitute for now.
My hope is that CommonGround will provide a similar function, particularly now — a much-needed connection between each other and our communities.
CommonGround has two sponsors, Chesapeake Bank and Riverside Health System. Chesapeake Bank’s main office is located in Kilmarnock with branches in the Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula, Williamsburg, and Richmond. They will provide valuable information for individuals and local small businesses about weathering the financial strain of this economic shutdown. As a premier coastal Virginia health provider, Riverside will share timely regional medical updates to help all of us mitigate the Coronavirus.
LocalScoopMagazine.com is also partnering with local Kilmarnock radio station, WKWI, 101.7 BAY FM, to promote their Social Distance Directory on MiddleNeckNews.com. You’ll find the latest information about business hours, restaurant delivery and take-out options in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula.
I invite you, our readers, to share your stories, how you’re adapting to and managing commitments to family, work, and community. Just email your article with images to me at susan@localscoopmagazine.com. Be sure to include your full name, phone number, and the town or city where you live. All submissions will become the property of The Local Scoop and may be reproduced in print or shared through social media.
So, let’s connect on CommonGround. I look forward to seeing you there!
Be well. Stay safe.
Susan McFadden
Publisher, The Local Scoop