By Richard Weinstein, President & COO
Ocean Reef Community Foundation

It used to be a children’s TV show, not quite Sesame Street but competition for the Electric Company. I can still recall the end where they would invite viewers to write in and then give the address. No idea what the address was but they would sing the Boston zip code and the power of music comes through as I can still remember it like an old TV commercial jingle…02134. Yes it was WBHG in Boston.

Now Zoom means something completely different to us. Mostly it is a wonderful way to have face to face meetings but sometimes it is a bit reminiscent of something else from the 60’s and 70’s. I recall that often the TV reception wasn’t quite as good as you would like so you would go over to the TV (or better yet have your sibling go over to the TV) and right there on top of the TV, next to the pair of pliers (you know the ones you needed to change the channels because the knob broke when your brother used his foot to try and change the channel because there was no remote and everyone was too lazy to get up to change the channel to a different one of the only 7 options that existed)… Where was I? Oh yes, the TV antenna.

Have your sibling move the TV antenna to get better reception on this particular channel. Of course that meant giving them lots of direction…yes, there, no wait move it back, OK no, more to the other way, yes, no, stop ok good…and then they would let go and the signal would go bad again. Yes, the key was for them to stay still and keep their hand on the antenna…

Now we have Zoom, and we get on the call and there is always a couple of participants who can’t quite get:

Choose one (or more)

  1. Their sound to work
  2. Their video To work
  3. Their screen to share

So you politely provide directions… no, touch the screen, now look at the bottom, now click the video camera, no, we still can’t see you. Of course when you can see them and not hear they are very good at talking to you, you know this because you see their mouth moving and then everyone is yelling at them that we can’t hear you! We have come so far but it is eerily familiar. Don’t you love technology!

The Ocean Reef Community Foundation has also come a long way and is embracing technology. From our Silent Auction online bidding to our new Donor Advised Fund Portal, launching later this month. Yet our hands on, personal attention and timely responses, as “old school” as that may seem to many service organizations today, is still the most important part of what we strive to deliver. It is our commitment to the Membership to know you can call or visit and you can always reach one of us or expect a fast call back response.

This is important because in many ways we are saving, changing and improving lives. With your consistent and generous support we make a meaningful impact here at Ocean Reef through our recipient partners, The Medical Center, Cultural Center, Art League, Academy, ORCAT and Conservation Association, as well as in the nearby communities through our annual Grants Programs.

With that, we ask that you once again mark your calendars for the All Charities Gala Weekend and our Live and Silent Auction for February 2nd – 4th.  With your generosity once again, we have a clear picture of what the future can look like, so whatever you do, don’t move and don’t let go of that antenna!