After weeks of working from home, your video calls are probably starting to feel a little monotonous. But what if there was fresh, nonhuman face in your virtual meeting? Maybe a cow, a llama, a ... goat?
That's the idea behind Goat 2 Meeting, a new service run by the Sweet Farm animal sanctuary in Half Moon Bay, Calif., south of San Francisco. The farm works to save farm animals from slaughter and to educate visitors about the impacts of factory farming.
Sweet Farm is funded by grants and donations, which usually come from in-person activities such as tours and corporate events.
"Sixty to 70 percent of our revenue has gone out the door" since the coronavirus hit, says Nate Salpeter, who founded the farm with his wife, Anna Sweet.
"So very quickly we had to figure out a way that we can still execute on our mission while also driving revenue," he tells NPR's All Things Considered.
Now, with various amounts of donation, Paco the llama, Juno the goat, Magnolia the cow or even Steve the rooster could be the one to join in on your dreary video conference calls.
Seattle-based Rebellyous Foods is one of the dozens of companies that have surprised employees with a virtual visitor.
"There was a quite a bit of squeals with joy as a fun diversion in the middle of a very busy Monday morning," says Rebellyous Foods CEO Christie Lagally. "Some of them were kind of coming in to eat or coming in from grazing, so ... they're very busy animals it seems like. I'm glad they took time out of their day to meet with us."