Guess who is coming to your next Zoom call

Listen to this article

After nearly two months of working from home, video meetings have lost their luster. It was fun before to experiment with virtual backgrounds and show up to work in a T-shirt and shorts, but now, we try to get those video chats over with as soon as possible.

To help the Lowcountry through the virtual doldrums, though, the S.C. Aquarium is offering the opportunity to have a special guest appear at your next meeting.

For $100, the S.C. Aquarium will bring a sea turtle, alligator, barn owl or snake to your next virtual meeting for 15 minutes. Reservations for Critter Calls are required in advance, and the aquarium says Zoom is preferred but any conferencing platform can be used.

The fun doesn’t have to stop at work, though. Want to celebrate Father’s Day virtually? Or does someone have a birthday coming up? Or maybe you just need to relax and have a quick conversation with a snake.

At $100 for a 15-minute appearance, the alligator or barn owl is billing at around $400 an hour. If this works out, some of the South of Broad law firms might offer up some of their shareholders for Zoom guest appearances.

But even if you didn’t want to chance listing this as a “guest business consultant” line item on your expense report, you can split it five ways with your co-workers and have an owl visit your meeting for $20 per person. 

The S.C. Aquarium isn’t the first organization to do this. Farm animals and others have been making guest appearances for a while during the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the Charleston-based animals are a bit more wild than a llama or a cow, and you’ll be supporting the S.C. Aquarium while making your day a little less like every other day and the day after that and the day after that.