By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Now the folks at Heartland Farm, 13 miles west of Great Bend, will know exactly "hoo" is talking during video conferences. A $750 grant awarded by the Golden Belt Community Foundation paid for most of a new Owl Labs 360-degree conference camera the farm can now use to simplify virtual meetings.
"Since COVID happened, we are doing more and more programs virtually," said Heartland Farm Marketing and Media Coordinator Teresa Johnson. "Sometimes it's hard when you have a group of people, they're all on Zoom, and nobody knows who's talking. We will use it for programs, and of course, we'll use it for virtual meetings for the staff and advisory council."
The Owl camera - which even looks like an owl - is an all-in-one device with a camera, microphone, and speakers. Even more, the camera pivots to find the speaker in the room, zooming and focusing on the speaker for clarity in online meetings.
"It still will show the other people at the top of the screen, but it's more interactive," Johnson said. "Instead of us sitting as a group and no one knows who is speaking, it will turn and focus on the speaker automatically."
The Owl Labs camera retails for approximately $1,000. Heartland Farm was one of eight organizations to receive a Golden Belt Spring Community Building Grant from the Golden Belt Community Foundation. This round of grants totaled just over $15,000.