When the pandemic pressed video conferencing into service among constituencies from businesses and schools to garden clubs and town boards, Zoom quickly bubbled to the surface as the most user-friendly of the bunch.

Before you knew it, everyone was doing it.

At first, it was awkward — the cues that guide the rhythm of normal conversation were missing, and the lighting and camera angles were unflattering. You never realized how cluttered that sideboard behind you looked until you saw it reflected back at you though your screen.
Those things are all still true, by the way — but even so, bringing video conferencing to the masses was a community-saver.

In fact, it’s clear that conferencing tools like Zoom actually improved levels of civic engagement, with citizens “attending” public meetings in never-before-seen numbers.

"I have definitely seen a substantial increase in attendance at Zoom, vs. in-person, School Committee meetings," said Erin Schofield, then-Bristol Warren Regional School Committee Chairman, in the fall of 2020. "I think zooming makes it easier and more convenient for busy families and community members to join in."

That may be true, but the speed at which town boards, commissions and the Council have dialed back the use of that technology, once released from the requirement by state mandates, suggests that in aggregate, they feel that the old ways are really the best ways. While the addition of technology can add functionality and greater opportunity for engagement, most groups are returning to in-person as the meeting standard.

While the Town Council is leaving it to the chairs of the town boards and commissions to make their own choices, the Council itself has chosen to return to an in-person model for participants and petitioners, with observers free to watch, but not participate, remotely. (A notable exception at the last meeting was an under-the-weather solicitor whose face occasionally materialized, a la Wizard-of-Oz, on the large screen behind the Council. That was an exception, and Mr. Teitz will return to his seat at the table moving forward.)

“I find in-person meetings more productive,” said Council Chairman Nathan Calouro. “People speak about 20 percent with their words, and 80 percent with their body language. There’s so much communication that you miss if you aren’t actually there.”

The Council’s current set-up in chambers, implemented by Economic Development Coordinator Chris Vitale, is one of the best, most functional in the region.

“From my standpoint, it's my goal to help provide the capability and flexibility for our public bodies to hold meetings based on their specific needs,” said Vitale.

How each group choses to adopt (or not) that technology is their choice. One often-cited negative is the fact that no matter how good the technology is on one side of the meeting, it won’t go smoothly if participants are not up to speed. While the pandemic forced lightening-speed adoption by many, for others, an unfamiliarity with the technology, bad connections, and other reasons have led to frustrating interruptions and delays. Barely a public-participating remote meeting occurs where there is not some technological glitch.

Troubles aside, technology — and hybrid meetings — are here to stay.

“We plan to incorporate the same level of functionality as we currently have at 10 Court Street [in the new meeting space at Reynolds] to provide ourselves options for future use,” said Vitale.

“We will continue to livestream. That’s never going away….I love it,” said Calouro, citing an evening when he was able to “attend” two of his children’s events simultaneously. He also noted the level of engagement with local events. “In-person is best, but if the other option is nothing, certainly I want that capability to be in place.”

Other civic organizations reached were at different places on the continuum.

“I think Zoom was a great tool for engaging more of the public in discussion….It’s not always easy to leave your home on a school night,” said Marjorie McBride, Bristol Warren Regional School Committee Chairman. “Since Zoom has ended participation has dropped significantly. I like being in person, I like the personal interaction. I am sorry that Zoom is not an option though, I’d like it to be one. We should make it as easy as possible for the public to attend.”

“The Harbor Commission has met throughout the pandemic in person,” said Harbormaster Gregg Marsili. “If the rules at the time prevented us from gathering as a group, we did not have a meeting. We probably missed 6 or 7 meetings over the past two and half years.”

For some groups, the full functionality of the town hall’s Zoom room is not available to them. Streaming requires the assistance of a cameraman for the duration of the meeting. Unlike individual participants, the meeting space is covered by four cameras, and the perspective is constantly changing depending on who is speaking.

“If we budgeted Mike [Davis] to be there for every meeting, costs would climb very quickly,” said Calouro. “It requires that human touch, and we don’t have a full time staff person for that right now.”

That has required the council to determine, on a case-by-case basic, which meetings will be live-streamed. Workshops, for example, are not; neither are meetings that have typically had lighter in-person participation. The council chose, for that reason, not to stream the recent budget workshops, though Calouro stressed that those meetings have always been and will always remain open to the public.

The difference is that, as in the old days, showing up from your kitchen, in your pajamas, may no longer be an option.