With the imminent relaunch of the cams at Pete’s Pond and Gowrie Dam, WildEarth is looking for volunteers to help us control these cameras: To show them in the best light 24/7, as well as to let others know what’s going on by tweeting sightings and entering video marks for the archives. Our intent is to create one group that will work across both cams, so one day you might be controlling the Pete’s Pond, another Gowrie Dam.

While we would love to give as many people as possible the opportunity to control the cams at some stage, the reality is that the bigger the group of people, the more complicated it will be to manage and coordinate, so we will start of with a relatively small group and possibly add more zoomies later once all is running smoothly.

So, what does it take to be a ‘zoomie’?

  • a reliable, at least 1 Mbps, internet connection
  • a willingness to commit about 10 hours/week for the next couple of months
  • the ability to work well within a team of fellow volunteers
  • a reasonable level of PC and internet skills
  • the ability to work independently, but within a set of clear guidelines
  • a basic knowledge of the common animals that can be seen on the cams
  • a willingness to help and share knowledge with fellow zoomies
  • your name, location and time zone
  • an indication of how much time you would have available and at which days and hours this would be
  • why you would like to be a zoomie
  • a little bit about your past with WildEarth and/or Pete’s Pond (for my interest mostly :-)
  • an indication of your familiarity with the species that could be seen on the cams
It would be great if we could get a truly diverse mix of people for this. People from different time zones (very important) and countries, from different viewing backgrounds (new as well as first-hour viewers), and from the silent majority as well as the ‘not-so-silent minorities’ ;-). Everyone is equally welcome to put their name in the hat and will be fairly considered.

Once a first selection is made I will get in touch with everyone to start the training and scheduling and get this show on the road as soon as possible.

I look forward to hearing from you!

UPDATE: The application process for zoomies is open again.

–Peter