Ever messed around with the settings on Zoom? Maybe you managed to teleport yourself to a sunny beach during a work meeting? Better yet, perhaps you transformed yourself into a potato?
These feats of modern technology are always amusing, but the problem with them is that they usually happen at the most inopportune times. Important lecture? Yup. Work interview? Of course. Interview on Australian TV channel 9 News Adelaide? Well, yes, but only if you’re the guest Mark Borlace, whose computer wouldn’t level with him when he needed it the most.
More info: Instagram
RAA representative Mark Borlace was embarrassed by his Zoom giving him trouble with inappropriate backgrounds and a hilarious filter
Image credits: 9newsadelaide
Image credits: 9newsadelaide
Mark Borlace, Senior Manager at the Royal Automobile Association (RAA), had digitally joined journalist and presenter Alice Monfries for an interview on 9 News Adelaide. At first, the technical difficulties began with Mark having trouble with his background, starting with a picture of a carwash.
“Thanks for your tolerance while I just go through this,” Mark thanked Alice, but that was only the beginning of his troubles.
While the atmosphere was sedate with Mark being in a carwash in the cybernetic world, Alice couldn’t help but crack up when he was suddenly transported to a reef, complete with divers and a turtle.
Although Mark was seemingly embarrassed, he was taking it like a champ. He managed to blur the background, but then came the coup de grâce - a teensy weensy pizza hat was placed on his head.
By that point, Alice’s barriers had been thoroughly routed and she could contain her laughter no longer. Mark, meanwhile, having figured out how to turn the background on, decided to start with a clean slate and reconnect to the interview.
The host, Alice Monfries, had stayed quite composed like a true professional up until the pizza hat came out
Image credits: 9newsadelaide
Image credits: 9newsadelaide
Watch the original video here:
Mark took the situation like a champ, even posting a picture of himself with a real-life pizza hat made by his partner
Mark showed off his sense of humor together with the help of the RAA and his partner Monique, by posting a picture of himself with a real pizza hat in his office. Credit goes to Monique, who went out of her way to make the digital pizza hat real.
Image credits: RAAofSA
The presenter, Alice Monfries, graciously accepted our invitation to chat and tell us more about the situation
For this article, Bored Panda got in touch with Journalist and Presenter Alice Monfries, who interviewed Mark Borlace in the video and graciously answered some questions about the situation for us.
Asked about how often similar funny situations crop up at her work, Alice said: “Funny things are often happening behind the scenes, but it’s not often we get to have a real belly laugh on air.”
With the onset of the pandemic, Alice has been conducting more interviews via online platforms, and that has made distant guests more accessible, but it’s also not without challenges. The challenges are usually technical, with people freezing or being stuck on mute.
If you were wondering, the interview the blooper came from wasn’t live but prerecorded. If it had been live, the control room would have had the guest have their background sorted before having them come on live.
“We were happy to let Mark have a quick play around to get the right one because we weren’t live,” Alice added.
Turns out there is a specific plan for when the guest is having technical difficulties. The interview usually ended, letting the guest and audience know that we're having technical issues. Then, when the control room has resolved the issues together with the guest behind the scenes, they return to it later in the bulletin.
If the interview is prerecorded, the crew collaborates with the guest to resolve the issues. There is a tech team helping the guest behind the scenes with whatever they need to do.
Image credits: alice_monfries
“You have most likely seen the 1 minute edited clip of the exchange with Mark. We worked together for almost five minutes as he tried to find the background, and both of us were having a good giggle throughout.”
If you were wondering, the Nine News Social media team showed the reel to Mark and the RAA to get their permission and approval.
And if you want to know more about Mark, he is a seasoned media professional who has been the spokesperson for the RAA for many years. Alice and Mark have had many interviews over the years, but this was the first Zoom interview they had together.
“He is a very funny man and was a great sport with the background challenges, making the situation very humorous.”
According to Alice, the team is blown away by how far the clip has traveled. People from around the world contacted them with an overwhelming amount of positive comments. People say that it gave them a much-needed laugh among other heavy world news.
Alice finished our super interesting and fun chat by saying: “I’m so glad people have been able to laugh along with us.”
Image credits: alice_monfries
And it's not the first time this has happened, as a lawyer got into a similar situation as Mark during the start of the pandemic, accidentally joining court as a talking cat
If this story seems to ring some sort of bell, it’s probably ringing the bell labeled “attorney with a cat filter.” During the dark days of the pandemic, an attorney by the name of Rod Ponton accidentally appeared as a kitten in the Texas Judicial District Court. Thank God Rod went on to clarify “I’m here live, I’m not a cat,” in case anyone in the Court that day had begun fearing that an attorney had morphed into a cat.
Showing off his icy cool, Rod also said “I’m prepared to go forward with it,” ready to take on the mantle of being the first talking cat in court. Apparently, it was his kid that turned on the filter when he was using the computer, so that’s another thing to look out for when going online.
Image credits: HanksKendyl
As Zoom apparently has about 300 million users daily, filter and background mishaps likely happen in the hundreds every day. But have you ever seen a colleague's background and wondered what exactly it was hiding?
Perhaps this article by Bored Panda will help you create some kind of mental picture of what lurks behind the blurry grays. Lots of people don’t bother with pants, choosing comfort over looking preppy - Zoom guests can’t see below your waistline anyway. Others show off the messes they have going on in their rooms or their creative setups of them propping their devices on random things for job interviews.
If all of this has you anxious about your upcoming Zoom meeting or interview, you could refer to these rules of Zoom engagement by CEO Ali Green. It covers everything from meeting etiquette to backgrounds, and even a filter that touches up your appearance if you feel unsure about yourself on the day, so be sure to read up on it.
The original video by 9newsadelaide on Instagram collected almost 2.5k likes and nearly 100 comments. Commenters enjoyed how pure and funny the video was, appreciating how nice and collected the guest was during this mishap. Share your thoughts about the vid below!
Commenters laughed at how pure the guest was and how well he retained his composure in the mild chaos
