Chapter 9 - Our reach can't be the problem

Friday, September 4 | 68 days until the conference | 185 registrations

Victor was satisfied with Catja: she worked hard on the social media channels, and now she was wrapping stuffed guinea pig toys. Casper and she had organized a competition on Facebook, where people could win these fluffy animals. To enter, people only had to like the NatSoRoPro page and answer the following question:

 

Which animal is the odd one out:

beaver - mouse - rabbit - water hog?

 

Most people guessed the water hog, which Victor found amusing, as the water hog, better known as the capybara, happened to be the world’s largest rodent. The rabbit was the odd one out, as it belonged to the hare family, completely different, as Victor liked to explain at birthday parties. Despite the fact most people got the answer wrong, the promotion had soon earned them over one hundred new Facebook likes.

           There had been some additional registrations for the conference this week, but at this pace they still wouldn’t be able to fill the rooms. Two or three a day, that wouldn’t even get them up to four hundred by November. It was a good thing they’d taken measures, because if this was all, they could pack up NatSoRoPro. Victor was all too aware of it.

           He found distraction on Rodentnet, on which he had found his way around with Casper’s help. There were some good, substantive discussions taking place and he stumbled upon several colleagues from the field, whom he hadn’t spoken to since last year’s conference. Like Mara McKenzie. Upon seeing her small, elegant frame, you wouldn’t expect her to be one of the most successful rat pest controllers in the world. He knew she was unable to attend the conference, but she had sent some great questions for the panel leader to put forward during the confrontation panel. Other participants in the discussion were pleased to find Rodentia was planning on paying such serious attention to the topic, and some of them decided to register. 

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Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula Vos

 Narrated by Kevin Stillwell