Amanda and Simon Davey have been on Facebook and Twitter and Amanda (me) has been on LinkedIn for well over ten years. Since 2015 Tilia Publishing UK has been on Facebook and Twitter. We are hatching a plot to start a YouTube channel as well – building on lessons learned during the lockdowns.

Social media is like any meeting space for humans, it is exceptionally variable. What is worth mentioning is that the places, spaces and people that we have engaged with and experienced have almost wholely been positive. There have been a couple of exceptions, but that’s true of all human interactions, they are rarely perfect.

What we have been ‘lucky’ to avoid is the negativity that the print media like to expand upon. It is possible to suggest that the luck relates to where our energy goes, as social media is in fact an enormously positive early stage educational tool. There has been a surge in citizen science, where observations of easily identifiable natural history have been made into a form of educational game and the results of thousands of eyes accompanied by supporting photographs has allowed a level of data that could never be funded at that scale. Children learn to love things like insects and get excited by seeing new ones. This can be a great introduction to a deeper understanding and further investigation, with the caveat of not relying too heavily on the internet for identification in record submission of course.

Just over a week ago a friend put up 10 facts about her that were interesting to read and intended to give a picture of the personality behind her business. We thought this a great idea but didn't want to use her questions as some were password linked and 'that wouldn't do'!

I scoured the internet for inspiration (it is STILL a daily joy to have the ability to do that more than 20 years later). One site had a list of 100 questions from which we managed a shorter list of 30, but can't pick which ones to lose. So what follows is 30 questions answered by Simon first and then by me (Amanda) which probably shows we tend to like words! One question we culled was hobbies as that would just be taking photos and writing stuff...

 Questions - Simon Davey

1.       Who is your hero?

          Dr Francis Rose, brilliant ecologist and mentor

2.       If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

          Costa Rica

3.       What has been your favourite holiday?

          Travelling around northern France visiting cathedrals and abbeys

4.       What makes you angry?

          Greed

5.       What's your favourite thing about your career?

          Travel

6.       What's your proudest accomplishment?

          Being a tour leader showing people natural history in amazing places

7.       What's your favourite book?

          Eastern Approaches by Fitzroy Maclean

8.       What did you want to be when you were a child?

          A sailor or an architect

9.       What is your favourite sport/game to watch?

          Tennis

10.     What would be your Karaoke song?

          Didja' Ever (originally by Elvis Presley)

11.     Who is your favourite author?