Step into the hall…

Use The Hallway for Sidebar Conversations

Two (or more) people attending a meeting in person can “step into the hall” for a semi-private discussion. Moving the conversation respects the presenter and the other people in the audience. Discussions In the hallway don’t derail the meeting for others and the hallway is more informal.

An online participant may want to do the same thing… step into a hallway to have a video discussion with one or more other online participants.

Stepping into the hallway, either a real one or a virtual one, is a good place to have a sidebar discussion and allow everyone else to keep the focus on the agenda. It offers a more casual atmosphere to strategize or just bounce ideas around.

An On-Line “Hallway”

The technical admin can establish a virtual hallway for them using Zoom!

Here’s How:

First, create a Zoom breakout room. Rename it “The Hallway”. Additional breakout rooms can be renamed “Hallway 1” and “Hallway 2.”

Next, add the option that the online participants can choose to “join.” Of course, participants can always leave the hallway and return to the main session.

Finally, the admin/host enables break-out rooms. The in-room and online facilitators can announce their availability.

A Tool for the Presenter

If the meeting leader feels that the discussion has strayed too far away from the agenda item, the presenter can suggest that the members “step into the hall” to hash it out.

Oops…

The only challenge is that the in-room audience and online participants cannot easily chat with each other. Perhaps the person in the meeting can step into the hallway, and then join the meeting using their cell phone. Suggestions welcome!

This post Hallways first appeared on Hybrid Meeting Specialists and is written by Rick Jaggers.

Annual Member Meetings | Board Meetings

The bottom line for this blog is that members who join an Annual Meeting over the Internet can count towards a quorum, and can vote on directors and issues before the association! Polls can collect answers and feedback from members.

Michael Ungerbuehler, an attorney with a lot of Community Association Law experience, published an article on his firm’s website. He talks about virtual (Annual) Member Meeting participants, including establishing quorums and having member votes.

Ungerbuehler was kind enough to personally answer an email from me. He wrote, “The article is based on Ch. 617, Florida Statutes (not-for-profit act) as applied to condo (718) and HOA (720) member meetings and Board meetings.”

In his article, Ungerbuehler says that people attending a Member Meeting online may be considered “to be present ‘in person’ at the meeting and may vote remotely.” (Emphasis mine.)

The caveat that I see is that there must be some control over who is online.

Connecting the dots.

First, the meeting planner must verify that everyone online is a member or proxy holder. Here is one way to do this with Zoom:

• Require Zoom registration.
  Configure the registration so that each attendee has only one login.
• Publish the link, and members can sign up with their name and email.
  The association can require additional information such as address or unit number.
• The meeting planner manually approves each account.
• Upon approval, Zoom will notify the member and send a link.
• (Optional) The admin can resend the links shortly before the meeting starts. This goes to registered and approved members. They cannot complain about “not finding the link.”

Next, create a Zoom “poll” for the vote. For an annual Member meeting, votes for Directors can be secret. “Polls can also be conducted anonymously, if you do not wish to collect participant information with the poll results.” For a Directors’ meeting, individual votes can be recorded.

Finally, at the appropriate time, open the poll. During the polling, results are tallied as the vote progresses. When the poll is closed, the results are immediately available. The numbers can be added to the tallied paper ballots.

FYI: Zoom will allow you to stream the meeting over a Facebook group. This is where interested parties can watch without having the ability to cast a vote.

Hybrid Meeting Specialists will help you do these things for your HOA/COA!

DISCLAIMER: I am not an attorney, and I cannot confirm that this solution will satisfy Florida HOA/COA requirements for e-voting.

You’re invited to read Ungerbuehler‘s complete blog: Is Virtual Participation in Community Association Meetings Here to Stay?

This post Virtual Member (Annual) Meetings first appeared on Hybrid Meeting Specialists and is written by Rick Jaggers.

A Hybrid Event Planner

We intend to continue our direct mail programs this year. One video suggested that postcards should contain an “irresistible offer” and specifically mentioned creating a “customized plan.” As I examined this idea, I realized that there are three different audiences!

A Planner for Leadership

I define Leadership as the person who can say, “let’s have a meeting.” Leadership also has budget/spending responsibility and authority.

A leader needs to know if a hybrid event is possible.

Hint: It usually is.

A Planner for the Organizer

Often, leadership assumes the role of event Organizer.

For the in-room audience, the Organizer selects a venue and arranges for creature comforts such as chairs and beverages.

The Organizer will identify where the technical admin is going to sit. This can be in the front or the back of the room.

The Organizer needs to determine the best place to put the TV screens. They should be visible to both the in-room participants and to the presenter at the podium.

Next, the Organizer needs to consider the two audio parts: hearing the speaker and hearing someone online speaking up. The former is for both the in-room and online audiences. One consideration is whether a PA system will be used.

Finally, the Organizer should be aware of where the cameras will be placed. We recommend one facing the podium, and another camera facing the audience. The Technical Admin will be responsible for switching. The organizer may want to oversee a script for the Admin.

A Planner for the (Technical) Admin

The Admin needs to have access to the virtual platform for the meeting (Zoom, Meet). There an event is scheduled, and the information is passed to the Organizer for publication/distribution.

The Admin provides input to the Organizer for the Admin work desk and placement of the screens, cameras, and microphones.

The Admin sets up the equipment, then connects and tests it.

During the actual event, the Admin’s primary responsibility is to be the online audience’s in-room representative, and all things technical to make that successful. The Admin cannot be distracted by the content of the event.

Write the Planning Guide

Our specialty is the online audience! This is where our experience can bring success to your hybrid meet.

The challenge is that every venue is different, every budget is different, every organization is different and every agenda is different.

A written, personalized, planning guide will include sections for Leadership, for the Organizer, and for the Technical Admin.

This post Creating A Plan first appeared on Hybrid Meeting Specialists and is written by Rick Jaggers.

Stream Your HOA/COA Zoom Hybrid Meeting to Facebook

Homeowner Associations in Florida operate under a “Sunshine” law. That means that the homeowners can observe any Board of Directors (BOD) meeting.

Hybrid meetings can show homeowners that their Board of Directors is open and transparent about their decision-making process. This can help to build trust and confidence between the board and homeowners.

Technically, homeowners can talk about any agenda item before the BOD. Even then, homeowners can talk for only a short period of time specifically designated for comments. Homeowners are not entitled to participate in any decisions. The President controls that and has the guidance of the Property Manager.

One feature of Zoom is the capability to stream a hybrid meeting to a Facebook “group.”

If the Association has a Facebook group, and access is controlled to the satisfaction of the BOD, then this could be a great tool to allow homeowners to observe BOD meetings.

Here are two additional things to consider when making the decision to stream an HOA meeting to Facebook:

[1] The size of the community: If your community is large, streaming the meeting through Facebook can be a great way to ensure that all homeowners have a chance to observe.

[2] The level of interest in HOA meetings: if there is a lot of interest in HOA meetings, streaming them can be a great way to increase engagement.

The decision of whether or not to stream HOA meetings is ultimately up to the individual HOA/COA BODs.

Recap: HOA/COA BODs are returning to in-person meetings. Zoom allows an online audience to observe and, when appropriate, participate. HOAs/COAs with a limited-access Facebook group can add that 3rd option for their homeowner members.

This post Stream to Facebook first appeared on Hybrid Meeting Specialists and is written by Rick Jaggers.

When should you consider hiring us?

There are two quick answers to the question about when you need a dedicated technical admin for your hybrid event. The two considerations are numbers and formality.

Is the size of the audience above 15-20?

The reality is that a hybrid meeting is going to have technical challenges.

A hybrid meeting without dedicated admin support is going to take longer to discover issues and resolve them. Some problems are not solved until the meeting is over. (e.g. I waited 20 minutes for someone to notice I was in the waiting room for a hybrid meeting.)*

It is harder to ask forgiveness from the audience(s) if the number of people that are involved is greater than 20.

That is a purely practical suggestion. This will hold true whether the online participation is one individual or fifteen people

Is the meeting formal or informal?

A meeting that is more formal requires more technical support for everyone whether it is the leadership, the online participants, or the in-room audience.

EXAMPLE: Homeowner Association (HOA) Directors’ Meetings are a good example of how the “formality” of the meeting can vary.

HOA – Informal

Some Homeowner meetings welcome comments from anyone who shows up. Our Board has five Directors, and about that many homeowners also attend. They do not have a dedicated admin.

During the Board Meetings, the President encourages people to speak up during any discussion. Any technical issues delay the proceedings, and everyone just waits.

HOA – Formal

Some Homeowner meetings are focused on following and completing an Agenda.

Member comments are held until a specific point in the agenda. Then, members are taken in order and are often limited in the amount of time they can speak. A dedicated admin runs the technical part. The Directors can focus on the subject(s) brought up by the members.

Be Successful!

Because of my engineering background I speak in quotation marks, parenthesizes, and footnotes. The following footnote has no bearing on answering the question: in the title:
* I never did get into that meeting. Being ignored and overlooked is what motivated this particular blog. Later, the leader said that I should have sent a text message. That additional instruction – and the phone number – was not posted anywhere.

This post When to hire us first appeared on Hybrid Meeting Specialists and is written by Rick Jaggers.

Every Hybrid Venue is Different

Since we began supporting Hybrid Meetings 2 years ago, we have supported dozens of hybrid meetings. Here’s seven venues:

• A community clubhouse (SHE)
• A (huge) meeting room (Jenkins)
• A small conference Room (LHR)
• A restaurant (Venice Cafe)
• A bar (doors closed for the duration of the meeting) (AL)
• A research library (FHC)
• An assembly hall (VFW)

Each Venue Is Unique!

The Community Clubhouse

This was our first paid gig, and it ran for several months. We used our equipment with a simple tripod and a wired conference microphone. We connected to their large, wall-mounted TV set. Once, when their Internet connection failed, we connected to Zoom through a cell-phone. We have a cable that still has pieces of tape attached.

A (Huge) Meeting Room

At this venue, we used the customer’s equipment. We had to tape the cables to the floor after we set up the equipment. We mounted a second camera on top of the TV so the in-room audience could chat-chat with the online attendees after the meeting was over. The organization also had a conference microphone with two small microphones that could be stretched out across the front of the room.

A Small Conference Room

This is another venue with customer-owned equipment. The tilt-and-pan camera is mounted on a tripod and placed in the front of the room. Since there was no foot traffic there, we simply laid the cables across a row of chairs.

The Restaurant

We showed up at the Cafe with our equipment. The tables were arranged in a U-shape. We put a camera on a tripod across the table focusing on the center of attention. We positioned a 2nd camera so the whole in-room audience could be in the frame. Throughout the meeting, we switched between the two cameras as the focus of the event changed.

A Bar

The bar venue was truly a challenge because of the shape of the room. The room looked like a “V”, with the commander’s table positioned in the middle. Each “leg” of the room had its own TV. We used both TVs, pinned the cables to the ceiling, and then connected them to our HDMI splitter. (FYI, it was a business meeting. No alcohol was served, and the doors were closed to keep out the other patrons visiting the other end of the building.)

The Research Library

In the research center, we put a camera on a short tripod in the far corner, on top of a filing cabinet. By this time we had acquired a wireless Bluetooth conference microphone. The leader was savvy enough to hand-carry the microphone whenever she moved from one area of the room to another.

An Assembly Hall

Finally, the setup in the Assembly Hall venue has changed over the last 1-1/2 years. They started with webcams on tripods (they too own the equipment). At first, we taped the cables to the floor, then changed the tape to heavy door mats. Finally, we moved the cables to the ceilings. This spring we exchanged the tripods for a ceiling mount. We are discussing whether or not to permanently install the cables in the ceiling.

Summary

Half of the organizations (3) bought their own equipment based on our recommendations. We provided the equipment for the others. One organization has a shopping list in hand (April 2023).

The venues all had common elements (webcam, microphone, etc.) and we were provided an area for “admin central.”

However, each setup was unique. We used our experience to find the most effective configuration for that venue.

This post Every Hybrid Venue is Different first appeared on Hybrid Meeting Specialists and is written by Rick Jaggers.

Preparing for Hybrid Meetings

Erica Dawan, in her book Digital Body Language, said “First, understand that digital meetings demand more preparation than in-person meetings.”

That statement is buried deep in the middle of her book, but it definitely applies to what we do. We plan for simultaneous digital meetings and in-person meetings.

A Hybrid Meeting is actually two meetings in one because it has two different audiences.

Both audiences expect to participate. They expect to hear, speak up, and when necessary, vote.

However, both audiences participate differently. Meeting organizers need to be aware of that and plan the meeting accordingly.

The in-room/in-person audience…

… has a familiar meeting environment. Meeting planners need to be aware of creature comforts, such as seating and water.

The in-person audience often has a screen at the front of the room where PowerPoint slides are projected Visibility and lighting are important.

The audience is able to see the speaker and the people in the room as individuals.

The online/virtual audience…

… has a familiar Zoom meeting environment. Meeting planners do not need to worry about creature comforts, such as seating and water.

This audience has a “window” into the room and can see only what is on their computer or laptop screen.

During the slide show, the virtual audience usually chooses to see the speaker and the shared screen. The technical admin has little control over that.

Agenda/Script

“Best Practices” suggests that it is a good idea to write a script for the entire event based on the agenda. For example:

This post Script Your Hybrid Meeting! first appeared on Hybrid Meeting Specialists and is written by Rick Jaggers.

Event Technologists

I have discovered a new job title “Event Technologist.” This person assumes the admin responsibility for hybrid meetings.I think there is a lot wrapped up in that short sentence.

Then, organizations need to let that point-person, the “event technologist” do their job.

FWIW, this is exactly what I regularly do for PGS and the VFW. I’ve been lucky that they both support me! This is what I did with the HOAs that I’ve supported in the past.

This title goes back to a key point we believe about hybrid meetings: “It takes a team.” Meetings take leadership with a vision, a facilitator that runs the in-room activities, and the “event technologist” that runs the technical side for the online audience.

~~ Rick

This post An “Event Technologist” first appeared on Hybrid Meeting Specialists and is written by Rick Jaggers.

Internet Connections for Hybrid Meetings

An Internet connection must be both stable and fast.

However, we realize that your Internet speed and your Internet connection is whatever it is. You have to use whatever is available.  You cannot change either one of them very easily. And, for 99.9% of the meetings, what you have is “good enough.”

Your Internet Connection

How you connect your PC (e.g. your laptop) to the Internet is the easiest thing you can change.

Routers connect your devices to the Internet. One side of the router connects to the Internet, most often through a cable company. The other side of the router connects to your PC. This can be with a cable or with a radio signal. The latter is also known as “Wi-Fi.”

Cable

The best connection is a cable from your computer to the router.  Most venues no longer offer that option. They use a “cat-5” connection in the wall or through a floor outlet. It’s rare and is often not immediately visible. You should always ask!

Wi-Fi

The easiest connection is Wi-Fi. Most laptops now have built-in Wi-Fi receivers. They provide an adequate connection to the router. A bonus is that there are no cables to run!

(Trivia: “Wi-Fi” doesn’t stand for anything. The wireless industry hired a marketing firm to come up with a user-friendly name! Wi-Fi is trademarked.)

Cell Phone

Once, the WFi router went down in an HOA meeting! The quick-fix was for someone to use their cell phone as an Internet hotspot. The laptop was connected to that.

Verizon has written an article that suggests buying a portable router.

Whether your phone is not hotspot-enabled or your data plan is not sufficient for your needs, an alternative is to purchase a portable router… Like your smartphone, these require inserting a SIM card for connectivity. While using a portable router will incur an upfront fee and an additional charge for internet access, there are plenty of service providers from which you can rent them — and often at a reasonable rate.

While they may incur some additional costs, they are a great way of getting reliable internet access without savaging your cellular data plan.

https://www.verizon.com/articles/how-to-get-wifi-anywhere/

Your Internet Speed

MBPS is a unit of measure that means “megabits per second.” Higher numbers are better. Five is better than one. 100 is better than 10.

Upload speed is how fast your local PC can transfer information from your computer. Zoom recommendations start at 0.8 MBPS and tops out at 3.0 MBPS.

Download speed is how fast Zoom can transfer information to your local PC. Zoom recommendations start at 1.0 MBPS and tops out at 3.0 MBPS.

Upload and download speeds are measured and listed separately from each other. Typically, download speeds are 10x faster than upload speeds.

You should be OK if you have 4 MBPS or greater for both of them.

Most Internet connections are ten to fifty times faster than that. At home, speedtest.net reported that my download speed is 255 MBPS and the upload speed is 11 MBPS.

Worried? (You needn’t be.) You can go to a website such as fast.com or speedtest.net and look up your own numbers.

This post Quick Comment: Connecting to the Internet first appeared on Hybrid Meeting Specialists and is written by Rick Jaggers.

Hybrid Meeting Checklists:
A collection of what works

Our new book is now published on Amazon – and you can order your copy for $8.59. That’s just above the cost of printing and binding the collection.

Order Book From Amazon

You are invited to use this collection for your own Hybrid Events! You can reverse-engineer the steps that have brought success to two organizations. You can model your own one-page checklists for your own hybrid events.

It is a collection of checklists that were written by the technical admins. The checklists were modified and rewritten as the hybrid event experience grew. And yes, the checklists may be different a year from now as more lessons are learned.

The collection is a “how we did it” book. Because every venue is different, it does not pretend to be “how you can do it.”

At this price, it’s a great place for you to start!

This post The Book is Available! first appeared on Hybrid Meeting Specialists and is written by Rick Jaggers.