Hybrid Meeting Specialists: Zoom Office Hours

Do you have questions about Hybrid Meetings? 

(“Hybrid Meetings” have some people in the room and some people attending over the Internet.)

Rick Jaggers opens his virtual office doors during this informal, unstructured Zoom meeting. 

There is no agenda and no planned content. Bring your questions, and Rick will answer them first come, first served. Get your answers and learn from the questions of others.

You do not need a Zoom account. (We are using Rick's account.)

You will need a tablet or a laptop or a desktop PC with a microphone & speakers. A webcam for your desktop PC is a decided plus!

HMS: Clothes for Hybrid Meetings

Dressing for Hybrid Meetings...

...is an Interesting Title

Participants in an online meeting have learned that they only need to dress from the waist up! (A tie for men is optional.)

Audiences in an in-person meeting have to dress from top to bottom. 

Email: MailChimp Changes Are coming...

New MailChimp
Limitations

Effective in March 2023, Mailchimp is changing the number of contacts it allows in its "forever free" plan. Mailchimp has essentially gutted this plan.

On the plus side, Mailchimp is continuing the $0 plan ("forever free"). 

Unfortunately, Mailchimp has reduced both the number of contacts and the number of monthly emails. The new numbers are down to the "free trial" levels offered by other mailing list providers.

(Sigh) MailChimp has had several years of enthusiastic support and recommendations. No more. I have presented the MailChimp brand and MailChimp logo to thousands of people over the years - otherwise free advertising to markets MailChimp would not normally reach.

Zoom: Rick Runs Hybrid Meetings

 

Hybrid Meeting Checklists

by Rick Jaggers

Rick's new book is now available for sale on Amazon!

Amazon.com/dp/B0BRN2N78D ($8.59)

This 60-page book is more of a who-done-it (er... "how we did it") than a how-to-do it book. 

Rick has been the technical admin for two organizations since 2020 and 2021: the Safety Harbor VFW and the Pinellas Genealogy Society (PGS). 

Both of them pivoted to hybrid meetings as "social distancing" eased at the end of 2021 and people were cautiously requesting in-person gatherings. 

Tidbits: Expert Secrets Book Review

 

Expert Secrets

by Russell Brunson

The subtitle for this book is "the underground playbook for creating a mass movement of people who will pay for your advice..."

The author caught my attention when he said,

"As you know, the world is filled with experts who are broke, people with advice and opinions and no one is listening to them."

That observation was presented in the first paragraph of the first page of the text, after the usual front matter such as acknowledgments and the introduction. Actually, it's the second sentence!

WordPress Tools for Webmasters

Webmaster Tools Review

I subscribe to many mailing lists, and this article showed up in one of them. 

12 Best WordPress Automation Tools and Plugins 

Compared (2021) 

Last updated on September 3rd, 2021

WordPress Virtual Meetup Calendar ~ Redux

  WP User Groups
WP Meetup Meetings
Zoom Meetings

This calendar was originally posted in December 2020; I am reposting it so you can quickly find it.  It is still updated daily:

The Science Behind Limited Menus and Short Sentences

"Remember"

a book by Lisa Genova

For a really long time, I've heard about two "Best Practics" for websites. This advice applies across all Internet sites:

1. Limit menus to 5-7 choices
2. Write with short sentences

I've tried to apply them as best as I can without understanding why. 

Post-Pandemic Blended-Hybrid Virtual Zoom Meetings #2

 

Blended / Hybrid

Virtual Meetings 

May, 2021

People are eager to return to live in-person meetings, and many still want to enjoy joining sessions across the country without actually traveling there.

I had previously explored the "why" of having blended / hybrid meetings.

Now I want to explore the "how" to use Zoom meetings

Post-Pandemic Blended-Hybrid Virtual Zoom Meetings #1

Blended / Hybrid

Virtual Meetings

April 2021

We have a new challenge as the world moves from virtual online meetings to live meetings. There are several "dots" to connect as I explore what these post-pandemic meetings will look like.

First, there continues to be a strong interest in live meetings that have a Q&A session. That has not gone away. If anything, the demand has increased because so many people have been restricted to the confines of their homes.

This article discusses the background and the why of Blended / Hybrid meetings.

"Follow by Email" Ends July 2021

 

On the sidebar to the right was an innocuous box that invited you to submit your email address.

When you did that, you received notifications delivered to that address when a new article had been posted to this blog!

That feature has ended.

PGS Volunteer of the Year

Pinellas Genealogy Society

Volunteer of the Year

2020-2021

Playing with Software and Functions and Features "Oh My!"

Playing with Software 

This article is based on a phrase I found in a book by John Cleese titled "creativity" (yes, the title is in lower case). The book was published in 2020 by Crown Publishing company.

The book is actually about the creative process of writing. He tells how specific actions have helped him create the comedy skits he has written.

But there is something I found relevant to people like me who have a technical background! In the book, Cleese describes "play" as...

 

The Email Magic of PLUS ("+")

 Create Unique
Email Address(es)

Here is how to create multiple email addresses and still have only one email mailbox to visit.

The Why of a Website

Why do you have a Website...?

The main purpose of a website is to turn your visitors into prospects and your prospects into customers! That is the perspective taken by this post and is purely a business attitude.

Victor Thomas wrote "A website is not really about the thing that you’re selling or the information you are presenting. Nor is it about you or your company. A website is about your prospect and their needs."

First, a history lesson:

Genealogy Societies on EasyNetSites ~ WordPress?

EasyNetSites

is closing

June 30, 2021

This is a HUGE problem for EasyNetSites customers. The customers all appear to be Genealogy Societies in the US.... 

WordPress Virtual Meetup Calendar

WP User Groups
WP Meetup Meetings
Zoom Meetings

One positive benefit to come from the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic is that most WordPress user groups embraced the change to an online format! You can search Meetup.com for the topic "WordPress" to discover that there are over 1,500 WordPress user groups around the world. WordPress.org directly sponsors over half of those groups: www.Meetup.com/pro/WordPress.

Here is a calendar of some upcoming virtual meetings, mostly using Zoom, for WordPress user groups. Attendance varies in size from 5 to 50, and attendees vary in their levels of experience from "Now what?".to writing code without bothering to look it up.

Zoom Training Videos

 

Zoom Training Videos
on YouTube

Rick's curated video list

YouTube has collected thousands of tutorial videos from Zoom meetings and webinars. Some are excellent and some are terrible. Occasionally these YouTube videos even present bad/wrong information. 

Many videos have a tendency to just ramble as the presenter adds their oh-by-the-way comments. While this is great for 1:1 training, the comments may not be appropriate for a tutorial.

I am building a curated list of tutorial videos for Zoom administrators...

WordPress.com Vs WordPress.org ~ Again

Kudos to the WordPress gang in NE Arkansas!

What is the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?

One of the attendees at last night's meetup was close to my age, and she was trying to understand the computer jargon and Internet terms that were being thrown her way... 

A New Analogy:

A Grocery Store ~ A Restaurant ~ A Kitchen 

WordPress: Learn Gutenberg Blocks II

 

More How To Use
Gutenberg Blocks
in WordPress

I want to share more about how I learned to use Gutenberg...

Book Review: Show Your Work

 

Book Review:

Show Your Work

By Austin Kleon

I do not know who to credit this recommendation, but Thank You! 

When I stumble across something on the Internet that looks interesting, I log onto my local library's website. If it's available, then I request a copy and continue with whatever reading I was doing. Anywhere from a week to a month later my local library sends me a notification that my book is ready to be picked up. Since I'll have several books in the queue, I usually don't remember why a particular book intrigued me. 

This is one of those books!

WordPress: Learn Gutenberg Blocks

 

How To Use
Gutenberg Blocks
in WordPress

I want to share how I learned to use Gutenberg...

The only alternative to Gutenberg and block editing is the WordPress "Classic Editor" It was designed by WordPress contributors and is available as a plugin. 

Unfortunately, support for the Classic Editor will end on December 31, 2021.

What to do by Dec 31?!

SCORE Member-to-Member Connections

Practice

The August meeting for SCORE volunteers included a brief presentation on how to use ZOOM.

Now volunteers can practice what they learned before going "live" with a one-on-one client mentoring session.

[Step 1] Join a meeting that Rick sets up during the week. You do NOT need a ZOOM account to do this.

[Step 2] You set up a meeting and invite Rick. You'll need access to the SCORE Zoom account.

What is the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?

Do I have WordPress.com or am I using WordPress.org?

This question is frequently asked by people who are beginning their first WordPress website. 

They are excited about creating a blog or opening an online store, and have listened to all the hype about "WordPress."

Newcomers are sometimes confused about where to find "WordPress" and naturally expect to find it at dot-com.

That's the wrong place to look for it. Let me explain: 

7 Reasons Why You Should Not Use Wordpress for your Small Business Website (I Disagree!)

I stumbled across an interesting argument:

7 Reasons
Why You Should Not Use WordPress
for your Small Business Website

SPOILER: Here is why I disagree with the arguments.

You can read the entire article is at JPW Design Studio.