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. 

However, many members did not want to give up their online connection. Some new PGS members lived on the other side of the Pacific Rim (Korea & New Zealand). Even Miami was too far away to drive for a 90-minute event. 

Returning to in-person-only classes and meetings was not a solution. 

Hybrid Meetings

Both PGS and the VFW began implementing hybrid meetings and classes in January.

One challenge is that the technical admin cannot be distracted by the topics being discussed! The admin must focus on the mechanics of the meeting and the behavior of the online participants.

Another challenge is the sheer amount of time that's involved. Preparation for a hybrid meeting begins 1-1/2 to 2 hours before the actual starting time of the meeting or class. It extends for 30 or more minutes after it is officially declared over.

No one step of a hybrid meeting is difficult, but there are a lot of them. Overlooking one simple step may result in a less-than-successful event. (Did you remember to turn on the recording?)

Checklists evolved over the year. They were written and re-written as more things were learned.

This book is a collection of those checklists. 

None of these checklists will work for any other organization. Every venue, every budget, and every organization is different. One page may be a 90% solution and the next page may be useless.

Readers are encouraged -- invited!! - to reverse engineer the processes, then create their own unique checklists.