Utah Rotarians:
I wanted to share with you how two clubs in D5420 are making hybrid meetings (both in person and virtual) work for their members. Hopefully you will consider how you might make it work for your clubs too.
1. Centerville-Farmington Club
They are meeting outside in a bowery in a local park, with a mike and PA system for the speaker, and a large screen monitor (or TV) for slides and video.
They use Google Meet, instead of Zoom, because it does not have the 40-minute meeting limit. You can also overcome that limitation with a Zoom Pro membership ($14.99/mo).
Tip: if the presenter will be using video in Google Meet, be aware they need to launch that video from a Chrome browser tab, and select that tab from the “Present Now” menu. Otherwise, virtual participants will not hear the audio portion of the video.
The easiest way to show a video from a tab in your Chrome browser is to play it from YouTube. Anyone who has a Google account also has a YouTube account, and can upload videos to that account so they will be available to show during a meeting.
They connect the presenter’s device to Google Meet, as well as connecting it to the large screen monitor, so that both the in-person and Google Meet participants can see the slides.
The presenter’s PC also delivers audio and video to the Google Meet participants. Alternately, you can connect another device to the Google Meet session which can be focused on the speaker, which can give the speaker the flexibility to move around the room and not be tied to their laptop camera.
Their meeting host (whoever created the online meeting) also connects to the online meeting and actively “manages” the online meeting, ironing out any technical issues so that all online participants will have a good meeting experience.
They connect their devices to the Internet using their personal mobile hotspots.
2. Vernal Club
They have about 4-5 members that join virtually by Zoom and 5-7 that meet in person so this should work well for almost any smaller club.
They have a laptop set up facing the group so the virtual members can see (with audio off) and use a phone for audio that they pass around to whom ever is speaking or commenting.
According to both clubs, these techniques have been pretty effective and makes it safer for their high risk members. It also offers the potential for greater attendance at meetings than either in person or virtual meetings alone.
Thanks to both clubs for sharing their experiences for the benefit of all.
These are challenging times indeed but we have learned new ways of doing things out of necessity. May you have the best Rotary Year possible and please don’t hesitate to reach out for assistance!
Scott Florence
D5420 Membership Chair