Tools, Tips and Resources for Meeting Online

Bringing people and industries together to meet, share and collaborate lies at the heart of Media Evolution, Media Evolution City and The Conference. Like for so many others the times we’re in and the times to come will test our mission and how to do this in other ways.

Postpone or move online? People choose differently and we, we do a little bit of both. Below, we’ve compiled a list of digital tips and tricks for virtual meetings that might come in handy. We’re sure you have plenty of methods and suggestions to share so please feel free to share your ideas in Media Evolution Community group on facebook.

TOOLS, SERVICES & RESOURCES

Zoom – our favorite for webinars and conferences
Zoom works very well for seminars and workshops since you can break a large group into smaller ones and have multiple users share screens simultaneously. They do have a free plan that works well for group meetings, but you need to upgrade in order to host longer conversations or seminars.

  • Although we haven’t tried it yet, we think Qiqo chat seems like a good service to make events on Zoom even more collaborative and similar to a real world event.

Google hangout / meet – our favorite for conference calls and meetings Google hangout (consumer plan) and google hangout meet (enterprise version) are also a great alternatives for conference calls. It’s our own go-to for meetings and conference calls since it’s so easy to use. In the consumer plan you can host a meeting for up to 25 people.

Hop in is a new platform for hosting bigger events online which sounds super promising. It’s still on a request an invite stage, but it’s definitely the talk of the town these days.

Coronavirustechhandbook is a great resource for everyone in public health or interested in helping out – it also contains good tips on how to plan events, work remotely and meet.

Remote collaboration guide from Civic Hall also offers lots of tips and tricks on tools for digital engagement.

Dazed digital’s guide to online parties and festivals Cyber distancing drag festival or a Netflix Party? Whatever floats your boat, there sure is something for each and all.

MEETING PREPARATIONS

  • Make sure everyone has a good internet connection. An upload / download speed of at least 10 mbit/s is recommended. Check yours here. If you have bad wifi connection, a lot of conference call services offer ways to dial in to the meeting with your phone, which can be a better choice for audio (you can still use your computer for video)
  • Use a headset if possible since it usually works better with the microphone
  • Clean your camera, direct the light to your face and keep eye contact
  • Mute microphone while not speaking
  • Have a meeting facilitator. It really does a huge difference having someone to distribute the word and run the agenda to avoid 1. Everyone speaking at once or 2. No one speaking at all because it’s awkward with timing
  • Address everyone by name to once again avoid mass speaking
  • We’re still human and have things to say even when we don’t have the word, so why not use the chat for comments instead of going unmute loco?
  • And oh, a nice background is always a good idea 🙂

And of course, do get in touch if you want any help with planning or setting things up!