How do we hold a hybrid Open House that looks effortless?

Open House Season is upon us, District 96!

Many of you are wondering, "How do we hold a hybrid Open House that looks effortless?" The Hybrid Committee is here to help! In this blog post, we list a few best practices for both the In-person and online experiences to make your hybrid Open House sparkle!

Let's compare the duties of the in-person and online Sergeants-At-Arm/Zoom Masters.

Always assign an in-person Sergeant-at-Arms/Zoom Master. This is a technical role, and ideally not shared by the chair, timer or any other meeting role. The in-person SAA/Zoom Master's responsibilities include setting up the meeting space, muting and unmuting the the microphones, and controlling the view screen. 

District 96 Hybrid Panel Discussion

• Pre-meeting Setup Duties:
  • Set up microphone, camera and speaker(s) in meeting room,
  • Test microphone, speaker and video before start of the meeting, completed using the Zoom preferences menu,
    • Test audio settings in Zoom to confirm room pickup.
    • Test camera positioning and clearly identify speaking area in the room for in-person meeting.
    • Test speaker to confirm that speaker can be clearly heard in the meeting room.
    • Adjust settings in Zoom and/or position of equipment for most ideal results.

The online Sergeant-At-Arms Zoom Master is responsible for setting up and monitoring the waiting room, setting up and monitoring the breakout room(s), and greeting guests as they join the meeting.

Consider sharing these duties among separate hosts and co-hosts. Hosts also remind guests to rename themselves if necessary, and assist with any technical issues. During the meeting they mute members' microphones to eliminate distractions.

Consider assigning a Chat/Question & Answer Master. They watch for questions in the Chat and present the questions to the presenter. They can restrict the Chat function during a presentation, share the agenda, and explain various meeting roles. Ideally, this role is a separate online Zoom Master with Co-hosting duties.

For information on how to Claim A Host in Zoom, watch the YouTube video prepared by Hybrid Committee member, Ray Miller.

In-person SAA Zoom Master

• Pre-meeting Setup 
  • Set up microphone, camera and speaker(s) in meeting room, 
    • Test microphone, speaker and video before start of the meeting, completed using the Zoom preferences menu,
    • Test audio settings in Zoom to confirm room pickup.
    • Test camera positioning and clearly identify the speaking area in the room for in-person meeting.
    • Test speaker to confirm that speaker can be clearly heard in the meeting room.
    • Adjust settings in Zoom and/or position of equipment for most ideal results. 
• During meeting responsibilities, 
  • Collaborate with online Zoom Master for sharing of responsibilities. 
  • Mute and unmute room microphone as needed when speakers are speaking online or in the meeting. 
    • If provided, switch zoom to a lapel microphone for speakers.
  • In person meeting view controls.
    • During the meeting the screen can be left in gallery view or default speaker view as per the club preference. 
    • When an online presenter is presenting

• Switch to Speaker View
• Speaker can be pinned or spotlighted that only the speaker video is the only video viewable on the in-person meeting screen during the presentation. (Unpin after speech completed)

• When the presenter is speaking in the in-person meeting, 
  • Zoom view should be switched to gallery view, so the screen does not distract from presentation.
  • When slides are presented as part of in-person presentation, switch to Standard View in Zoom, show slides only and hide videos. 

Online SAA Zoom Master

• Pre-meeting

• Greet online members and guests
• Assist online attendees with any technical issues.

• During meeting
  • Monitor members' microphones and mute if needed to eliminate distractions. 

Additional separate tasks for host/co-hosts to share or assign to members as needed.

• Chat/Q&A Master (assign as co-host, ideally this is an online member role)
  • Add Q&A or Chat to screen name
  • Responsible for monitoring questions in the Chat
  • Can restrict chat to send messages to hosts if needed when someone is presenting a speech.
  • Provide questions to presenter/chairperson during meeting.
  • Chat Master can also explain the various meeting roles, depending on how the club runs their open house 
• Videographer (assign as co-host, ideally this is an online member role)
  • Introduce role at the beginning of the meeting, 
  • Purpose: Record speeches and presentations for future use/review/editing. 
    • Possible uses could be sharing to absent club members or  mentors as desired as a video file for download for evaluation, contest preparation purposes.
    • With permission from presenters videos can be posted publicly on Social Media (Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) as a video without edit, or with editing as desired.
  • Information should be provided before the start of recording to alert meeting participants when recording is beginning. Anyone not wanting to be recorded accidentally should turn video off, and remain muted.
  • Confirm with the meeting chair / presenters which if any presentations or parts of the meeting are to be recorded. Also confirm if slides are to be shared as a part of the presentation.
    • If slides are to be used in presentation, pre set the view by having someone share screen momentarily to adjust view to side by side, and adjust the screen so the video and the screen are approximately evenly split.
  • While recording
    • Control computer view of meeting to record presentation in most ideal format
    • speaker view , pinned or spotlight speakers.
    • Begin recording before speaker introduction, and stop the recording at the conclusion of the presentation, (extend recording if QA is to be recorded as well)
  • For presentations with slides,
    • maintain side by side speaker view during full presentation, recording only the presenter.
    • Spotlight and ADD spotlight can be used to add additional presenters or discussion or presentation to the recording if desired.

Please contact the Hybrid Committee with any questions. We’re here to help you!

For more information on hosting hybrid Open House meetings, visit the District 96 Hybrid Committee blog.