why I chose Zoom:
- In 2014, I started an art group that met weekly at our church.
- Delightedly, half of our group is over 80 years old.
- Devastatingly, a pandemic stopped in-person gathering, starting in March, 2020.
- Deliberately, our art community continued… at our first “online” meeting:
- 2 people on phone (Facetime)
- 2 people on laptop (Messenger)
- me, spinning my chair between phone and laptop, demo’ing a drawing technique through my phone camera or by holding my art up in front of my laptop camera.
- So, in desperation…
- I explored online meeting options, pros/cons, etc.
- Thank you, to all who helped (and continue to help) me with this process.
- I chose Zoom (free, 40 minute max) and then upgraded to Pro (meetings with no time limit).
helping others Zoom:
- No one in my group was tech-proficient, most had never heard of Zoom, and some were tech-fearful.
- By phone, we worked to get Zoom onto their device (iPhone vs Android, Tablet vs iPad, PC vs Mac).
- Within a month, all were able to participate.
the # of participants Grew:
- I invited art groups, of which I am a member, to join my Zoom meetings.
- On FaceBook, I created an “event” on my “business” page and “shared” it to my “personal” page.
- Friends saw my FaceBook info and asked to join; I said, “Absolutely!”
- Since then, I’ve helped others learn to host their own Zoom meetings. (Again, thank you to all who help me.)
- Current participants (in my Zoom on Thursday morning) are from Florida, Kentucky, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Vermont.
some Observations:
- Lots of people have learned to attend meetings on Zoom.
- Some people have learned to host their own Zoom meetings.
- The “learning curve” for Zoom seems much easier now.
- Zoom has brought people together (virtually) who, for reasons other than Corona, would not have been able to meet.
- Some Zoom meetings can strengthen “community” — helping hold groups together that might have disbanded otherwise.