Zoom is available to use for free, but there are time limitations for the free account. Many of us may be invited to participate in a Zoom meeting at some point in time, and for folks like us who want to join a meeting, the service is completely free.
PTQG is conducting some of their business through Zoom, and some of our quilt chapters are also using Zoom for their regularly scheduled meetings. I have participated in 3 Zoom meetings now, and I thought it might be worth a try to see if we could make it work for Tacoma.
I know very little about Zoom, but I can share what my experience with it has been, and maybe it will help some of you who are new to it get started. Barbara has a Zoom account and is more knowledgeable about it than I. We can always add more information to this page as we learn more.
If you plan to participate in a Zoom meeting, there are a few things you might think about beforehand:
-- Obviously you need to use a device that has a camera. My desktop computer has neither a built-in camera nor a web cam, so I went to Plan B, which was my laptop. I did try to use my ipad, but it wouldn't recognize the link. I have since downloaded the Zoom app, so I'll try again on that device some other time. A cell phone would probably work too, but that is too small for me.
-- Whatever device you plan to use, make sure you know where the volume control is. This would seem obvious too, but I didn't think of it until I had already attempted to join a meeting. I forget whether or not there was a prompt for volume on one of the zoom screens.
-- Be aware of what is in the background behind you when you're on camera. There may be things that you don't necessarily want everyone in the meeting to see, ie, husbands walking around in their underwear, stuff like that.
-- Choose a quiet location for your Zoom meeting. Just like in a physical meeting, we really don't want to be distracted by your kids, pets, television, the doorbell, etc. If that does occur in your space, you can Mute your mic on the platform. And turn off your cell phone or set it to vibrate!
-- For my meetings, I also made sure I had paper and pencil for note taking, a beverage, things like that, at the ready.
Joining a Zoom Meeting
My invitations have all arrived on email, and this is the invitation I received from Barbara most recently. Because the Tacoma Lakes blog is a public blog, I have pixelated the email addresses so they are not legible.
I have also received a couple of email invitations that had more information listed. What you are looking for is the link in the email that says "Join Zoom Meeting".
You may also be able to join a meeting using a meeting ID number, which
should also be in the body of the email invitation. I haven't tried that
yet.
5 or 10 minutes before the appointed time of your meeting, you can click on that link, and you will be taken to Zoom's online platform.
Upon clicking on the link to Join Zoom Meeting, this is the first page that popped up on my screen. You may or may not see this screen. If you do, simply close the pop up window.
This was the next window that popped up on my screen. A couple of the different pop up windows prompted me to download a file or other software. As a participant with an invitation, you don't have to download a thing. Look for the link towards the bottom of the screen that says "Join from Your Browser" in blue text and click on it.
This was my next screen, and you want to click on the blue button that says "Join with Video". I may also have seen a screen that said "Join with Audio". If that's the case for you, click on that. Once you get this far, you may be able to adjust your volume control.
Using the Tools in the Meeting
Once you click on Join with Video, hopefully what you'll see next is a screen with your face staring back at you. You're live at this point. You may have to adjust the angle of your device so the participants can see your whole face. Barbara, or whoever invited you to the meeting, will get a cue on her screen to let you into the meeting.
You will see in the photos below that part of my face was blocked. Initially I needed to adjust the cover of my laptop, but later it was because I was taking screen shots of my laptop with my ipad for this post.
If you have trouble getting into the meeting, keep trying. You can still get in after the appointed start time. The first time I zoomed with Barbara, my internet missed a beat in the middle of the meeting, and I got kicked offline. I logged back into the meeting, and Barbara welcomed me back.
Once Barbara let me enter the meeting, she appeared on my screen. Notice at the top of the zoom window is a small image of me. Anyone else who has already joined the meeting will have their own little window. When a different person speaks, they become the large image on your screen.
The appearance of the tiles of the meeting participants arranged in this way is called Speaker View.
Sorry this image is a little fuzzy, but if you direct your cursor to the top of the zoom window, a text bar appears that says either Speaker View or Gallery View. There is also an icon in the right hand corner that allows you to expand your view to full screen.
Gallery View looks like this--all the tiles are the same size and remain the same size no matter who is speaking. In Gallery View, a yellow outline appears around the tile of the speaker. To switch from one view to the other, click on the text up above.
You can play with this during the meeting to see which way you like the best. I prefer the Gallery View; but if there are many particpants, Speaker View might work out better.
If you direct your cursor towards the bottom of the zoom window, another text bar pops up with some other options you can play with during the meeting. One that is very useful is the Chat button. If you click on that, you can have a private chat with someone else in the meeting, and no one else can see what you're chatting about.
Another useful button is the Mute button, which is on the far left side of the bar. If your dog suddenly erupts, click the Mute button.
When the meeting is over or you've had enough, the Leave button is located on the far right side of the bar. If you refuse to leave the meeting, Barbara can kick you out!
