Here are some guidelines and recommendations for hosting a virtual meetup on Zoom.
These guidelines are primarily for presentation-style meetups. If you’re hosting a help-style meetup, you’ll probably want to change some settings, such as not muting participants on entry.
If you’re the event host:
Before the meeting:
- If you’re creating the event in Meetup:
- Choose to only show link for people who RSVP (to prevent Zoombombing)
- If you don’t have a paid Zoom account, please contact Doug Rider to create the event in Zoom without a time limit.
- If you’re duplicating an existing Meetup event, make sure to change the title, description, Zoom link, and date, and check to make sure the time and co-host(s) are correct.
- Recommended settings if you’re creating the event in Zoom:
- Zoom Preferences (in-app):
- Recording tab:
- Check “Optimize for 3rd party video editor”
- Check “Record video during screen sharing”
- Zoom Advanced Settings (on website):
- Security:
- Select “Require a passcode when scheduling new meetings”
- Select “Embed passcode in invite link for one-click join”
- Select “Require passcode for participants joining by phone”
- In Meeting (Basic):
- Select “Auto saving chats”
- De-select “Sound notification when someone joins or leaves”
- De-select “Feedback to Zoom”
- Select “Co-host”
- Select “Screen sharing” and select “Host Only” for both options
- De-select “Annotation”
- De-select “Whiteboard”
- De-select “Remote control”
- In Meeting (Advanced):
- Select “Show a ‘Join from your browser’ link”
- Security:
- Zoom Event Settings:
- Under Security, set a passcode and uncheck “Waiting Room”
- Under Video, set participants’ video to off
- Under Audio, set audio to telephone and computer audio
- Under Advanced Options, uncheck “Allow participants to join anytime”
- Under Advanced Options, check “Mute participants upon entry”
- Zoom Preferences (in-app):
During the meeting:
- Assign a co-host to moderate questions and other participants (in Participants panel)
- Start recording, ask co-host to record as a backup (local recording recommended)
- Things to tell attendees:
- On the bottom of the screen, there are mute, video, participants, chat, and reactions buttons
- Screen sharing, audio, and video are off by default (provided the host changed these settings)
- If you have a question for the speaker, please raise your hand by going to the Reactions panel (on older versions of Zoom, it’s in the Participants panel)
- If you can’t find it, please wait for the speaker to break for questions instead of interrupting
- At the breaks, the moderator will call on whoever has their hand raised
- Use the chat to introduce yourself or for questions for people other than the speaker
- The speaker will not see or hear the questions in the chat
- Please mute yourself when you’re not talking
- We’ll be recording this, and the recording will be in the Meetup event comments after
- If there’s time after, we’ll open up for general questions and discussion
- Check out the Portland WordPress Slack and Meetup group
- We have a monthly presentation meetup (usually) on the first Monday of the month
- (If confirmed, next speaker and topic)
- We have a twice monthly help meetup hosted by David Schargel on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month
- (Other related events, if applicable, i.e. Portland and Seattle WordCamps)
- Contact us if you’re interested in speaking (with a strong preference for local speakers)
Speaking at our meetup:
Please see this page for our general guidelines and advice for speakers.