You can use Zoom for free. To host longer events like I do, you will need a paid plan, but to participate as a viewer, the free plan is enough.
The hook-ins are for fun. Please reserve your rug hooking questions for the Office Hours sessions.
For the First Time…
- Click this link:
- Zoom should open automatically. If it does not, you may not have the software installed. Use the option on the page to download.
- Close the Zoom app and NEVER open it again. Just click the link on the Dashboard to join.
When you first enter or leave the Room
Our goal is to make everyone feel welcome and included in the conversation.
When you enter the room, listen. You just might be interrupting a delicate conversation.
Your microphone is automatically muted. I recommend keeping it that way unless you want to talk. Press and hold the spacebar to unmute temporarily.
No need to say good bye when you leave the room. If everyone did that all our time would be taken up with saying hi and goodbye.
How to Participate
Try not to talk over each other. It does not create a good listening environment, but please unmute and join an ongoing conversation rather than raising your hand. The goal is to group all the conversation about one topic together and to not have it spread through out the hook-in.
Be sure to mute again once you are done talking.
Use private chat or a break out room
Keep private conversations private. If the conversation is not for everyone, use the private chat or meet your friends in a breakout room. DO NOT break into the conversation to tell them to meet you there. In essence, you are telling everyone else that they are not invited.
If everyone does not need to hear it, say it in a private chat or go to a breakout room. Note that these are not private. Just like in real life, anyone can walk in at any time.
How to change the topic
Raise your hand to start a new topic. I will call on everyone in the order they show up on my screen. It may not be the same order you see on your screen. Zoom puts you at the front of the line on your screen only. When I call on someone, I always try to remember to say who is up next so you can be ready.
Be nice to others AND yourself
My personal rant: When sharing your rug do not start out by saying, “I’m just a beginner” or “This isn’t very good.” In essence what you are telling every one is if they think your work is better than theirs that their work is even worse. It is what it is. You are on a journey to get better, right? Everyone starts at the beginning. Respect where you are now.
To make the experience better
If there is noise in your background, the camera will shift to you. If you stay muted, the camera will only focus on you when you talk. Background noise could be a radio, TV, husband or barking dogs.
Particularly for Office Hours, you might want to upgrade your camera. Join using an iphone or ipad. You will miss out on some participation options, but you get a better built in camera.
Upgrade your computer camera to something better. Built in cameras on computers, even brand new computers are notoriously bad. Adding a webcam can really improve your camera quality. Just plug them in.
I recommend the C920 from Logitech. I used to use this for my Live! Events. I’ve since upgraded to a fancier camera.
Since Covid, these have been very hard to find. Beware of scams. Amazon does have a 30 day return policy so you can try something else and return it if it does not work. As a member you have several days a week to test it.
