Hi folks, has anyone thought about using a WhatsApp video call for a meeting? I haven't used WhatsApp but apparently it will run on Windows and Mac as well as mobile devices and up to 32 people can join a meeting. Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks

The office are looking into buying a corporate Zoom account that we could all use. To aid their decision making, they want to know how the various regions are handling it currently. i.e. Who owns the account you use? Is it a “regional” account? How many other hosts use the same account? Do you claim the cost back from Mensa? Are you aware of other accounts used within your region/area? Anything else you think might be relevant for the office to know. If people are willing to post here, I will collate the answers for the office. Cheers, Ann

Hi Fellow Mensa Virtual Meeting Hosts, I have heard rumours about Zoom’s recent updates to their Terms & Conditions (Ts & Cs), allowing them more ownership over information transmitted or shared over their channels. Are other members here aware of these changes, and if so, could you share with us links to articles or websites that describe these changes? I look forwards to reading your thoughts. Best wishes, Andrew. Andrew Aus Mensa East Anglia Regional Officer earo@... www.mensa.org.uk

Hi folks, Here's something I need to pass on. When I clicked on 'cancel' for my annual Zoom subscription just now, it immediately came back with an offer of a 40% discount if I renewed it! Something to consider if you were going just renew a subscription! John

Thanks for sharing!! Another thing: in the beginning after defining a session for someone I started and joined the meeting, handed over host or co-host and left again. Nowadays I just define the session (and share the details) but do not join anymore myself. This needs the setting of 'allow others to join before the host' or something. But it turns out a big reduction of work load whenever a host assigning is not needed (not needed for letting people in, so no waiting room & allowing people to join before host & no need for advanced controls the host should use like muting all). Secondly I noticed people would start a session outside the defined times. I think it was always in a repeating sequence where the setting was 'allow people to join before host'. Most likely zoom allows people to join a day before even..... I was a bit surprised to find out (email alerts). Any confirmation on this is welcome. So..perhaps also useable for others. With best regards Henkhenk On 10-11-2022 04:10, Andrew Aus (Mensa EA RO) wrote: Hi all, I can confirm that John’s test did work. Although I must say, while I was in one of his breakout rooms, his disembodied voice suddenly speaking to us all in the room did feel a little freaky! I’m very pleased to see that Zoom is still making positive modifications, and that we’re letting each other know about them. Best wishes, Andrew. Andrew Aus Mensa East Anglia Regional Officer earo@... From: m-virtualmeetinghosts@groups.io [mailto:m-virtualmeetinghosts@groups.io] On Behalf Of John Butler via groups.io Sent: 08 November 2022 09:17 To: m-virtualmeetinghosts@groups.io Subject: [m-virtualmeetinghosts] New features for communication with those in breakout rooms. Hi folks, The latest version of Zoom has improved how the host can communicate with members in breakout rooms (at long last!!!). The host can now: - broadcast a message to people in the rooms - share a screen with people in the rooms, and - speak to everyone in the rooms (by holding down the "B" key - tested successfully yesterday!) More details at https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/8550395207693 Best wishes, John

Hi folks, The latest version of Zoom has improved how the host can communicate with members in breakout rooms (at long last!!!). The host can now: - broadcast a message to people in the rooms - share a screen with people in the rooms, and - speak to everyone in the rooms (by holding down the "B" key - tested successfully yesterday!) More details at https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/8550395207693 Best wishes, John

Zoom has started promoting two factor authentication to log in. This is a great security feature, and should be applauded. It does pose some problems though, when you want to log in from a remote computer and you may not have your phone with you. Do other people have concerns or comments regarding this change? Best wishes, Andrew. Andrew Aus Mensa East Anglia Regional Officer earo@...

People can subscribe to this group by going to the group page here: https://groups.io/g/m-virtualmeetinghosts Or sending an email to m-virtualmeetinghosts+subscribe@groups.io I look forwards to further interesting discussions! Best wishes, Andrew. Andrew Aus Mensa East Anglia Regional Officer earo@...

It's handy when someone wants to alter or correct their name and can't find the place on their tablet to press - the host can do it for them. And before you ask, yes - I have also changed people's names for them as a joke! The renaming should only be for the session so ought to disappear next time the participant logs on. John

The latest release of Zoom (5.9.3) now allows Breakout Rooms to be created, removed, renamed after launch. Which should be a useful feature. Best wishes, Andrew. Andrew Aus Mensa East Anglia Regional Officer earo@...

Hi Mensa Zoomers, The other day I was recommended a book on how to make best use of Zoom called “You’re On Mute!” I just looked it up on www.Amazon.co.uk , and the problem is that there is more than one! So the question is, which is the best one? · You’re on Mute: 10 1/2 strategies for success in a Zooming world, by Phil Bedford https://www.amazon.co.uk/Youre-Mute-strategies-success-Zooming-ebook/dp/B08WL9JBCB/ · You're On Mute: 101 Tips to Add Zip to your Zoom, by Jo Hoare https://www.amazon.co.uk/Youre-Mute-Tips-your-Zoom-ebook/dp/B08LXFDLPJ/ · You're on Mute!: Optimal Online Video Conferencing, by Dr Alex Connock https://www.amazon.co.uk/Youre-Mute-Conferencing-Education-Bite-Sized-ebook/dp/B08C379ZSM/ · I Think You're on Mute: A Foolproof Guide to Living Your Best Online Life (results may vary), by Ellie Ross https://www.amazon.co.uk/Think-Youre-Mute-Foolproof-results/dp/1800782470/ I look forwards to hearing your thoughts. Best wishes, Andrew. Andrew Aus Mensa East Anglia Regional Officer earo@...

Hi Mensa Virtual Meeting Hosts, Zooming around the Mensa Globe recently, I’ve noticed that Zoom has a lot of functionality that I’m not making use of, and even that I didn’t know about before. So I thought it would be fun for us all to send in a hint or tip about Zoom hosting that others may not have been made aware of yet. Here’s one to start: you can generate reports after each meeting of who logged into your meeting, when, and for how long. Can be pretty useful if you need to report on numbers, or follow up with particular participants. I look forwards to hearing other Mensa Zoom Hosts’ hints or tips! Best wishes, Andrew. Andrew Aus Mensa East Anglia Regional Officer earo@...

Hi again, If you use breakout rooms, you will probably set them up at the start of the meeting and open them when ready. Please note that we discovered yesterday that if you assign a co-host, that co-host doesn't appear to be able to open the breakout rooms for you - they just get the option to create their own (which could be confusing!). Zoom's knowledge base doesn't appear to cover this, and even implies that a co-host can open the existing rooms. Does anyone have any experience of this? Cheers, John

Good morning all, If you are about to renew a Zoom annual subscription, do check on your Zoom account to see what amount they are planning to take through direct debit, and take a screen shot. I checked my account just before renewal, to see if there was anything I needed to do proactively. The renewal fee was a discounted amount, so I made a note of it. There was nothing I needed to do, however, the amount they took was the full amount. It took several emails before Zoom gave in and applied a discount. During the conversation they repeatedly asked if I had a code or screenshot which I could send them. If I had taken the latter I think that would have shortened the process considerably! Cheers, John

It is possible to start sharing the audio from the local machine even after screen sharing has started – so one doesn’t need to stop sharing, tick the box before sharing, and then share again. Just go to sharing options, and turn on ‘Share Audio’. Best wishes, Andrew. Andrew Aus Mensa East Anglia Regional Officer earo@...

Hi Everyone, I’ve just found out about Zoom Reporting, which seems to be very useful. https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201363213-Getting-started-with-reports · When using the Zoom Meeting Registration functionality, you can get a list of registrants including their details. · And you can get reports on who attended your meeting – including time and duration of each login! I’ve tried it out, and will certainly be using this functionality going forwards. Best wishes, Andrew. Andrew Aus Mensa East Anglia Regional Officer earo@...

Good News! Just learned that Mensa NL will buy 10 licenses of the corporate type (enabling 300 participants max). My suggestion was to buy one normal account and at the same time ask other national Mensas if a Mensa already has a business account. Or tobuy (and finance) together, spreading costs under a few big Mensas. Well. Zoom at last! with kind regards Henkhenk

I just updated to Zoom v 5.4.9, and saw in the release notes that hosts can now see the waiting room whilst in a breakout room. This is very useful! Although I rarely bother using the waiting room myself – I don’t see the point. If people know the password to join, why do I then need to do a final check, which also takes a lot of time and effort on behalf of the host? Best wishes, Andrew.