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Virtually Conducting League Work

There are endless resources available that provide guidance on conducting business online or remotely and hundreds of platforms to facilitate that work.  We have curated a listing of best practices and some guidance on platforms to cut through some of the clutter and provide the most relevant content.

If you have additional questions please contact [email protected]. 

Table of Contents

Assessing Your Needs

It is important to understand the requirements of your meeting and what is needed to transition them to a virtual platform. Some questions to consider are:

  • What business needs to be accomplished?
  • Do we need to provide a way for attendees to be included in the dialogue?
    • Does that have to be verbally or via text, or can it be either?
  • Do we need to provide a voting mechanism?
  • Do we need to present or share materials?
  • Are we offering options for phone and computer-based participation?
  • Are we making accommodations for members as needed?
    • Have you accounted for members with hearing or vision impairments?
    • Have you accounted for members who do not have reliable access to a computer or internet connection?

Please refer to this document for important guidance around conducting by-laws or other governing document-driven business on a virtual platform.

Free or Included Services/Platforms

There are a host of platforms available for on-line meetings but there are many options you probably have access to without signing up for a new service. 

Paid Platforms/Services

Here at LWVUS we use the following paid services and you may consider them as well

  • Ring Central Meetings (https://ringcentral.com).  Ring Central’s paid Meetings service is ~$15/month per account and goes up from there depending on what you need.  If you set up a calendar to reserve timeslots on the account it is easy to share one account among several people.  It is well suited to meetings of 4-24 people but can handle thousands.
  • Zoom  (http://zoom.us).  Zoom’s paid service is ~$15/month per account and goes up from there depending on what you need.  If you set up a calendar to reserve timeslots on the account it is easy to share one account among several people.  It is well suited to meetings of 4-24 people but can handle thousands.
  • GoToWebinar (https://www.gotomeeting.com/webinar).  This service starts at $49/month per account and increases depending on what you need.  Again, a single account can be shared if you use a calendar to manage conflicts.  It is well suited to larger meetings and gives you more tools for managing attendees but is a little more complex and has a steeper learning curve.
  • Microsoft Teams (formerly Skype for Business https://products.office.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software).  If you are already an Office365 user, Teams can be a great option for up to 250 participants.  It does not offer as many controls for larger events.

Other Services to Consider

  • Google Meets.  If you are a G-Suite user, you may have access to Google Meets which is the paid equivalent of Google Hangouts.
  • Join.me has a low-cost video and conference call options that  ~$10/month may meet your needs.  It is very similar to Zoom.
  • AnyMeeting free and low-cost webinars
  • FreeConferenceCall.com (free teleconferencing; dial in numbers are not toll free).  Due to high demand, it is recommended you start meetings at :05, :10 or15 minutes after the hour.
  • FreeScreenSharing.com (free online meetings; uses freeconferencecall.com for audio)
  • ooVoo (video chat for small groups)

Universal Best Practices

  • Mute yourself if you are not talking.  Even small noises, while you are not talking, can degrade the audio quality of the person who is talking.
  • Use a microphone or consider dialing in with a phone to improve your audio.  Microphones on computers are often of very low quality.
  • If you are on video be aware of what is behind you.  If you have a window behind you probably be a silhouette and not visible.  A high traffic area behind you may have children, pets, and housemates wandering through.  The art on your wall may say more than you are comfortable within a professional context.
  • If you are recording you must verbally inform all participants that the conversation is being recorded.  Laws vary by state but it is a best practices regardless of the law.

Security Best Practices

  • Use waiting rooms.  Zoom and others have now enabled waiting rooms by default.  This means the meeting host(s) have to move participants from the waiting room into the meeting.  This helps prevent “Zoom-bombing”.
  • Don’t publish links/codes to your meetings on public sites.  Anyone with a link can access your meeting.  Using waiting rooms helps but not making the link available is best.
  • Know how to kick people out of your meeting.  Even with waiting rooms, you may find an unwelcome guest in your meeting.  Make sure you know how to remove someone. Here is some guidance for how to kick people out and turn off their video.
  • Consider disabling file sharing and chat.  Disabling these features can reduce the mischief that can be done but these features can be valuable for working groups.  You should make this decision on a case-by-case basis.

  • Force mute. Forcing mute and asking folks to request to be unmuted will keep the audio under your control. Here is some guidance for this practice.

  • The best way to avoid Zoom-bombing is to use Zoom Webinar (which can be expensive) or to only have candidates and support staff on Zoom and have everyone watch and pose questions via Facebook or Youtube live.  Using Facebook or Youtube to broadcast is the lower cost, lower risk option that lets you have an unlimited audience as well.

Social Tips

  • A little grace goes a long way!
    • Things will go wrong.  Dogs will bark.  People will forget to mute.
  • The ideal conversational combination consists of four people. 
    • Beyond four people virtual meetings need increasing structure including
      • Using the chat box for questions
      • Establishing an order to go around and solicit comments

Technical Tips

  • Read the fine print
    • Check privacy policies
    • Look at tips and tricks for your chosen platform
  • Use platforms that support multiple connectivity options, i.e. dial-in and web conferencing
    • People may prefer one option over another
    • Lots of video = lots of bandwidth usage. Calling in may avoid this.
    • If your audio is bad you can try turning off video to improve the audio.
  • Maintain your connection
    • If you live in a rural area or have limited internet speeds, limit the number of people streaming or downloading at the same time.
    • Get close to your router or access point, especially if you only have one in your house, and it’s far away from where you normally sit.
    • If you can, plug in with an ethernet cable

Other Considerations

Finally, consider how to make this meeting more than just a business meeting. This period is difficult and stressful for all of us and the community aspect of League gatherings is more important than ever. Ideas include: 

  • Speeches from your League president or other board members 

  • A keynote address or panel of speakers on League-related topic 

  • Virtual networking hours 

  • Celebratory videos or presentations 

Additional Reading

 

If you have additional questions please contact [email protected]. 

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