Attendant for Zoom

[luisenriquereyes]

38 minutes ago, Hope said:

We've been using the poll feature since nearly the beginning but have been putting it at the front of the meeting for about a month.  That's a LOT better- you can't really do anything before selecting a number coz it's right in your face.  I never even see how you can opt out of it.

 

At the beginning of meeting is better because it counts everyone who logs on, regardless of how long they stay. When we had it at end of meeting, it was inaccurate because some leave before it's over.

We are doing this ☝️ now. The host launches the poll immediately after he starts the meeting. We keep it open until the final prayer.

Other negatives of doing the poll feature at the end of the meeting are that it takes some time away from association after the meeting, plus the co-hosts don't get the option to take the poll.

@Hope By closing or clicking X at the top right of the window, without making a selection and clicking Send, you would opt out of taking the poll.

Edited April 12, 2021 by luisenriquereyes

[Hope]

37 minutes ago, luisenriquereyes said:

We are doing this ☝️ now. The host launches the poll immediately after he starts the meeting. We keep it open until the final prayer.

Other negatives of doing the poll feature at the end of the meeting are that it takes some time away from association after the meeting, plus the co-hosts don't get the option to take the poll.

@Hope By closing or clicking X at the top right of the window, without making a selection and clicking Send, you would opt out of taking the poll.

So.. by your keeping it open throughout the meeting, that covers anyone who joins in at any time, right?  My first thought was that it would be annoying to see that poll all day... then I thought - well, it disappears to the individual as soon as they select their number, so all is well. 😉.

 

I guess I never noticed that X because I'd never dream of not contributing to the attendance.. 🥰

[dove]

It stays there all through the meeting on my screen. I never understood until now what it was for.  

But one thing I've noticed since the beginning of using Zoom, is that when anyone enters the meeting or leaves, no matter how late or early. it is noted at the top of the screen. So if you're  late or leaving early, everyone is aware of that. Is that a feature of everyone's Zoom experience?

[luisenriquereyes]

10 minutes ago, Hope said:

So.. by your keeping it open throughout the meeting, that covers anyone who joins in at any time, right?  My first thought was that it would be annoying to see that poll all day... then I thought - well, it disappears to the individual as soon as they select their number, so all is well. 😉.

 

I guess I never noticed that X because I'd never dream of not contributing to the attendance.. 🥰

Yes by keeping the poll open throughtout the meeting it covers anyone who joins in at any time.  We do have lots of people that join late. It does disappear after the individual selects their attendance and sends it in.

 

8 minutes ago, Dove said:

It stays there all through the meeting on my screen. I never understood until now what it was for.  

But one thing I've noticed since the beginning of using Zoom, is that when anyone enters the meeting or leaves, no matter how late or early. it is noted at the top of the screen. So if you're  late or leaving early, everyone is aware of that. Is that a feature of everyone's Zoom experience?

Odd that the window stays there for you after sending in your attendance.  All I have seen is that it goes away after sending.   Maybe you need to upgrade to latest version of Zoom? 

[dove]

4 minutes ago, luisenriquereyes said:

Yes by keeping the poll open throughtout the meeting it covers anyone who joins in at any time.  We do have lots of people that join late. It does disappear after the individual selects their attendance and sends it in.

 

Odd that the window stays there for you after sending in your attendance.  All I have seen is that it goes away after sending.   Maybe you need to upgrade to latest version of Zoom? 

I think what I mean is that it shows whenever joins or leaves before the Poll was ever there..but maybe it still is the same thing. We always had everyone put the number of those attending from there home next to their name so I thought that was covered.

At the next meeting I will select Poll and enter my attendance and see what happens, but I have a feeling that the names of the ones that join and leave will still show when they do...

[dove]

1 hour ago, Dove said:

It stays there all through the meeting on my screen. I never understood until now what it was for.  

But one thing I've noticed since the beginning of using Zoom, is that when anyone enters the meeting or leaves, no matter how late or early. it is noted at the top of the screen. So if you're  late or leaving early, everyone is aware of that. Is that a feature of everyone's Zoom experience?

?? 🙂

[Hope]

1 hour ago, Dove said:

I think what I mean is that it shows whenever joins or leaves before the Poll was ever there..but maybe it still is the same thing. We always had everyone put the number of those attending from there home next to their name so I thought that was covered.

At the next meeting I will select Poll and enter my attendance and see what happens, but I have a feeling that the names of the ones that join and leave will still show when they do...

How odd.  The only way I can see who is joining is if I happen to see their name/face pop on the screen.  If they leave, I only know it if I'm looking for them and they're no longer there.  The poll has no information other than asking how many are attending at your house. We never used numbers next to names, so I can't speak to that method except that it seems tedious to count.  And a challenge if you have visitors who don't do it that way in their home congregation... like me! 😉 

[Hope]

2 hours ago, Dove said:

It stays there all through the meeting on my screen. I never understood until now what it was for.  

But one thing I've noticed since the beginning of using Zoom, is that when anyone enters the meeting or leaves, no matter how late or early. it is noted at the top of the screen. So if you're  late or leaving early, everyone is aware of that. Is that a feature of everyone's Zoom experience?

Are you saying you've never entered your attendance into the poll?  Doesn't it say at the top of the poll box what it's there for?  If you've never entered your attendance, that is very likely why it never disappeared from your screen.  That is... interesting... 🤔🙃

Edited April 12, 2021 by Hope

[dove]

We've been using Zoom how long now, and I've only noticed the POLL on the screen for a matter of not many months. I never knew what it was, just something for the brothers doing the technical work in the background. This is the first time reading here that I realized that I was supposed to click on it to put in my attendance; also don't see any box or anything to click on.

But I do still see when anyone joins or leaves after I sign in.

Do you also have the list of Participants so you can know who is present, and/or the Gallery where you see their picture?

[Old]

20 minutes ago, Dove said:

We've been using Zoom how long now, and I've only noticed the POLL on the screen for a matter of not many months. I never knew what it was, just something for the brothers doing the technical work in the background. This is the first time reading here that I realized that I was supposed to click on it to put in my attendance; also don't see any box or anything to click on.

But I do still see when anyone joins or leaves after I sign in.

Do you also have the list of Participants so you can know who is present, and/or the Gallery where you see their picture?

You should see a join a meeting box where you enter the meeting code.

The next line below that is for your name, put your attendance number just after your name, mine looks like this 'Lytles 2'.

I can also change the attendance number on the Participants  Screen using the "More" button.

[Hope]

27 minutes ago, Dove said:

We've been using Zoom how long now, and I've only noticed the POLL on the screen for a matter of not many months. I never knew what it was, just something for the brothers doing the technical work in the background. This is the first time reading here that I realized that I was supposed to click on it to put in my attendance; also don't see any box or anything to click on.

But I do still see when anyone joins or leaves after I sign in.

Do you also have the list of Participants so you can know who is present, and/or the Gallery where you see their picture?

When I log onto the meeting, the poll pops up on top of all the other people that may be there - right in the middle of my screen.  I've never tried to move it or close it; it asks for people to select a number representing the number of viewers.  I click "1" and move on with my life.  It's curious that your chairmen have never mentioned to the congregation what to do with the poll window - our brothers were great at letting us know what was going on.. although it seemed rather self-explanatory on our end.  As mentioned, we have never added a number to the end of our names.

 

There has always been the Gallery or Speaker view - and the ability to pin someone to see more closely (I use that at my own discretion 😉 ).  The Participant pane has always been there for you to open or have closed, if you like.  Before an update some time ago, open was the only way to see whose hands were up; those names moved to the top of the list.  That's still the case but now the hands appear in the visual pane of the person and moves that pane to the top of the screen.  Since that's become a feature, I don't need the participant pane open anymore unless I'm scanning to see if any particular people are there.

 

I have *never* seen a notification that anyone is joining or leaving.  Sometimes if you're on early and there are very few on, you can notice that a new square is appearing.  But soon, those end up on the second and third screen.. once the first screen is filled, you have to go look for people.  But even at our meetings for service, people simply disappear - there is no notification that someone has left the meeting.

 

@Dove - your experience is unique!  

Edited April 12, 2021 by Hope

[Loopy]

This poll thing is a new one for me. Never heard of it.

 

One of the brothers simply uses the participant count and than adds on an extra 1 or 2 for any families. 

 

[dove]

The POLL sentence is not in the middle of the screen...it doesn't get in the way of anything, but there is no square or anything that I can see. If I had seen something like that I would have known to click on it or something. Next time I will click on the sentence itself and maybe a square will open up.

I wonder if there are different versions of Zoom, maybe in different parts of the country, or world, with different features available and the brothers either have no control over it or they select what is appropriate for their congregation. 

I don't put a  number with my name as the brothers doing the background work are family members and they know there's only me here.

Yeah, I don't know why they announce people coming and going....🙂

[Hope]

Ours is pretty big and bright and appears right in the middle of the screen ('puter, tablet and phone)- the brothers send it to all screens.  All you need to do is tick a dot from 1 - 10 (I think) describing who's watching from your device.   Looks basically like the attached image but it asks you to confirm the number of people watching, has the list of numbers and "submit" at the bottom.  It disappears as soon as you hit submit.  It's not a new feature - maybe just new to the brothers who could use it?  It's pretty dope 😉 

[Hope]

Maybe it makes a difference how large a congregation is?  We have about 160 publishers and avg 175 - 180 in attendance.  My screen shows 49 squares and still there are three, sometimes four screens to scroll through.  It would take some attention away from the meeting for a brother to count from the participant pane... especially since names move all over the place when people raise their hands.

 

I don't know.  I love the polling feature and am happy our brothers investigate all the features Zoom has to offer.  Apart from not being able to go into different break rooms, I have no complaints ❤️ 

[Tortuga]

The Polling feature has to be launched by the Host or Cohosts. We launch the poll just before the final song.

[Hope]

7 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

The Polling feature has to be launched by the Host or Cohosts. We launch the poll just before the final song.

Do your brothers take attendance manually during the first part of the meeting?  We used to do it like you do (and manually counted at the beginning) but realized we were missing 5 - 15 people every meeting because they may only stay for the first part or leave before the song.  The past month or so with it at the beginning has been fantastic - much more accurate.

Edited April 12, 2021 by Hope

[JkentBZ]

14 hours ago, carlroger said:

 

 

The BOE shouldn't be afraid to make some guidelines for Zoom. That being how to name yourself, how to use the microphone, how to comment using the 'raise hand' button etc. Having guidelines is a loving way to help the congregation and brings the order to the Zoom meetings as one would expect Jehovah wants us to do it. He is a God of order and therefore our meetings should reflect that (1 Cor 14:33). I've given talks in several congregations where there clearly isn't any "formal system", and visiting such congregations is very confusing. And after one year of Zoom meetings it is obvious that the brothers and sisters in those congregations are just as confused as I was as a foreigner to their "system" (or lack of).

There are already guidelines for having Zoom meetings provided by HQ, the BOE should be using those guidelines and not establishing their own outside of those that are provided.  As an example; 

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

8. Commenters may either raise their physical hand or use an electronic hand raising feature.

 

So there is no need for a BOE to set a rule that you must use the "raise hand" button when the guidelines say that the commenters may use either.

 

The guidelines cover everything that has been discussed here and the elders and ministerial servants have access to the instructions.  I found that the instructions are very clear and are based on love and reasonableness.  One of my favorite lines from the instructions...Additional features may be utilized but should not be so restrictive that it makes it difficult for older ones and newly-interested persons to attend.

 

We wouldn't want to make the meetings so strict and rule oriented that it becomes a burden to attend and some loose their joy in attending or new ones stop going because they "have" to do something.

 

 

[LRJW]

22 minutes ago, JkentBZ said:

. . . .The guidelines cover everything that has been discussed here and the elders and ministerial servants have access to the instructions.  I found that the instructions are very clear and are based on love and reasonableness.  One of my favorite lines from the instructions...Additional features may be utilized but should not be so restrictive that it makes it difficult for older ones and newly-interested persons to attend.

 

We wouldn't want to make the meetings so strict and rule oriented that it becomes a burden to attend and some loose their joy in attending or new ones stop going because they "have" to do something.

 

 

I would emphasize the "additional features may be utilized but should not be so restrictive. . ." 

 

Especially for occasions like the Memorial, where accuracy is extremely important, the additional feature of the poll is a very handy tool.  The only ones that would be burdened would be the ones who need to learn how to launch the poll.  And those brothers are already caring for A/V in general, so they're used to direction. 

 

The general audience member will literally see a screen pop up with a question, they can click on whatever number they'd like, and it goes away.  It's extremely easy.  I can't imagine why someone would feel burdened by having to click literally two times so as to help get an accurate number. 

[Hope]

36 minutes ago, JkentBZ said:

There are already guidelines for having Zoom meetings provided by HQ, the BOE should be using those guidelines and not establishing their own outside of those that are provided.  As an example; 

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

8. Commenters may either raise their physical hand or use an electronic hand raising feature.

 

So there is no need for a BOE to set a rule that you must use the "raise hand" button when the guidelines say that the commenters may use either.

 

The guidelines cover everything that has been discussed here and the elders and ministerial servants have access to the instructions.  I found that the instructions are very clear and are based on love and reasonableness.  One of my favorite lines from the instructions...Additional features may be utilized but should not be so restrictive that it makes it difficult for older ones and newly-interested persons to attend.

 

We wouldn't want to make the meetings so strict and rule oriented that it becomes a burden to attend and some loose their joy in attending or new ones stop going because they "have" to do something.

 

 

The guidelines may be there for the elders/servants to read but unless they let the congregation know how to do things, we won't. 

 

The "raise hand" feature, for instance.  Unless a congregation is no larger than 49 (max number of squares on a screen) and *all* have their cameras on (hah 😕 ), the brother either will not see who's got their hand up or will waste precious time scrolling thru their screen groupings trying to see who's waving, if they stopped already, etc.  I don't see how using the electronic hand is a burden for anyone who wants to participate in the meetings.  I mean -- we've been using Zoom at least twice a week for over a year... I don't understand how are things still so difficult?  It's easier than getting in the car and driving to the Kingdom Hall, isn't it?   

 

Having standards and guidelines about how our meetings are run have always been a part of our worship, I think... we've always "had to do something", haven't we?  Every additional feature I've seen added to Zoom over this year have made things easier and more enjoyable for my meeting attendance... all of Jehovah's people are used to making adjustments to change - why not with this?  Are "ways of working" the same as rules?

 

To be honest, I've been wishing for a "white board animation" video explaining how to use Zoom, etiquette, best practices, and so on.  Those are great teaching tools and it would help everyone get on the same page.  I mean - at my mother's congregation, they only started reading the WT lesson at their meetings about four months ago.  Up til that time, they decided they didn't need to do that and just buzzed on thru like we do when we have the CO visit.  I was flabbergasted.  She said they said it was just their BOE's decision.  Wild, eh?   Anyway.... 😕 

Edited April 12, 2021 by Hope

[Qapla]

We have a splash screen that is displayed 2 minutes before the meeting starts. On that screen is the instructions to put the number in attendance after your name. There is also a verbal reminder by the Chairman or the Brother who is the attendant (at the tow minute warning).

 

The attendant simply uses the participant window to get the count.

 

Since we are also streaming to KHConf - and KHConf has a feature for the count - that count is added to the meeting and we have been fairly accurate since early on.

 

[dove]

34 minutes ago, LRJW said:

I would emphasize the "additional features may be utilized but should not be so restrictive. . ." 

 

Especially for occasions like the Memorial, where accuracy is extremely important, the additional feature of the poll is a very handy tool.  The only ones that would be burdened would be the ones who need to learn how to launch the poll.  And those brothers are already caring for A/V in general, so they're used to direction. 

 

The general audience member will literally see a screen pop up with a question, they can click on whatever number they'd like, and it goes away.  It's extremely easy.  I can't imagine why someone would feel burdened by having to click literally two times so as to help get an accurate number. 

I would not feel burdened, if I got it...

[dove]

24 minutes ago, Dove said:

I would not feel burdened, if I got it...

I'll just ask the Host....I just didn't think it was anything to do with me and they never asked me why I didn't do it...I'm sure it was explained to everyone when it started and I just missed it.

[JkentBZ]

33 minutes ago, LRJW said:

I would emphasize the "additional features may be utilized but should not be so restrictive. . ." 

 

Especially for occasions like the Memorial, where accuracy is extremely important, the additional feature of the poll is a very handy tool.  The only ones that would be burdened would be the ones who need to learn how to launch the poll.  And those brothers are already caring for A/V in general, so they're used to direction. 

 

The general audience member will literally see a screen pop up with a question, they can click on whatever number they'd like, and it goes away.  It's extremely easy.  I can't imagine why someone would feel burdened by having to click literally two times so as to help get an accurate number. 

This is true however there are also instructions for taking attendance and again they are done with love.  The attendant is responsible for taking attendance. The coordinator of the body of elders determines the most practical way to take attendance. However, it is understood that it may not be possible to obtain the most accurate figures.

 

So the branch understands that it is not always possible to be completely accurate.  Just encourages the brothers to do the best they can.  We have 2 brothers count at every meeting and then avergae the number.  We also tried to use the poll but found out that attendees can close the poll without making a selection so it was also not completely accurate. 

[JkentBZ]

1 hour ago, Hope said:

The guidelines may be there for the elders/servants to read but unless they let the congregation know how to do things, we won't. 

 

The "raise hand" feature, for instance.  Unless a congregation is no larger than 49 (max number of squares on a screen) and *all* have their cameras on (hah 😕 ), the brother either will not see who's got their hand up or will waste precious time scrolling thru their screen groupings trying to see who's waving, if they stopped already, etc.  I don't see how using the electronic hand is a burden for anyone who wants to participate in the meetings.  I mean -- we've been using Zoom at least twice a week for over a year... I don't understand how are things still so difficult?  It's easier than getting in the car and driving to the Kingdom Hall, isn't it?   

 

Having standards and guidelines about how our meetings are run have always been a part of our worship, I think... we've always "had to do something", haven't we?  Every additional feature I've seen added to Zoom over this year have made things easier and more enjoyable for my meeting attendance... all of Jehovah's people are used to making adjustments to change - why not with this?  Are "ways of working" the same as rules?

 

To be honest, I've been wishing for a "white board animation" video explaining how to use Zoom, etiquette, best practices, and so on.  Those are great teaching tools and it would help everyone get on the same page.  I mean - at my mother's congregation, they only started reading the WT lesson at their meetings about four months ago.  Up til that time, they decided they didn't need to do that and just buzzed on thru like we do when we have the CO visit.  I was flabbergasted.  She said they said it was just their BOE's decision.  Wild, eh?   Anyway.... 😕 

We've been doing this for ONLY one year may be a better way to state this.  We have been having conventions for decades yet every year we have to over the "convention reminders".  I always thought WHY?  It's the same as last year, right!?  But we are all just imperfect volunteers trying to our best for Jehovah.  1 year seems like a ong timme but for older ones or those that are not techy that 1 year is a small amount of time.