Tool tip: Zoom’s magic waiting room
Online meeting tech is moving fast, and as an online trainer, facilitator and event designer it’s great to play with the latest innovations.
But often, the best fun comes from adding imagination to the tools you already have to delight your participants.
Take the “magic waiting room” we like to create in Zoom. That’s the name that one participant in a client’s global event for fintech startups this week gave it!
What was so brilliant? Instead of the “welcome” he was used to, being left hanging about staring at his computer, waiting for someone to allow him into the meeting, he was:
welcomed immediately, greeted by name, by a smiling host
invited to turn on his camera and microphone and say hello
introduced to another couple of attendees
given time to connect with them as they all settled into the online space
called gently to order in time for the official whole-group “hello and welcome”.
The “magic waiting room” set the scene for an event that was intended to build relationships between participants, sparking a feeling of community and connectedness as a precursor to working more closely together.
It set the scene for what followed: a fascinating Web Event That Connects with minimal presentations, lots of actual conversations with experts sharing their experiences.
Of course, the magic waiting room isn’t magic. It uses Zoom’s breakout rooms feature (available even with free accounts – you just need to switch it on) and a bit of technical sleight of hand. Here’s how to do it.
But if the participants think it’s magic… that’s magic
From old judyrees.co.uk
mary foster
27 November 2020 at 12:17
I recently used this idea of putting people into breakout rooms as they join the waiting room. It was on a management programme with a global company that runs over 3 days and I did it at the start of each day. Before the programme went virtual, delegates travelled from different countries to attend and spent time together in the evenings, building networks and relationships. A breakout room is no substitute for chatting at the bar but opening in this way sent a signal that the session was going to be interactive and as a result delegates were engaged from the start and contributed by asking questions and sharing experiences throughout.