Getting Started with Online Meetings on Zoom (excerpt)

By Nermin Soyalp, Ph.D.
Curriculum Design and Development Consultant

Workshop facilitators, teachers, yoga instructors, and so on, those of us who were spending most of their day with face to face interactions, have been required to transform their practices to online, rapidly. Some of us were already experienced users of online platforms such as Zoom. Still, for many others, the learning curve has been steep. Those who were not familiar with Zoom and heard about it recently, given the changes we are all experiencing, approached me with a similar question “Is this something I can do?” I respond, “Yes, you can do it.”

In this article, I will give some tips to get you started with Zoom because that is the platform I am most familiar with. You have many other options, some of which I will list below as well. Most platforms have similar features. So, whether you use Zoom or not, you may find this article helpful to navigate the challenges of getting started with an online learning platform.

If you are an educator, I know some schools are also considering BigBlueButton. You might want to check them out as well.

A few other known and heavily used options are: Google Hangouts, join me, Mikogo, Zoho meeting, Webex, and GoToMeeting. Some friends recently criticized platforms that are asking for the email address and other personal information. They suggest MyFirst technology to protect the privacy of users if that is something you are concerned about.

I have been using Zoom for work even before the health concerns of Covid-19 caused the global shift to interacting virtually; therefore I will share some Zoom tips for new users.

With Zoom, a few helpful tools are (these would be helpful with any platform you use):

The article continues on our website

A Successful Virtual Learning Journey in Record Time!

We just implemented a virtual learning journey for Exercising Influence with one of our clients on the date of their originally scheduled session, March 24th! As people had already reserved the day on their calendars, we used an “intensive” design with micro learning modules, our influence survey, along with two webinar sessions on the same day, which were held on either side of a long lunch break. Despite the length of the virtual sessions, people stayed deeply engaged and found applicable value in the course. And the feedback was terrific…here is what some had to say:

When asked what they liked:

• "A lot of preparation before the class. The group work which was possible even over Zoom."
• "Tactics and Behaviors and how to spend time to prepare which ones to use in different situations."
• "The level of engagement by the instructor."

When asked what would make it even better:

• "I don’t know. I would like to compliment the instructors/hosts for handling this over Zoom. Appreciate the effort. It mostly worked and was rather effective. Great job!"
• "Can’t think of anything."

As we continue to roll out more sessions with clients and for many of our other programs as well, we continue to learn and innovate on the virtual design components. We would love to work with you on any of your virtual needs. Feel free to reach out to Lauren Powers to discuss.

Desperate Times Banana Bread

By Joanna Russo, Senior Associate

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and whoever thought that would become a literal expression when we found ourselves in the middle of Week 2 of the unknowably lengthy global pandemic. Being isolated is never a comforting situation, so I found myself regularly checking in with those I know and love who live alone. One close cousin is among them. He’s an independent, cosmopolitan, talented guy who exchanges text messages with me regularly while we go about our respective daily routines. In one of those exchanges, I casually mentioned having made some sugar cookies to offer relief from the stress of what’s happening around us. Baking has always been my therapy of choice. It could be worse. And with grocery store shelves being picked over for essentials, I never thought about those urges to indulge in a sweet snack that would eventually occur while being quarantined. That brief mention must have planted a seed, and next thing I knew, I received a text that read, “What can I bake if I have only flour, eggs, about 10 sugar packets from Dunkin’ Donuts, honey, walnut bits, and only a baking tin? What about those sugar cookies?” He added that he also found a tin of Parisian Pastry seasoning blend. “What’s that?” he asked me. The blend included cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. “Do you have any bananas?” I said, as the wheels in my head began to spin. “I have one brown banana in fridge,” came his quick response.

That was how my “Desperate Times Banana Bread” came to life. After several more exchanges inquiring about whether butter was available, I received a photo of a minuscule amount of whipped butter. After following instructions for testing the two-year old box of baking soda in his refrigerator resulted in only cloudy water, he ingeniously dissected a stick-on odor absorber purchased for inside his refrigerator to reveal a fresh supply of baking soda. Eureka! Never known to believe something was impossible, I immediately started to figure ways to use the products he had on hand to substitute for the necessary ingredients that would somehow resemble a one-banana banana bread. I carefully documented in standard recipe format each item needed, followed by explicit instructions, as he had never baked before. Could the years of my training experience finally be put to the ultimate test? Never assume he knows what you take for granted, I kept reminding myself…When he insisted on including raisins, I needed to state that he must toss them in a bit of flour before adding them to the batter or they would sink to the bottom. I also remembered to instruct him to show me photos at each step of the process so I could course-correct as needed, all the while sounding quite confident this would work. How confident was I? Truth be told, I was convinced this would be an epic fail. Baking is more science than art, or so I thought.

We encountered a few more unforeseen obstacles, i.e., “Oops, I forgot to turn on the oven to preheat!” and “What do you mean, you don’t have a cooling rack!” but after a long 50 minutes, the next photo that appeared in my text message was a perfectly cooked beautiful loaf of pandemic (almost) banana bread!

And, we even managed to make use of the Parisian Pastry seasoning blend!

From the Barnes & Conti Virtual Food Truck Healthy Banana Muffins

Bette Krakau, Senior Associate

Editor's Note: We don't have the exact recipe for the Desperate Times Banana Bread (above). We do have a wonderful recipe from Bette Krakau who also loves to bake. We suppose that if you bake it in a loaf pan for a few minutes longer, it could be a banana bread too!

The Recipe is on our website as part of the Virtual Food Truck.

Please send us some of your favorite recipes you’ve made during these last few weeks. We will add them to our Virtual Food Truck for all to enjoy.

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