Sunday sees the first real ‘online’ Sunday Assembly Edinburgh in these physically distanced times. We will be using the Zoom platform. It’s been around for some years, though has gained a dramatically higher profile in the last few weeks. There are even cartoons about it (see above). There are a few misunderstandings out there about using Zoom; this blog is aimed at helping everyone to engage with it and with us confidently and usefully.
Zoom is on online conferencing and meeting app. It runs on PC, Mac, Android and iOS systems. It is easy and fairly intuitive to use. A few points about which I have seen some potential for confusion:
You don’t need an account to simply join a Zoom meeting hosted by someone else (such as Sunday Assembly). Just click on the meeting link.
Zoom will download a small app to your device. This only happens once, and can then be used indefinitely. If you are nervous about this, it’s possible to join the meeting without it (via a web browser) though you will have reduced functionality in the meeting.
These meetings can be data-intensive so join by wifi if you possibly can.
Aim to log in a few minutes early – there will be someone waiting to greet you and give you time to sort out any tech issues.
We love singing together at Sunday Assembly. We can still do this using Zoom but unfortunately we can’t do it while hearing everyone else – there are too many lags in the system. We will still sing, you will hear the music and see the words, and enjoy singing along.
We love people to have their cameras on so we can all see each other. Joining a Sunday Assembly is NOT a competition about how tidy/beautiful your flat is (or indeed you are!). We’d love to see and connect with everyone – and it’s your choice.
If you find you are using Zoom and enjoying it, then having a free account can make it better and also allow you to host your own meetings (at the moment that’s unlimited time for 1-1 meetings, and up to 40 minutes for more than 2 people). You most certainly don’t need to give Zoom any money. (Sunday Assembly Edinburgh uses a paid account to give us more time and bigger numbers – we do that so you don’t have to.)
We hope this is all helpful. See you on Sunday!