This document is a work in progress, contact tech@religiouseducation.net with suggestions and questions.
As a session host your primary role is encompassed in being the Host of the Zoom session. In this role, we ask that you arrive at least 15 minutes before the session starts to get ready. We recommend logging into the Zoom session as yourself, and then using the “claim host” key you were provided to become host. The below sections describe the tasks that we expect all hosts to do in their sessions.
Arrive 15 minutes before your session starts.
You will need:
- The Claim Host code (which you can get from from tech@religiouseducation.net, so that you can claim host using the button at the bottom of the participants list
- Your session’s feedback link, which you can get from your session’s details on the REA2024 Schedule. Just hover over the microphone icon to the left of your session’s title, wait for the popup menu, and then copy the link from the “Go to Feedback Form” option. Please do not use any source other than the website schedule to get this feedback link, as each link for each session is unique.
Orienting Speakers
- Make sure their microphones work
- Make sure their cameras work
- Test screen sharing, if they plan to screen share
- Make sure they understand their session is being recorded
- If the session is being translated, ask the speakers to speak slowly and deliberately
- Make them a co-host if they plan to help with managing the microphone (muting and unmuting people)
- Ask… Do you have any questions? Is there any way I can be of specific assistance to you during your session?
Live Interpretation
The interpretation settings are found in a “globe” icon along the bottom of the Zoom window (or under the “more” menu if the window is smaller). It will only be visible if your session is set up for interpreters. When you pull up these settings you can choose a participant in the meeting and set them up to interpret from English to one of the other languages we are supporting (Korean, Spanish, and Indonesian in 2024). Usually they will be pre-selected. If not, select them. If they’ve come in with a different email address, add a language and reconfigure the language. Once all three interpreters are set, click the “Start” button.
Enable Captions
To enable the captions, just find the “captions” icon at the bottom of the Zoom window or in the “more” menu. If you “show captions” from there you will be turning them on for the whole meeting. So basically, just show captions to yourself. You can then hide them again if you find them distracting.
Start Recording
Unless this is a session that has specifically asked not to be recorded, just before you speak the following speech at the session start time turn on session recording to the Zoom Cloud.
Mute Microphones
Mute the microphones of all the participants.
Welcome Speech
Please share this welcome slide while giving the welcome speech below.
At the time of the session start, we ask that you say the following brief statement in welcome to all participants in the session:
Hi, my name is __ and I am part of the REA tech support team. Welcome to this session in Zoom. I have just muted everyone. Please keep your audio muted during this session unless called upon to speak, but share your thoughts using the chat whenever you like.
We are putting a link into the chat for our announcements padlet. This is where all announcements for this annual meeting are being made. If you have an announcement you would like attendees to see, please add it to the announcements padlet.
This session is being recorded for those who couldn’t make it at this time. After this session is over, please remember to fill out an evaluation form, we’ll give you that link before the session is over.
Before sessions that will include interpreters…
This session is being interpreted in Spanish, Korean, and Indonesian. Everyone should take a moment to find the “Interpretation” option in Zoom (at the bottom of your Zoom window for most of you) and choose either English, Korean, Spanish, or Indonesian from that menu.
For all sessions, end with…
Now let’s get started!
Paste Announcements Link into the Chat
Paste this text into the chat…
Please review announcements for REA2024 that are available in a padlet at https://religiouseducation.net/meetings/rea2024/announcements/. If you have an announcement you would like attendees to see, please add it to this padlet.
Visibility
Mute your own audio and video. If the speakers want your involvement to help in specific ways that require visibility that is fine, but during the session your role is primarily a behind-the-scenes one.
Managing Mics
Monitor the audio and make sure that anyone who shouldn’t have a hot mic is muted. Though you’ve muted all as you spoke the above speech (and speakers subsequently unmuted themselves again) participants may come and go, or accidentally unmute themselves. It is important that only those who are speaking are unmuted to keep the session audio clear for all participants. To aid in this you should change the setting to make all participants be muted on entry, and depending on speakers’ wishes may want to disallow unmuting entirely.
Attendance
Please take screenshots of the participants list sometime during your session so that we can later ensure that participants were marked as having attended this annual meeting. This also gives us a tally of all those who attended this specific session. Send those screenshots to tech@religiouseducation.net after your session.
Feedback Link
Towards the conclusion of the session please copy the session’s feedback link into the chat. This link can be found on the website schedule once a session has started. Just go to the schedule, click on your session to see the details, and copy the link from the “Leave Feedback” button you see there.
When the speakers ask if there are any final announcements you need to give, one can be to remind people to send feedback. Remind them that the feedback links will be available for the rest of the week from the details of this session on the schedule.
Also paste the padlet link into the chat one last time.
Ending Early
If your session ends early, you might want to consider staying logged into it until the end of the assigned time. Some people come very late, even in the last 5 or 10 minutes of a session. Consider screen sharing a slide with a simple notice such as “This session has concluded.”
After Session
When the session concludes please stop the recording. Also send the attendance screenshots to tech@religiouseducation.net noting the name of the session. We will store these screenshots, along with the session recordings, in the REA Media Google Drive, so if you have access feel free to just drop the screenshots off there yourself instead.