Physical Space
On the day of your event, you need to set up the physical space so both in-person and virtual attendees can hear you, see you, and participate effectively. There are several different features you will want to check on as you set up the space.
Test the room's microphones. The last thing you want is to give your workshop, only to find out afterwards that online attendees couldn't hear you. Set aside time before your workshop to make sure the audio is working and everyone--both in-person and online--can hear you well.
- If you plan to have audience participation or a Q&A session during your workshop, you should also test the microphones the in-person audience will be using. This can take the form of a typical mic check, or you can use this moment as an icebreaker to start engaging the audience. Icebreaker questions should be straight-forward and encourage short answers: for example, you could ask "What is your favorite dessert?" or "What is the most recent book you read?" If you use this moment as an icebreaker, make sure to involve the online audience as well.
- If you plan to have audience participation or a Q&A session during your workshop, you should also test the microphones the in-person audience will be using. This can take the form of a typical mic check, or you can use this moment as an icebreaker to start engaging the audience. Icebreaker questions should be straight-forward and encourage short answers: for example, you could ask "What is your favorite dessert?" or "What is the most recent book you read?" If you use this moment as an icebreaker, make sure to involve the online audience as well.
- Turn on the camera and adjust the camera view as needed. Consider whether or not you want online participants to see everyone attending, or just the people presenting. If the camera also captures the display you are using to show slides in-person, make sure the camera is focused and the display does not look disorienting or out of focus for virtual attendees.
Several spaces on campus that are designed for hosting hybrid events include:
- Room 220 in the Main Library. You can also request support from Scholarly Commons to help set up the space for a hybrid event.
- Grainger Engineering Library spaces. Different rooms have different technology setups, so make sure to double check that the room you want to use has the proper equipment for a hybrid event before reserving it.
- If there's a particular space on campus you already have in mind, you can also check the Campus Reservable Spaces page to find out who to contact about reserving the space.
Virtual Space
While setting up the physical space is important, so is setting up the virtual space! It can be easy to forget about checking your Zoom settings, but they are key to making sure a hybrid event goes smoothly. As you get ready for the event, you can prepare the virtual space by following these steps:
- Check host privileges are working. Make sure the host can mute attendees, remove people from the virtual meeting, and start and end the recording before the event starts. This is especially important if you have a chat moderator for the event. They should have alternative host privileges as well to effectively monitor the chat.
- Test the screen share. Online participants should be able to see the slides throughout the event. Double check that they can also see you change slides and, if needed, move to a different browser or website.
- Turn on the captions for the event. Instructions about how to enable captions for different video-sharing platforms are included below.