Hybrid meetings are a post-Covid innovation that’s clearly here to stay. Show up in person or tune in from home in your pajamas. Always good to have options!

Vancore has been experimenting with hybrid meetings for a few weeks now, so it’s time for a comparison.

The virtual experience is pretty solid. It’s certainly convenient. For some it’s the only choice —we have Vancore members scrubbing in from as far afield as California and Mexico.

The Van Cave has a pretty sweet AV setup: movie-quality sound and a great big screen on the wall beaming in members’ smiling faces. So it definitely feels like the Zoom folk are part of the meeting.

In the live room there’s a smart camera called The Owl that sits in the centre of the table and follows speakers, a little unnervingly, when they speak.

Unique to Vancore – Meet Owl!

Hoo are you? At Vancore, we know! Vancore Toastmasters is the only we club we know of that uses Owl, a conference video camera that zooms in (yes, pun intended) on whoever is speaking, regardless of where they’re sitting.

With Owl, we can see whomever is in person and online. And when attending a Vancore meeting in person, you’ll get valuable experience on how to conduct hybrid meetings!

The online “remote” experience gives you a good taste of what’s happening in the live room — the Van Cave, our lair at 889 Pender Street in downtown Vancouver.

That said, there’s nothing like attending a Toastmasters meeting live. Seeing the “whites of their eyes” across the room. The projecting your voice to the back of the room. The wondering what to do with your hands. These are valuable communication skills we get comfortable with practice over time.

I choose to attend in person meetings as it simply cannot be replicated on a Zoom call. Gestures, energy, tone and more get lost online. Some people turn their cameras off, which is akin to hiding, in my opinion.

Vanessa, Vancore Member

The verdict? Both live and remote attendance work. But please come in the flesh if you can. Human communication works best when we’re staring at each other across the primitive fire — or at least the boardroom table.

Will you join us?

Elevate your communication skills; upgrade your relationships and career!

Only 2 Summer In-Person Meeting Dates: JULY 6TH AND AUGUST 10TH.

We hope to resume weekly in-person meetings in September.

The rest of the summer, join our friendly group EVERY WEDNESDAY ONLINE at 3:30 PM PDT!

Guests are always welcome!

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