McKinney EF is meeting virtually each month. We have a quick Executive Committee meeting just ahead of the Board meeting to prepare us. This meeting ahead of time helps us direct conversation and keep the meeting flowing. Using the "Share Screen" option has been a HUGE help. We can highlight where we are on the Agenda, Budget, etc. Love it!

We met virtually in March, April and May. We attempted to do a hybrid in person / virtual meeting where Board members could choose how to attend. We had technical difficulties with the audio. The folks on the Zoom had trouble hearing the folks in-person. We now know how to resolve that. It would have been nice to have AV support from our Professional Development Center there but after they assisted with setup, they left. Won't do that again.

@rlewallyn, how did you resolve the issue? It is challenging to engage both a live group and a virtual group at the same time.

Well, we think we resolved it, but haven't had another meeting yet. Next meeting is in August.

We believe the primary issue was the location of the device that was running the ZOOM. I attempted to broadcast the ZOOM video feed to a large screen in the room, so the device was located where it could get a wide angle of the in-person room. I realize now that it's more important that all can hear rather than see in this instance. We provided mics on stands at each table for the meeting, but the device was still too far away to effectively pick up the audio from the in-person room. We believe that having the device centered in the room, the ZOOM audience will be able to hear much better.

I'm on a Board that recently had a blended meeting similar to this and it seemed to work well. Will be consulting with them on logistics and ideas and can report back.

We have been in San Antonio virtually since our meeting in April. For perspective, we have a large board of 25-30 and we meet 6 times a year. Meeting have been going well via zoom. Our meeting used to be in person over lunch and 1.5hours. We have found that we can do the work in 1hour now and that that is the limit for folks. A few thinks that have been important for us are: 1) Use the chat function - lots of fun comments and praise happen there and then do not need to be said out loud (we are thinking about how to keep that part when we are in person again); 2) attendance has improved - folks can get on from anywhere; 3) written reports shared ahead of time have been critical - we started a staff report that we will keep for each meeting when we are live again as well and more written committee reports. People are encouraged to ask questions, but we do not read from those reports; 4) the meeting before the meeting becomes more important - but it always good practice anyway; 5) We are going to invite prospects to the virtual board meeting to get a feel for the group, we we would not have done in person; 6) standard good practices like having mute on and video on are important - they are there to "be with" each other.

Stay well, stay safe and stay engaged!

Judy Geelhoed, SAISD Foundation

Jgeelhoed@SAISDFoundation.com

We have been in San Antonio virtually since our meeting in April. For perspective, we have a large board of 25-30 and we meet 6 times a year. Meeting have been going well via zoom. Our meeting used to be in person over lunch and 1.5hours. We have found that we can do the work in 1hour now and that that is the limit for folks. A few thinks that have been important for us are: 1) Use the chat function - lots of fun comments and praise happen there and then do not need to be said out loud (we are thinking about how to keep that part when we are in person again); 2) attendance has improved - folks can get on from anywhere; 3) written reports shared ahead of time have been critical - we started a staff report that we will keep for each meeting when we are live again as well and more written committee reports. People are encouraged to ask questions, but we do not read from those reports; 4) the meeting before the meeting becomes more important - but it always good practice anyway; 5) We are going to invite prospects to the virtual board meeting to get a feel for the group, we we would not have done in person; 6) standard good practices like having mute on and video on are important - they are there to "be with" each other.

Stay well, stay safe and stay engaged!

Judy Geelhoed, SAISD Foundation

Jgeelhoed@SAISDFoundation.com