Hybrid Meeting Checklist

Setting up for hybrid meetings where some are in the room and others are remote, from experience there are important things to check, just as a pre-flight checklist is important for pilots before they take off. Screen and window sharing, and other basic operations of zoom or conferencing software, will not be covered in this checklist.

1. Reserve the room and equipment with the Jenks Center office:
1. Projector
2. Laptop
3. OwlPRO camera unit
4. Microphone and amplified speaker (as needed)
2. Have at least one additional laptop logged into the session, in the room, to act as co-host.  
1. This co host can record the session; it might be better because the co-host's view of the meeting can be controlled separately from the presenter's laptop. The zoom presenter's view does not look at all like the view of other participants.
3. Make sure laptop power brick is plugged in and the laptop is not running on battery. Conferencing software drains the battery quickly since there are many things to process (video, audio, meeting connections).
4. Projector (on equipment cart) is located far enough back from the whiteboard so the image fills the board.
5. Zoom host account (provided by Jenks Center) logged in to start the meeting.
6. Zoom host should immediately assign a co-host who can mute participants, or remove disruptive participants as necessary.  
1. Note this co-host should also immediately be given permission to record.
7. OwlPRO camera/speaker device:
1. Power connected to wall power (power cord connected to power brick, brick to Owl unit)
2. USB cable connected from Owl to Zoom host laptop.  Consider using 6 ft USB extension cable so that the Owl can be placed in the middle of the room for maximum video coverage without making it an awkward location for the Zoom host laptop.
8. Zoom host computer during presentation:
1. Select laptoptop camera and audio (default) when presenting - the OwlPRO does not add anything during the presentation.
9. Zoom host computer before and after the presentation:
1. Select OwlPRO camera (not built in laptop camera)
2. Select OwlPRO audio  (not laptop microphone)
10. MUTE all participants when the recording starts and the moderator introduces the speaker.
11. Zoom host should become familiar with the setup of the Windows laptop with the projector attached (which way to move the mouse to access the "other screen"):
1. The projector is a second screen, and the zoom host should know whether the second screen is to the right or the left (off screen) of the one built into the laptop. This is important because during a screen share while the presentation is on the projector, the zoom session controls cannot be found on the laptop screen. The mouse has to be on the projector "screen" to activate such choices as "mute all participants" and "stop sharing".  Without the ability to access the zoom session, it is not possible to end the presentation.
2. "Mute all participants" can be done by the co-host 
12. The wireless remote "slide advance" device should be tested and the presenter should be familiar with its operation before the meeting starts. If the remote is pointed somewhere it should point to the laptop where the connection is made - not pointing to the screen where there is no active device.
13. If needed, the microphone and amplified speaker should be tested by the presenter (and moderator as desired), practicing holding the microphone right in front of the mouth speaking directly into it. Speaking from the side, or to the side, or at an angle to the microphone, defeats the purpose of the microphone and it would be better to skip the hardware and ask the speaker to just speak louder.
14. The host should download and install the OwlPRO app to their phone or tablet and be familiar with its controls - 
1. One of the more useful controls is turning off the 360 degree view portion of the screen if it is a distraction; also to turn it back on when it is desired.
2. When needed, the Owl camera can be "locked" to a specific view rather than letting to automatically "find" the speaker by listening for who is talking.
3. The Meeting Owl app is available for android and ios, and there is a version for laptop / desktop.  Detailed features of the Meeting Owl app are discussed on their help page: https://support.owllabs.com/s/knowledge/What-are-the-features-of-the-Meeting-Owl-App?language=en_US 
15. Shut down the projector properly using the remote - do not just unplug the power. Shutting it down properly allows the bulb and components to cool in a controlled sequence.
16. Generally record the meeting to the local computer rather than to the cloud.   Allow time after the end of the meeting for the video file to be processed and converted to a standard video file format.  Do not shut off the computer until the processing has completed.
1. When the file has finished processing a folder will display on the desktop showing the audio and video files.
2. Send the files to the video editor with https://transfer.pcloud.com/ and remind the editor to download the file before the time expires (generally a week).  It is also workable to copy the converted file to a USB drive and deliver it to the editor.