How to attend a zoom conference

This weekend I attended the Sigma Tau Delta High Plains Regional Conference. Last year that meant driving for hours. Because of plague things, I attended from the comfort of my own dorm room. I missed the opportunity to leave Chadron and get to know people better through traveling, but I enjoyed some aspects of the conference regardless. 

Zoom conferences here to stay. In fact, even when travel is encouraged again, there will still be a multitude of zoom meetings and conferences. 

Therefore, to boost your online conference experience I thought I’d share a few tips I discovered over the weekend.

Be involved in something. After all, if you are on your phone the whole time, why are you even going? The keynote address opened the conference. 

Personally, I was curious about the speaker, so I made sure to be in a well lit area with a calm background and turned on my camera. In the first hour or two of the conference I tried to make a good impression. 

I made sure to ask some intelligent questions. That way, even though I turned off my camera for later portions of the conference, they had a general impression of who I was and that I was actually paying attention.  

For rest of the conference, except the panel I presented in, I kept my camera off. To show that I was still participating in the conference, I freely used the reactions to pop a little clappy hand or thumbs up when people asked a question or finished speaking. 

No one could tell I was laying out and cutting out pattern pieces on my floor while I listened to people read poetry. Even during the times I kept my camera on, I made sure I had some handicraft project to keep my hands occupied. 

Personally, I listen better when my hands are busy. Through zoom I could listen and not distract anyone else with my projects. 

Zoom isn’t perfect. I wish I could have shaken hands with the people I met this weekend. 

I would have loved to get out of Chadron and seen a little more of the world. But that’s what life is these days. Besides, it’s not all bad. On zoom, pants are optional and snacks are encouraged.