How to Host a UWC Virtual Event

Thank you for hosting a UWC virtual event in order to help us stay connected during quarantine! The following are recommendations for setting up and hosting an event on Zoom. If anything is unclear, please do let us know so that we can continue to improve this guide.

Several days before the meeting:

1. Sign in to the UWC Zoom account.

2. Schedule a new Zoom meeting for the event that you are planning, making sure that you select the correct date and time: how to schedule a meeting.

3. Copy the newly created Zoom meeting’s details with the link, meeting ID, and password.

4. Two days before the event, send to the confirmed event attendees these Zoom meeting details with the link, meeting ID, and password.

10 minutes before the meeting:

1. Sign in to the UWC Zoom account.

2. Make anyone who might need share her screen a “Co-Host”: how to make someone a co-host. This might include the UWC President, the guest speaker, and/or the moderator.

3. Start to record the meeting (if the speaker has given us permission).

4. In the Participants list, click on “More” (see images below) and then:

   • Check “allow participants to unmute themselves.”

   • Uncheck “play entry/exit chime.”

• Click the little arrow beside “Screen Share” and make sure that “One participant can share at a time” is selected. Then in that same list, click on “Advanced Sharing Options.” Then another window of options will pop up.  Make sure that you select  “One participant can share at a time” and “Only Host” can share.

During the meeting:

1. At the meeting start time, let people in from the waiting room: how to admit people from the waiting room.

2. Once the majority of people have joined, say the following tech instructions:

   • We have all participants on mute so that we can hear clearly.

   • If you have any technical questions, please use the "private chat" feature to type them to the tech lead.

   • We’re recording this meeting, and we will post the recording on the UWC website afterwards (if we are recording it).

   • We’ll take questions after the presentation. Please use Zoom’s “raise hand” feature with the little blue hand to raise your hand so that we can quickly see your virtual hand.

3. Monitor the waiting room and let people in right away.

4. Monitor the chat and respond to any tech questions promptly.

5. Mute anyone who forgets to mute herself when not speaking. (Unmuted participants will be automatically moved to the top of the Participants list, so you can see them easily without scrolling down.)

6. If someone has raised her virtual hand, encourage her to unmute herself and speak if needed. (Again, people with raised virtual hands will be automatically moved to the top of the Participants list, so you can see them easily without scrolling down.)

7. Help people to unmute themselves in order to speak if needed.