Zoom is such a useful tool for communicating and conferencing for your association, connecting with members or partners when you are not able to meet face to face. Zoom can provide associations with a reliable way to video and audio conference others, record meetings, host webinars, or chat with others all from a video or smartphone. As an Association Studios’ subscriber, we’ve given a Zoom license to use for your team, free of charge.

To get started, download Zoom for your desktop. If you have an account, go ahead and sign in. 

Start a Meeting

• If you want to start a meeting, start an instant meeting using your Personal Meeting ID. With an instant meeting, you can invite others to join you at any time. From there, you can enable your computer microphone and webcam if you would like to use those features for the call. 

Schedule a Meeting & Inviting Others

• To schedule a meeting, click on the Schedule icon which will open the scheduler. Select meeting date, time, topic and other options. You’ll be able to select a lot of features like if you would like the meeting to record automatically if you would like to “mute” the other participants when they enter and other things. Consider these based on your topic or event. You’ll be able to invite others via a calendar service and the Zoom meeting link to invite them.
• To invite others, click “Invite.” From here you’ll be able to choose contacts to send an invitation to or copy the meeting URL or invitation to send via email, text message or chat. 
• When a participant “joins” a meeting, they will be able to join via their computer or call in via phone. To join via the phone, you’ll need a teleconferencing number the meeting scheduler provides. If you are joining from your computer, you’ll need the meeting ID.
• In the Zoom call, you’ll be able to see the participants on the call, chat with others, share your screen and more. 

Chat in Meetings

• To chat, click the chat button at the bottom. A sidebar will pop up with the chat. You can send messages and share files with participants throughout the call. As a meeting host, you can allow meeting attendees to chat with you only if needed.

Recording Meetings

• If you want to record the meeting to be able to share with others later on, click the “Record” button in the menu when you would like to start recording. This is a great option for filming webinars, educational topics for your association or sharing information on your Association’s social media or website. 
• To access past meeting recordings to share with others, go to “Meetings” then your Recordings tab. A copy of your meeting will be there for you to review, play, open or delete. 

Sharing Screen

• As a meeting host, you can click “share” to share your screen or other files with meeting participants. If you have a presentation for members, this is where you would share that presentation for others. 
• As the meeting host, you can also give control to another participant to be able to share their screen. The person requesting to share their screen will click “View Options” then click “Request Remote Control.” the Meeting host will have to give access.  
• Any person can stop sharing their screen by clicking “Stop Share.”

Of course, as you learn Zoom and get more comfortable after your first few meetings you’ll find more features and ways that you can use this tool to connect with your audience and members. We are continuing to find ways that Associations all around the country are using this platform to engage their members. 

Have more questions about hosting Zoom meetings for your Association? We’re glad to help.