Anyone using ZOOM as a means of staying in touch?

[Franklin]

I recently signed up to video conference with Zoom (took the free package). We have about 30 family members who we wanted to see and visit. Obviously we can't visit in person so the video format interested me.This past Sunday we sent a meeting invite to all of our family to log in at 7:00. We also sent an agenda with explanation. Each person was to update and share their Corona stories, life events, and yes even a skit and singalong from the younger set. In our case we had 16 different camera shots rolling.It was a bit difficult to coordinate who was to speak and when but we got thru it (wine helped considerably). We have decided to set up a weekly video at 7:00 pm for all family members each Sunday (assuming they can make it). Each week we plan to "pass the torch" to a different family member to coordinate and set the agenda. I suspect we will keep this up at least until the shelter in place is relaxed. Anyway, this was a success for our group so I wanted to ask if others had success in this method.

 

[cathy63]

Yes, we have family happy hour with DH's family twice a week via Zoom. If everybody comes, there are 10 households. We don't try to follow an agenda or plan entertainment. We just talk about whatever we're watching or making or doing, or weather or news or whatever. We're all adults, so this works for us. If we had a lot of kids or too many more households, we'd probably have to get more organized.

 

[Montecfo]

We did one this past weekend and have scheduled a regular one starting this week.

 

[Lawrencewendall]

Zoom has too many security issues and is downright forbidden at some companies.. I researched awhile and went with Cisco WebEx for personal use. It's free, requires an app but can hold up to 100 participants. I've used it off a phone and a tablet but I prefer a PC because there is more monitor real estate. Cisco is a reputable company that a fair number of businesses use.

I created a personal room and sent the URL out to family member so there are no invites. I open the room every day at Noon for anyone (8 siblings and 35 Nieces and Nephews) to jump in. They don't, not even DS1 or DS2, even though they are both working from home..

 

[gauss]

^ Regarding your security concerns of Zoom. Are you more worried about content leaking/zoombombers during the conference or are you worried about malware ending up on the device.

Different use cases might drive different decisions.

-gauss

 

[jollystomper]

We use ZOOM every 2 weeks to stay in touch. 15 households across several continents, 50+ people at peak load. No issues.

 

[Lawrencewendall]

^ Regarding your security concerns of Zoom. Are you more worried about content leaking/zoombombers during the conference or are you worried about malware ending up on the device.

Different use cases might drive different decisions.

-gauss

Reports of hackers jumping in and streaming porn to participants and recorded sessions, stored in the cloud, being accessible to anyone. Have not seen any indication of embedded malware. They may have fixed the issues but some of their servers are still located in China. If one owns the infrastructure, one has access to the data/info. (retired cyber intel) This may happen a lot but in my research, Cisco seemed a better choice.

 

[audreyh1]

We use FaceTime. Most family has iOS, but not all. DH doesn't want to touch Zoom with a ten foot pole.

 

[Lawrencewendall]

We use FaceTime. Most family has iOS, but not all. DH doesn't want to touch Zoom with a ten foot pole.

Facetime has a limit of 4 participants and I expected more than that. My Bad.

 

[W2R]

You all are too advanced for me!! I am so insanely out of date that I haven't even used Skype yet, or even FaceTime, much less Zoom.

The last time I did a video chat with anybody was in the last century, and there was some sort of program embedded with Windows that I used with a webcam that I bought for that purpose.

So, for me, the answer is "No."

 

[Lawrencewendall]

You all are too advanced for me!! I am so insanely out of date that I haven't even used Skype yet, or even FaceTime, much less Zoom.

The last time I did a video chat with anybody was in the last century, and there was some sort of program embedded with Windows that I used with a webcam that I bought for that purpose.

So, for me, the answer is "No."

Technology is great. Need to stay on top of it unless you live in a cabin on top of a mountain.

 

[W2R]

Technology is great. Need to stay on top of it unless you live in a cabin on top of a mountain.

Well, I didn't get much of a charge out of video chatting with some dude in Los Angeles back in the last century, so for some reason I figured that it still wouldn't be that big of a thrill for me. Think how much I've been missing!

 

[Midpack]

My golf league is doing a weekly free Zoom “happy hour” at 3pm just so we don’t lose touch with each other. And my wife’s fitness trainer is doing Zoom training for her clients Mon, Wed and Friday’s. So it’s been a help.

 

[Lawrencewendall]

Well, I didn't get much of a charge out of video chatting with some dude in Los Angeles back in the last century, so for some reason I figured that it still wouldn't be that big of a thrill for me. Think how much I've been missing!

Some people need social interaction. Not me. I'm a natural introvert but from a mental aspect, some people need to see more than their SO or dogs and cats. I get that.

I made the offer before that if anyone wants to see a different face, my Webex room is open. Drop in, introduce yourself and we can all laugh at each other during these weird times. I promise that I will have clothes on.
https://meetingsamer2.webex.com/meet/lawrencewendall

 

[timo2]

yes, we get 6 to 8 members of my family all at once to do a zoom call. We have people from Hawaii USA to the Dublin Ireland on the calls.

 

[steelyman]

I’ll be attending my first Zoom meeting later this week. If you have a Chromebook it’s allegedly easy to get Zoom from the web store. I’ll find out!

 

[Brat]

I have used Zoom for a family get together, 3 participants. My co-op is using Zoom for Board meetings and our Annual Meeting next month. The Board meeting allegedly had almost 60 observing. No issues that can't be blamed on aging.

I can't imagine our Zoom meetings to be interesting to anyone.

 

[Philliefan33]

We’ve been using a paid subscription to Zoom for our HOA meetings. It was the easiest to use over multiple platforms for a reasonable subscription rate. Zoom has made some changes to the settings to improve security as far as uninvited guests. We do not use the record function, but if there is still a security risk of someone seeing the content of our meeting, I’m not worried. It’s boring, even to those of us who have a connection to the community.

I’ve used the free access to Zoom to see friends for happy hour, family game night, and book club. We joked at book club that if someone busted in to show naked photos, we might not be as offended as they hoped!

Any time you are online there is a security risk.

 

[Cobra9777]

One of our nieces organized a Zoom get-together with all the family a few weeks ago and we've done it every Saturday since. There are 8 households invited, two with young kids. We usually get at least 5-6 participants every week.

The first one was chaotic. All the kids were talking at the same time. That was amusing for a few minutes, then we had to set some ground rules about using mute, etc. The last few calls have been much better.

We're getting pretty good about sharing photos and video. Some people walk around with their phones showing off their garden, or what they're cooking, or what they're building in the garage, etc.

It's kinda fun to keep up with everybody and right now that's the only interaction we have with the grandkids, so very much welcome.

I use our desktop PC, which seems to work a lot better than the phone version. But my webcam is ancient and has a really bad video resolution. So I figured out how to use my phone's camera as a webcam on the desktop and that is working much better.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

My parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews have set up Zoom family get-together calls.
Personally, I don't understand all hype. There's some fun additional features but it's not like it's a huge leap better than say Google Hangouts/Meet.

 

[CardsFan]

Being retired for 4 years, I had never even heard of Zoom until about 3 weeks ago.
Since then, we have had 4 Zoom get together's with family and friends. DS is working from home, so he has access to a corporate account to set up meetings. A friend of ours also has corporate access and has set up meetings.

It seems like a lot of businesses are using it.

I just checked the stock price. It is up 140% since the beginning of the year.

 

[Osprey]

We’ve been using zoom for a weekly family gathering. I use it on a tablet so less security concerns. it is very user friendly for senior non tech savvy family members to participate. Brings much joy to get together with remote family located in 4 cities.

 

[Corporateburnout]

We use Zoom often when we communicate with multiple family members about a couple of times a week. I also Zoom with my tennis league members to catch up on things and to socialize.

DW uses Skype also to communicate with DD a few times a week.

 

[donheff]

We have done several Zoom sessions. They are fun. I have heard of security concerns about strangers logging in to unsecured sessions. Good luck with ours -nothing sensitive on them.

 

[unclemick]

Use Zoom on my Galaxy Samsung for a few meetings. Relatives 15th birthday. Underpowered.

heh heh heh - may have to upgrade old desktop or smartphone if this becomes the new normal. Or dust off my Curmudgeon Certificate.