NHC All Ireland Virtual Meetup

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

This idea has been floated up on discord, but I don't think its a new thing: https://discord.com/channels/782548558435450891/807224148165918770

There is a proposal out there that the NHC has an all inclusive virtual meetup. The discussion & rallying cry was probably missed by anyone who isnt on discord or checks it infrequently.

While there are some communities that are very active during lockdown, not all are, even ones which were previously quite active. And there are many rural communities that have always struggled to have any kind of meetup, pre lockdown or otherwise.

Now with any kind of physical meetup unlikely for some time, we should consider having a recurring meeting where anyone can drop into.

These aren't hard to do, but from experience you will need:
- a chairperson to keep things orderly when the number of attendees goes above 6
- someone to troubleshoot connection issues - this can sometimes be the chairperson, but not if the meeting is more involved (see what I mean below)
- above about 8-10+ attendees any free form conversation goes out the window, you will need some kind of structured presentation or discussion around a theme, for focus.
- a predictable timeslot (X o clock on Nth Day of Month) that recurs with people committed to be there
- a can-do attitude to participation from attendees (commit/volunteer to present, chair, show up on time etc.)

We have access to a pro zoom account, but if this is a successful meetup that should probably be hosted by the NHC committee (but baby steps for now). Most of the free video conferencing systems struggle when the number of attendees gets large.

So start the discussion. Can people link this discussion into their private regional discussion whatsapps/slacks/smoke signals.

[DEMPSEY]

The problem I find with zoom meets is if you have a lot of people on they all have to filter through 1 conversation where's as if your in a bar people tend to chat to 1 or 2 at a time in separate chats.

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

Agreed. The zoom (or any videoconferencing for that matter) stops being sociable above ~6 people.

London Amateur Brewers is an outlier with 20+ people routinely in attendance
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjhjb_PaTWM8DIScny7QhEw
but it's a very different experience to people sitting around a pub table. Its presentation/ Q&A focused, with some banter after the agenda when people drop off the line.

Its a more educational event, though it often springboards more social/free discussion events.

I think if you are open to attendance by potentially large groups you need a similar structure or a speaker panel model.