Your Cart is Empty
QUILT ALONG WITH RANAE LIVE IN HER STUDIO—JOIN THE FREE-MOTION MASTERY IN A MONTH FACEBOOK GROUP!
Hosting a live online class is a great way to bring world-class teachers to your guild affordably and conveniently. No travel expenses, no trips to the airport. No classroom to schedule. Members participate from the comfort of their own homes, so even members who can't attend a meeting can participate. Yet, there is still a shared sense of community because everyone participating can see and chat with the other participants.
The process is simple: Choose a teacher and a class, and let us do the rest. We'll set up the event, make class materials available on a password-protected page, provide you with promotional materials, take registrations for you, set up the video conference with the teacher, moderate the live class to make sure everything goes smoothly, and provide a recording when it's done. After class, members can participate in a private Facebook group where they can watch the recording and continue to learn from each other and from the Instructor.
You can make the class available only to your guild, or you can open it to the public to raise funds for your guild.
There are lots of advantages for you:
* Your members can attend classes and events, even if your meeting has been cancelled due to social distancing measures.
* Class participants learn in the comfort and safety of their own sewing rooms.
* You can reach students who might not be able to come to a classroom or meeting at all due to personal reasons such as health or distance.
* Events are live so students can show their work and ask questions of the teacher in real time, and are recorded so students who miss the live class can still learn.
* Instructors can show details of quilts that would not be visible in a large room.
* Enrollment is not limited by the size of a classroom.
* Reach out to students anywhere in the world, if you wish.
* Affordably bring top-name teachers to your guild, saving money on travel expenses.
And if you would like information about our Guild Moderator training program, to help you host your own meetings, click here.
To learn more, please schedule a time for us to give you a call, click here to see our schedule
Frequently Asked Questions about Online Meetings
I don't know if my guild would be willing to do Zoom meetings. Maybe I should survey them first?
In our experience, the best thing is just to go ahead. A survey may not be the best way to get started and here's why:
At the moment, online meetings are the only option for holding meetings and workshops. So, the question isn't so much if people WANT that, but will they JOIN IN if you do it.
It's hard to ask someone if they like something or don't, or if they think something is a good idea or not, when they're not already a bit familiar with what it is that you're asking about. If someone has never experienced a Zoom meeting -- especially if she's older and technology seems a bit daunting -- that person might express more reticence than if they had experienced it first.
But, if people are given the opportunity to try it and find out how easy it is -- for example, in a short guild training or small bee group -- then you FOLLOW that with a survey to find out how they liked it, you will find that people are much more receptive. You'll also get stronger initial buy-in from the people who are willing to try it first. And those people then become "ambassadors" to their friends, encouraging them to join in and even helping them get set up.
It's sort of like getting a kid to try new foods at dinner. At first they say "bleh" but when you tell them it's all they're getting for dinner, eventually they get hungry enough to try it and then they find out they actually like it.
We've found that guild members are really delighted to have the means to get together again through video conferencing. And by teaching them to use it, you give them a tool that not only connects them to guild events, but also enables them to connect with friends and family outside the guild. That can be a lifeline that benefits their lives far beyond a quilting guild.
Do I need a Zoom account? No and Yes
No. Anyone can participate in a Zoom meeting without an account. All they need is the Meeting ID number and the Passcode, which you would send to guild members.
A basic Zoom account is free. This lets a user set up and host meetings up to 100 participants and 40 minutes long. It is great for personal use and small get-togethers. It does not include many of the controls a moderator would need to run a larger meeting.
Zoom's base-level Pro account is $14.99 per month. It includes up to 100 participants and meetings up to 24 hours long. More importantly, it includes the hosting tools needed to manage a larger meeting successfully. This will be adequate for your guild needs.
If you need more than 100 participants, you can bump-up to 500 for $50 per month, which Zoom pro-rates if you use it say, for a meeting, and then cancel.
To learn more about Zoom plans and pricing, click here to go to Zoom.us.
------------------------------------
To learn more, schedule a time for RaNae to give you a call, click here to see her schedule.
