NYC meetup: virtual edition!
posted March 27, 2020 8:29 PM   RSS | iCal | +googleCal

Tue April 7 at 7:00 PM, home
76 4th Ave, Brooklyn, NY, USA (Map & Directions)
Missing contact with fellow humans? How about a virtual happy hour? Now with date and time! Tuesday, April 7, at 7 PM. We can't really go to the 4th Avenue Pub, but let's pretend.
COVID-19 has thrown a wrench in my plan to have monthly NYC meetups. But perhaps we could get together virtually over drinks or dinner sometime? If you think this might be a good idea, please share your comments or suggestions! If it sounds like a terrible idea, feel free to let me know that too! (Non-NYC Mefites welcome too, of course!)

I think we will use Zoom? Does that seem good? Or LiliaNic's WebEx account if we become a really large number of people? Looking forward to seeing y'all!
posted by ferret branca to Meetup (17 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite

I definitely be up for it. I feel like I've test-driven almost every video conference program out there. Google Hangouts works pretty well, but I'm open to try Zoom as well
posted by UltraMorgnus at 2:45 AM on March 28, 2020


Zoom is honestly the best of the bunch, but I had a surprisingly functional Google Hangout the other night. (When we used Hangouts at an old job, it was less than great.)
posted by hoyland at 4:42 AM on March 28, 2020


I’m definitely interested. I also think Zoom is good; I tried some Cisco thing last night that wasn’t so great. Anyway, I’m up for it.
posted by holborne at 7:01 AM on March 28, 2020


Zoom is more stable for bigger groups in one country (more than 5 computers) hangouts has worked well for smaller groups multi continent. Skype has been amazingly laggy.

I know way too much about video conferencing now.

I'm probably down for a virtual chat! We'd need someone with a pro account if we want it to go longer than 40 mins though.
posted by larthegreat at 9:06 AM on March 28, 2020


I'm in and my job gave us a pro Webex account for the rest of the semester (at least), so I would be able to host up to 100 people.
posted by LiliaNic at 11:41 AM on March 28, 2020 [1 favorite]


Awesome, LiliaNic! And thanks to all for the interest.

What times are good for people? I could do next Thursday evening, or probably anytime next weekend...
posted by ferret branca at 12:11 PM on March 28, 2020


I could also host a pro Zoom if we want.
posted by limeonaire at 2:33 PM on March 28, 2020 [2 favorites]


Any day is fine for me, I guess except the weekends, when I tend to have voice lessons via FaceTime so might not be available.
posted by holborne at 9:15 AM on March 30, 2020


Yes, definitely. I have class Wednesday evenings, so those are out, but am otherwise free.
posted by Hactar at 9:30 AM on March 30, 2020


This week somehow got a bit full for me, I don't really understand how. I am going to set this for next Tuesday evening; if there are enough strong objections, I will change it!
posted by ferret branca at 10:45 AM on March 30, 2020


Here's a short link to my pro Zoom that we can use: http://lil.b27.org/limeonaire-zoom.

I wrapped this in a Google-generated short link from my personal email domain, so my Zoom info isn't forever in search results. That should redirect right to my Zoom URL. If anyone has trouble, definitely message me or check in here and we can troubleshoot.

Folks who haven't used Zoom before should be able to use that link to both set up the software on desktop or mobile and join the meeting, but I have some more instructions below as well. Please feel free to try it out beforehand! If I'm hosting another meeting at the time, it'll just put you into a waiting modal, so if that happens, no worries! That just means that your software setup worked, but I'm in another meeting at that moment.

Here is more info on how to set up Zoom for desktop and how to set up Zoom for mobile devices.

Also, for more fun, I highly recommend setting up and testing out Snap Camera on your desktop machine/laptop before the meetup.

This AskMe thread about hosting remote parties also has some great ideas for things we could do.
posted by limeonaire at 11:28 AM on March 30, 2020 [1 favorite]


Thank you, limeonaire!
posted by ferret branca at 1:38 PM on March 30, 2020 [1 favorite]


By the way, if we're looking for things to do, here's a post that just went up today with more games and general fun ideas and goofy GIFs of my coworkers based on the notes I compiled in that thread for Zoom parties.
posted by limeonaire at 4:46 PM on April 1, 2020 [1 favorite]


Making dinner, will sign on when it's done.
posted by Hactar at 4:00 PM on April 7, 2020 [2 favorites]


We're on here!

And definitely message me or ferret branca if anyone can't get that to redirect to the Zoom link or can't join or anything.
posted by limeonaire at 4:04 PM on April 7, 2020


Also, see this previous comment above for how to set up Zoom, if anyone is having trouble.
posted by limeonaire at 4:11 PM on April 7, 2020


Good times, everyone! Let's definitely do this again soon!
posted by limeonaire at 5:42 PM on April 7, 2020 [1 favorite]



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