Dear IPNA Members:
Our April 15 IPNA meeting will be held on Zoom. This will be the first ever virtual IPNA Business Meeting, so please bear with us as we figure things out.
Even if you are familiar with Zoom and want to skip over the following explanations of its basic features, please do be sure to read the section regarding procedures specific to the April 15 meeting.
There has been a lot of bad press lately about Zoom. However, the IPNA board and some IPNA committees have been successfully meeting over Zoom for several weeks now. NPU-N has also been meeting over Zoom, and the City of Atlanta has chosen Zoom as its approved platform for conducting NPU business. In order to avoid security problems in this meeting, we are putting into place all the safety measures we possibly can.
The basic version of Zoom is free to use. You will not need to purchase anything or to have a Zoom account in order to attend the meeting, but you will be prompted to download the Zoom software or the app if you choose to attend online.
If you’re new to Zoom, you can find lots of great training on the zoom.us site. Here’s a link to the “getting started” training: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360034967471-Quick-start-guide-for-new-users
There are several possible ways to join this meeting. If you choose to join via the Zoom app or the desktop site at zoom.us, you will be able to participate fully in the meeting and to discuss issues, make motions, second motions, and vote. To join using the Zoom app or on the Zoom desktop site, you will click on the meeting invitation link you receive in your invitation email and enter the meeting password.
If you want to listen to the meeting audio but not participate in voting, you can call into the meeting by using one of the phone numbers on the invitation. Simply dial the phone number for the nearest location. You will then be prompted to enter the meeting number and password found on the invitation. Callers will be able unmute themselves to speak during the meeting but will not have the benefit of participating in the voting process or seeing the meeting and will have only audio. Callers’ phone numbers will be displayed on the screen.
Through a default setting, your video will be enabled when you enter the meeting. This means people at the meeting can see you. If you want to override the default setting and enter with your video off, you will be prompted to click a box to make this choice as you enter the meeting. If your video is off, you can still see others at the meeting whose video is on, while others will see only your name, or your profile photo if you’ve created one. You can turn your video on and off during the meeting by clicking on the video icon that appears at the bottom corner of the thumbnail containing your video feed.
There are two choices for determining how you see other people in the meeting. Active speaker view is the default setting and shows only one person’s full-screen image at a time according to who is speaking. To see all participants, you can switch to gallery view using the button in the top right hand corner of you screen. In gallery view, attendees’ videos appear as thumbnails, with up to 49 thumbnails on a screen. If there are more than 49 people in attendance, you can click the arrows to the right to move to the next screens in gallery view to see more people’s thumbnails.
The board has done a trial run using various methods and has decided to follow for this meeting the procedures described below. Before you come to the meeting, please read this information on how to participate.
APRIL 15 MEETING PROCEDURES:
Speaking during the meeting (for those attending on the app or by phone): Through a default setting, your microphone will be automatically muted upon entry. It is important that everyone remain muted throughout the meeting because otherwise there is lots of background noise that interferes with hearing speakers. There may be portions of the meeting when it is appropriate to unmute yourself to speak. To do this, simply click on the red microphone icon at the bottom of your screen. Please mute yourself after you are done speaking by clicking on the microphone icon again.
FOR DISCUSSION - It’s important that people do not talk at the same time but take turns. When discussion is called for, please send any relevant thoughts or questions for discussion through chat. To do this, just click the chat icon at the bottom of your screen and type in your comment or question. If needed, you may also be asked to unmute yourself to speak.
TO MAKE OR SECOND A MOTION - We will need a motion and a second before each vote. When making a motion or a second, please do so by chat. Simply click on the chat icon and type “motion” or “second.”
TO VOTE - When voting is called for, click on the participants icon at the bottom of your screen if you want to vote. This icon shows the number of people in attendance throughout the meeting. When you click on it, a pop-up box also shows a list of the names (or phone numbers for callers) of everyone who’s at the meeting. At the bottom left of the pop-up box, you will see a red “x” and a green “✔️.” Click on the red x to vote “no” or the green “✔️” to vote“yes.” You may abstain from the vote by not clicking on either the “x” or the “✔️.” The closing of the voting will be announced after a few moments. If you have trouble voting, please send a message through chat so that you can be called on individually for your vote. After each vote, the secretary will announce the results.
Specifics for the April 14 meeting: There will be at least one vote on a zoning application, which is for 204 Haralson Lane. The plans for this and any other applications that arise will be presented at the meeting but will also posted beforehand on our web site so that you can see them before the meeting if you want.
We have no idea how long we will have to be Zoomers, but it’s good that we do have this fallback so we can continue to convene. I look forward to seeing all of you at the April 15 IPNA Zoom Business Meeting. Everyone stay well!
Beverly Miller
IPNA President