Any member of the community is welcome to request a meeting at the Circle Center located in the mall across from Meher Spiritual Center, or on Circle Zoom, or both simultaneously.
Check Calendar Availability: The Circle Calendar is the most up-to-date source of information to check for times you would prefer.
https://www.ambcircleoffriends.com/calendar/
For a Zoom meeting, a conflict of time can be resolved by requesting a breakout room. Note that you cannot record in a breakout room. Read more about breakout rooms below.
Fill out Request Form: Please fill out the Circle Event Request Form on this page.
Provide a very short title of the event to appear on the Circle Calendar, and a 4–10 sentence description for the weekly Circle Newsletter.
Fill out all requested items on the form, which include tech needs, snacks, food, and other logistics.
Please arrive early for your event to ensure all is as planned.
After your event, as the host, please make sure the Circle is cleaned up and looks great for the next event. Thank you.
The Circle commits to publicizing your event on our Calendar and in our Circle News weekly newsletter. We encourage meeting hosts to promote their own events.
Promoting your Circle of Friends event on the Circle of Friends Facebook Group: You may post a promotion for your event on the Circle of Friends Facebook Group. The group is moderated, so posts will not appear instantly and must be approved.
We also recommend sending emails, texts, calls, chats, and/or posts to your own contact lists or social media pages and groups.
For public events on the Circle of Friends platform, please click on the event itself on the date and time of the event to obtain the meeting ID and passcode.
To prevent uninvited intruders, please do not share meeting IDs or passcodes directly, especially on social media. Only share the Circle Calendar.
You are encouraged to promote your own event. The following phrasing is the only way we encourage sharing login information:
Login information is available by clicking on the actual “Event” on the Circle Calendar.
https://www.ambcircleoffriends.com/calendar/
For private Zoom events, the Zoom invitation is emailed to event hosts only. The Calendar will show the time slot as “busy.” Only the recipients of the email invitation will receive the login and passcode for the event.
In the Zoom world, there are three possible roles: Event Host or Facilitator, Tech Host, and Zoom Admin.
Any member of the community is welcome to host an event at the Circle Center or Circle Zoom, or both simultaneously. Not every Zoom event host needs to know Zoom tech, as tech hosts and admin volunteers are trained to help. Not every type of meeting needs much tech, in which case the event host may handle their own tech.
Ten to fifteen minutes before your event is scheduled to start, log in the same way as any participant would, using the login listed on your calendar event. The room should already have been opened by a Circle admin.
If, due to oversight, the room is not open or the waiting room is enabled, please text or call one of the following admins:
Fereshteh Azad (630) 207-9461
Jim Knutson (630) 272-0097
It is not necessary to be made a host or co-host within Zoom in order to lead an event, especially for small groups.
An admin may or may not stay for your entire meeting. If they leave, they will make you “host” in order to keep the meeting open. You may also make another participant a co-host as a backup.
You may manage your allotted time as you wish. You may structure the meeting as a free-form conversation, a talk followed by Q&A, or other formats.
Generally, meetings become chaotic if multiple people speak or sing at the same time. Attendees are encouraged to remain muted until they wish to speak.
If the admin has made you host, when you leave, the room will close. Be careful not to end the meeting before everyone is ready. If participants wish to stay, make another participant the host by hovering over their video, clicking the three dots, and selecting “Make Host.”
Participants should generally be asked to stay muted unless speaking. Tech hosts should be comfortable with muting and unmuting controls.
For meetings larger than about ten people, encouraging digital hand raising is very helpful. It shows the order hands were raised, brings names to the top of the participant list, and removes the need to remember who wants to speak.
You may copy and paste the following instructions into chat:
PC: Alt + Y
Mac: Option + Y
Smartphone, iPad, tablet: More (three dots) → Raise Hand
Landline: *9
As a host or co-host, you cannot digitally raise a hand for someone else. During a participant’s question or comment, lower their hand for them.
A tech host, or an event host without a tech host, must be very familiar with the Zoom chat feature and monitor it throughout the meeting.
For certain meetings, learning Zoom features such as disabling self-unmuting and spotlighting video is recommended.
Although this has never happened at Circle Zoom, in the event of a Zoom bombing, the host should immediately end the meeting for all and contact a Zoom Admin. Restarting the meeting may require a new password, which only a Circle of Friends Zoom Admin can set.
Only those with Circle of Friends account login can serve as Zoom Admins. Currently, the admins are:
Fereshteh Azad (630) 207-9461
Jim Knutson (630) 272-0097
For every event, an admin is assigned to open the meeting fifteen minutes prior to the scheduled time and assign host or co-host roles as needed.
The admin may stay logged in for the entire meeting or may log out after assigning a host and backup co-host.
Ideally, hosts and co-hosts have received some Zoom training or orientation. Admins may train or assist hosts as a service, but it is not a requirement of the role.
The default setting allows only hosts and co-hosts to share screens. If you plan to share photos, videos, slideshows, music, YouTube, or other media, notify an admin in advance.
From a computer, you may share your entire desktop or choose a specific open window.
An iPad co-host can share photos or video, though it is more challenging. A smartphone co-host can share photos but not video.
When sharing screen, it is helpful to have another device logged in to see how the content appears to others.
If sharing audio, remember to enable “share computer sound.” There is also a way to share only computer audio while remaining visible on screen.
Screen sharing can tax older computers. Closing all programs except Zoom and the shared content is recommended.
If you are new to screen sharing, practicing before your event is highly recommended.
Breakout rooms at Circle Zoom are self-service. If a breakout room is open, participants may enter, leave, and re-enter freely.
The option to join breakout rooms is accessed through the breakout room icon, which looks like four squares.
Participants may leave a breakout room to return to the main room or exit Zoom entirely.
Participants may switch between breakout rooms at any time.
Circle Zoom events may be recorded upon request. Even if recorded, events do not have to be posted on YouTube.
Circle of Friends may upload events to the YouTube channel as time and resources permit.
You must be made a host or co-host to start or stop recordings. Remember to stop the recording before ending the meeting.
Recordings are saved to the cloud and later downloaded and edited before upload. This process is not automatic and may take time.
Trimming the beginning and ending of recordings is relatively easy. Other editing is not guaranteed.
By default, recordings use speaker view. Participants who do not wish to be recorded should remain muted.
Spotlight video may be used to keep the recording focused on one video feed.
The Record and YouTube Upload service is currently on hold until staff resources become available.
Participants remain muted during musical sharing because all microphones are equally loud and not mixed, which can sound chaotic.
Although applause is not audible, encouragement may be shown through video, chat, or emojis.
Due to internet lag, playing music simultaneously from different locations does not produce a true musical experience.
Plan additional songs for concerts, as there are no pauses for applause.
Important: Zoom was designed for business meetings and includes noise suppression that limits musical sound. Musicians must enable Original Sound to bypass this processing.
On a computer: Open audio settings, enable “show enable original sound button,” then turn on Original Sound before playing music. Verify the button is blue each time you log in.
On an iPad: Enable Original Sound in settings before joining a meeting, then enable it from the More menu each time you log in.
On a smartphone: Enable Original Sound in meeting settings, then enable it from the More menu each time you log in.
Original Sound does not enhance audio quality. You may wish to invest in equipment to properly mic your music.
You must be logged in to submit an event.
