Practically / How?
The OCB Gathering will be held on ZoomPro Meeting, with live simultaneous interpretation into English, French, Arabic and Portuguese as in previous years. Participant cameras should be on by default, to give a sense of ‘Ubuntu’, however participant microphones will be muted by default, to allow the online facilitator to give, and take back(!) the ‘word’/’talking stick’.
There won’t be a large group of OCB Board members, Field Representatives, Heads of Mission, MedCos, Partner Section and movement wide staff physically present in Brussels: only Belgian-based associative members and staff. The event won’t be moderated by a facilitator in a meeting room in Brussels, instead by an online facilitator, handing the word to session leads in multiple locations.
For the debates, and motions for example, the moderator, presenters, and panelists can join virtually from wherever they are based, or indeed gather in an MSF office if they happen to be based near one, as they wish.
Individual participants
Participants joining individually – i.e. no one else physically in the room with them – will be able to choose their language as usual. They should find a quiet, well-lit room, with the best internet connectivity available, and headphones with integrated microphone for optimal audio.
Group participants
Participants joining as a group – i.e. several people physically in the same room sharing the same device – should decide in advance the language of their room, and stick to that on the day (because it isn’t possible to have someone speak in one language and other participants listen to simultaneous interpretation in another language in the same room, without listeners needing individual devices and headphones, which will be cumbersome, and defeats the concept of joining as a group). They will need to identify an in-room facilitator, for example the local Associative Coordinator, who will manage the ICT hardware and ZoomPro Meeting software, raising their ‘virtual’ hand if someone in their room wishes to speak, unmuting the microphone when the word is handed to their room, ensuring the person speaking from their room is standing right in front of the camera and speaking into the microphone, interact in the meeting chat, etc.
Preparation / What?
We encourage as many of you as possible to host group participation in your location. Identify a room, work with ICT to ensure optimal internet connectivity and video/audio options whilst connected to ZoomPro Meeting - this can be as simple as a laptop with an echo-cancelling microphone/speaker, or an integrated audio/visual system in an office meeting room. Identify an in-room facilitator and practice using ZoomPro Meeting. Think of what face-to-face activities you can organize around the event: a networking lunch, pre-Gathering debate, group dinner, party?! Announce your group event well in advance to encourage maximum participation.
We will launch the ZoomPro Meeting software 1 hour before the start of the event, with simultaneous interpretation, in order to allow you to test your systems and troubleshoot any issues.
Questions? Please contact [email protected]