Our first ‘hybrid’ regional congress was a success! And while it wasn’t perfect, we managed to connect more than 50 individuals from around the region, begin the process of reseating the regional committee, and learned ways to improve the hybrid model to make it a viable, successful platform moving forward.
There were roughly 30 members who convened in person at the Portland Subud House, and an additional 20 of us on zoom at any given time; online attendance hovered at 17-18.
We had one guest who shared they felt disconnected and excluded because we didn’t make use of the chat function on zoom, making it difficult or impossible for those online to fully participate. This performance gap has been noted and will be corrected for similar future events so that all members have a voice and can participate and feel included. Besides this small glitch, production quality was top. Thanks again, to Morris McClellan.
Oswald Norton did a beautiful job of moving through our agenda and keeping us on track. Once housekeeping had been addressed, we were disconnected from the house feed and several of us continued online together for almost two hours. We even had some late arrivals, and everyone was very glad to see one another.
This prompted the idea of a regular semi-weekly or monthly, zoom social. This would be hugely helpful, especially for remote members, but really for anyone who wants to join, from the region or beyond, as during the pandemic, we all have been remote. It could really help people feel less isolated and more connected – pandemic, or no pandemic. Nirel is happy to facilitate group meets initially, and we are looking into whether our current regional zoom account is set up to accommodate those extra hours. This may require additional designated funding, and many members agree they would be happy for their donations to help build this kind of community support and connection. We will send further updates as things progress.