Getting started with large meetings

Overview

join.me is the meeting app built for today’s fast-paced, highly mobile workplace. Great for large, scheduled meetings, ad-hoc collaborations, and any time you need to get together, it’s the instant, intuitive way to get down to business. If you need to meet with 25 or more, this guide is for you. It walks you through some of the best practices for managing things before, during and after your large meeting. Don’t forget: you’ll need a join.me PRO subscription (paid or trial) for meetings with 10 or more attendees. 

You can invite participants just like you would for any other scheduled meeting using Outlook, Google Calendar, or a simple email. For large meetings, we recommend using a one-time code. This code should be at the top of the email or meeting request, so when users want to join, they find the link right away. You can grab a one-time code by creating your meeting in the join.me scheduler. It’s best if your large meeting has both a presenter and a moderator. A presenter will be the one talking and sharing their screen. The presenter should be the one to start the meeting. You’ll likely be using the presenter’s join.me account to hold the meeting. A moderator should be the person in charge of managing the chat for any questions or issues. They also might be the person to introduce the presenter or coordinate an audio Q&A at the end of the meeting. It’s important to know who these people are well in advance of the meeting, as they’ll have different things to do during the session. Decide who will kick off the meeting, or make any introductions to the group. Setting the stage well can help ensure success. On the day of the meeting, make sure everything is optimized for large group sessions. Once you’ve logged in to your join.me PRO account, look for meeting settings. Use join.me’s audio conference line- we recommend using join.me’s built-in audio conferencing so your participants can join either by phone, internet or via an iPhone, iPad or Android device. Use join.me video conference bubbles- let attendees see your face as you present during your meeting. Enable video conferencing for the presenter and up to nine of your attendees- Allow me to change conference settings during a call- turn this on so you can control the call and unmute participants as needed. By turning chimes off, you won’t have to hear a sound each time someone enters or exists the meeting. To make sure your meeting is a success, follow these suggestions: 

Arrive early. Join and launch your meeting early. Some attendees arrive 15 minutes before the meeting starts, so you want to be ready. Don’t forget that once you’ve joined the meeting, the presenter’s screen is live.  

Use a phone. To get full control of the conference, the present and moderator should dial in over the phone rather than using internet audio.  

Use the Organizer code. After calling in to the conference number and entering in the Conference ID (followed by the #), the presenter and moderator need to identify themselves as organizers. You can do that by entering “3” followed by the 4-digit code. You’ll now be an organizer and can perform advanced features like muting all attendees.  

Mute ‘em is your friend. We suggest muting all attendees before the start of the meeting. Don’t worry – since the presenter and moderator both entered using the Organizer code, they can still talk. To mute all attendees, click the Mute ‘em button on the audio panel. That’ll keep the meeting quiet while everyone joins.  

Unlock the meeting. Make sure the meeting is unlocked; otherwise, attendees will keep “knocking” and disrupting your meeting. Click the people icon to open the menu with the unlock option. 

Identify yourself. You may want to change your name on the presenters list. You’ll be the top name, and when you click it, you can type in a new name. We suggest the presenter be named “Presenter” or “Your Name (Presenter)”, and the moderator be named “Moderator” or “Your Name (Moderator). This will help all attendees see who you are in the Attendee list and in the chat window. Once your audience has arrived and you’re ready, it’s time to start sharing. With join.me, you can share either your screen or your window. To make your choice, click the “down” arrow at the bottom of the share button in the center of the panel. If there are waves coming out of the monitor icon, you’re broadcasting your screen; simply click the monitor icon again to stop sharing. 

Want to host a Q&A session during the meeting? No problem! You can do this in one of two ways: 1. Take questions through the Chat panel. You can answer them as they come in. 2. Allow audio questions. You can change the call from “Presentation Mode” to “Q&A Mode” by pressing *43 on your phone. Participants can unmute themselves by pressing *6 to ask a question, and then re-mute themselves again after asking the question. Once the meeting is over, you can simply close join.me to make sure you won’t share your screen anymore. If you want to turn off the conference call, dial *91. That way, you won’t have attendees unmuting themselves to talk once you’re gone. Follow this guide, and you’ll have a successful meeting every time. And remember: no matter how you need to get together, join.me makes it fast and easy for everyone.