Summary:
Right now Covid-19 is spreading and changing the way we meet, gather and work. Many organizations in multiple issue spaces are scrambling to move their meetings to the virtual space and learn to connect with one-another in an all-remote environment. In person meetings, all-virtual meetings and hybrid virtual/in-person meetings are similar, and yet facilitation and participation in each type of meeting is also different and requires some specific skills and planning. The tips below are offered by the Sierra Club distributed organizing team based on our experience running staff and volunteer organizing meetings. Our remote staff team depends on virtual and hybrid meetings to do our work, build relationships and build people-power. We originally put this document together as a resource for our team. As many of us move to shift our meetings to the virtual space, we know people are asking for support and resources. We received a lot of questions about running virtual meetings, so our Distributed Organizing Associate Director Mary Alice Crim quickly moved to build out the resources list and share it so others can benefit from our knowledge and skills.
Input and resources for this framework were provided by:
The core content was graciously provided by the distributed organizing team at the Sierra Club, with special thanks to Mary Alice Crim, Chelsea Watson and Ryan Dunfee. Blueprints for Change helpers Aram Fischer and Alan Smith also contributed ideas and resources. Training for Change’s online training series and toolkits were incredible resources for us.
This framework was prepared and reviewed by: