Hybrid Meeting Training and Best Practices

Most of the conferencing and event spaces at the University of St. Thomas have audio or video conferencing equipment available. For hybrid meetings we specifically recommend the following rooms, which can be reserved through 25Live.

• ASC 202 (24 capacity)
• ASC 238 (24 capacity)
• ASC 341 (24 capacity)
• ASC 342 (8 capacity)
• ASC 343 (8 capacity)
• TMH 204 (16 capacity)

For other campus spaces or for large hybrid meetings with 25+ attendees, we suggest contacting our Event Support Team to discuss your event.

In addition, many department-owned conference rooms also have a baseline hybrid meeting setup that includes a computer, large display, and webcam. If you are interested in adding or upgrading videoconferencing capabilities to a department owned space, please contact the AV and Classroom Technology Team to request a consultation.

This article will help familiarize you with basics of the technology in these rooms and equip you with the knowledge to host and participate in hybrid meetings with both in-person and remote participation.

Hybrid meetings are meetings that include both in-person and remote participants.

They differ from hybrid classes in that the orientation of the room is reversed.  In hybrid classes the professor teaches from the front of the room outwards, with the in-person students and the camera facing inwards towards the professor and projector screen or display.

For hybrid meetings all in-person participants face inwards towards the projector screen or display showing the remote participants and the camera faces outwards focused on the in-room participants.

ITS has installed two solutions to support hybrid meeting; a standard hybrid classroom equipment package (pan-tilt-zoom camera and area microphone) for medium sized meeting rooms, and a display mounted all-in-one camera/microphone systems for smaller rooms.

In both cases the in-room participants should sit in an open “U” facing the projector screen or display. In the medium size rooms the area microphone should be positioned in the center of the “U”, facing the in-room participants. The person running the meeting should sit near the PC location and control the PC with the wireless keyboard and mouse.

1. Start the room system by turning on the projector or display, either with the white button panel for medium sized rooms or with the display remote control for the smaller rooms.
2. Log in to the room's dedicated PC computer
3. Start the Zoom or Teams call.
4. Ensure the correct microphone, speaker and camera is selected (see below)
   
   
   
    
5. Use the Logitech remote control to adjust the pan-tilt-zoom of the camera as needed.

NOTE: Individual laptop or tablet use is not supported. If content needs to be shared from a laptop or tablet, we suggest using the room PC for the audio/video portion of the videoconference call and joining the meeting on the other device with its audio/video muted.  This will allow you to “Share Screen” on that device to show content without also causing feedback.

Training Videos

The following videos are intended to give you an overview of the technology installed in our classrooms, event spaces, and conference rooms. While the specific hardware installed in department owned conference rooms will differ, these videos will still help you better understand how to use microphone and camera equipment during hybrid meetings: 

1. Genera Technology Overview
2. Area Microphone Tour
3. Pan Tilt Zoom Camera Tour

Hybrid Meeting Best Practices

We encourage you to watch this 2 minute Linked-In Learning Video with best practices for hybrid meetings.