MANY OF YOU WILL NOT HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO VISIT THE MANY IMPORTANT HISTORICAL SITES OF THE FELLOWSHIP OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS.

I PLAN TO SHARE WITH YOU PHOTOS I HAVE TAKEN OF THEM AS WELL AS PHOTOS I HAVE TAKEN OF SPECIAL MEETING LOCATIONS THAT I HAVE VISITED.





Thursday 2 April 2020

APR 2, 20 .. ZOOM.US AND MY SECOND EVER ON-LINE MEETING

This post is about my second online meeting using zoom.us. 

It follows my two previous posts, Parts 1 and 2, dated MAR 28, 20 in which I discuss my first ever on-line meeting. Just in case you did not see the two above posts, below are links to them.

http://aaphotoshere.blogspot.com/2020/03/mar-28-20-part-1-of-2-zoomcom-and-my.html

http://aaphotoshere.blogspot.com/2020/03/mar-28-20-part-2-of-2-zoomcom-and-my.html

In Part 2 above I wrote that "My Jury is out as to my feelings was it good / enjoyable or not?"

It is a lengthy post that goes into some detail about my (was it good / enjoyable or not) feelings.

Now I am fresh from my second on-line meeting and here are tonight's feelings.

First I went back to zoom.us and opened up a new (my second) zoom.us account using a different name. My initial zoom.us account uses my Mongolian name and connected Mongolian e-mail address. I did this for total anonymity being new to the zoom.us system.

For anyone new to zoom.us, be sure to closely read the next three paragraphs about work e-mail addresses and full last names.

Then last week, as I participated in my first ever on-line meeting, I noticed that many of the members were using both their first and full last names. When you initially open up / establish a zoom.us account you are asked for a work e-mail address and a full name. Being retired thirty years I have no work e-mail address. If I had to have used a work e-mail address I would NOT have opened up a zoom.us account (as in no way would I ever use a work e-mail address).  


So having successfully jumped (the work e-mail address) hurdle I set out to open a second zoom.us account with my English language name using only the first letter of my surname.

Bingo. I was able to do that. First name and first letter of my surname. I was very pleased with this feat.

However, when I signed into the meeting, zoom.us used my e-mail address instead of my name. More on this later.**

SECOND ON-LINE MEETING FEELINGS

Right-off-the-bat I felt much more comfortable with the on-line meeting format and feeling. When they asked "Will someone read the traditions?" I jumped in and read them. The instant I share in a meeting (I often volunteer to read How It Works or the Traditions) I feel a part of the meeting and this applied to tonight's on-line meeting.

It was a one hour meeting to the minute. I liked this. Not everyone shared. I liked this. I felt a lot less odd / stressed just looking at my lap top screen from 12-inches or so away than I did last week. I did a lot of site exploring (full screen/gallery screen/etc) tonight.

Then the volume of the speaker's voice stopped and the speaker became frozen on the screen. There I sat. I telephoned my main meeting contact and he assured me that the meeting was most certainly still underway. So I then knew the problem was at my end and not at the transmission end.

It took me about ten or so minutes (this is where it sure helps to have some computer experience with frozen screens etc) to get back to the meeting but arrive back I did.

**When I came back on-line, my first name and first initial of my last name (not my e-mail address) were shown. This was much to my great satisfaction because on-line I don't want my e-mail address shown for anonymity reasons not to mention spam!

Bottom Line: 

An on-line meeting will never ever be even remotely the same as a live-in-person meeting.

Since I was vastly more comfortable with this my second on-line meeting, I have reason to believe that this will continue to be the case.

My wife shut her eyes and she greatly enjoyed the meeting.

On-line meetings are available 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week. This may be my next on-line zoom.us meeting adventure.

Smiling all the while.








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