If you lead Zoom meetings, DON’T MAKE THIS MISTAKE!

I hosted a creativity retreat—my Virtual Creative Sandbox Retreat—on Saturday, and when I set up the Zoom meeting, I checked the box to require registration. ​

All good so far. Requiring registration keeps Zoombombers out.​

Then, to be extra secure, under Registration Options, I set Approval to “Manually Approve.”

Still fine.​

The problem came when I included a link to the Zoom meeting in my final reminder email the day before the call.​

DANGER WILL ROBINSON!​

I thought I was making things more convenient for my participants.

The email had all sorts of last-minute information, and I figured, instead of making them hunt for the confirmation email from their Zoom registration, why not include the meeting link right there?

One-stop shopping, as it were, right?

WRONG!

Naturally, several of the participants clicked on the link in the email I’d sent… which took them NOT into the meeting, but to the registration page, and from there into an endless loop, asking them to register for the meeting again. ​

What a nightmare!​

Rather than ease their Saturday retreat experience, I inadvertently created a huge ball of stress — both for them, and for me.​

(This is what they mean when they say “The road to hell is paved with good intentions…” ?)​

I spent a good thirty minutes responding to a flurry of panicked texts and emails, and trying to figure out how to get everyone into the meeting!

Thankfully, the group was remarkably forgiving of my mess-up, and we all ended up having a wonderful time, albeit short about twenty minutes of the play I’d planned…​

I wanted to share with you my painful experience, so you won’t have to suffer the same stress in a Zoom meeting of your own.

The Solution:

If you have participants register in advance (always recommended), NEVER send them a link to the meeting separately! ​

(Tip: When people register in advance, Zoom creates a unique link for each participant, so when they enter the meeting, the name they typed into the registration form will show up in their Zoom window. Nifty!)​

ALWAYS refer your meeting participants to the confirmation email they receive from Zoom. You will appear as the sender, but it will actually come from no-reply@zoom.us​

It will have the subject line, “[Your Meeting Title] Confirmation”​

You’re welcome. ?​

Want More Fun & Useful Stuff for Zoom?

Come to my next LIVE Non-Boring Virtual Meetings workshop to learn interactive activities and essential facilitation tips you can use immediately at your next virtual meeting.

You get:

• Interactive, “hands-on” live workshop
• Recording of the workshop
• Links to supporting documents & resources
• Drop-in office hours to answer additional questions
• Free access to attend future dates of the same training
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Upcoming topics:

• Non-Boring Virtual Meetings 101 (the original—revised & updated!)
• Non-Boring Virtual Meetings 201 (more activities!)
• Non-Boring Virtual Conferences: Designing & Facilitating Large Events
• How to Use Breakout Rooms to Facilitate Intimacy & Connection
• Whiteboard & External Tools
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​Sign up on the waitlist to get notified of upcoming sessions.