Zoom Open Group

General
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Zoom Open Group

We’ve been doing this for more than a year now.

Our group hopes to provide an opportunity for members of the onlinecommunity.stroke.org.uk to meet occasionally face to face through a Zoom call.

There are no requirements,

apart from membership of the online community.
Bring a cuppa and some biscuits to dunk. Meetings are informal.
You are welcome to chat or simply to just sit and observe.
A session lasts around 40 minutes.
Sometimes we have a second 40 minute session.

You are invited to join this Group to gain access to our Zoom Meetings and receive the messages.
(see Groups at the top of the http://onlinecommunity.stroke.org.uk for more details)

The rules of the My Stroke Guide Forum apply in this Group during its sessions.
We want our members to feel comfortable and safe.

As ever, any input, comments, suggestions are very welcome

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Something about this new Group.

this was written a year ago, things are still very much the same.

I am Bobbi a member of this Forum and a stroke survivor.

Before I had this stroke our family had an occasional online meeting using Zoom, usually during a holiday period. I ran a quiz for family members. All of that fell away. Strangely it disappeared as Covid appeared. So I have not been involved in anything like it for a few years.

Since my stroke, I have found reading and writing on this Forum to be useful and stimulating. I have learned that I’m not the only stroke survivor in the world. The problems I have encountered are not mine alone.

In addition, the folk who contribute on this forum are kind, listen and often have something useful to say. Hearing what others have to say has helped me to cope with what is, in truth, a traumatic experience. Contact in this way has helped me see where I am in the world and even shown me what choices I can make. Plus it is nice to feel there is someone out there who listens and understands.

It has occurred to me that a Zoom meeting, once in a while could provide this sort of interaction, face to face, as well. At least it could give an opportunity for contact with someone in the same sort of predicament as oneself. I don’t know how it would work out in reality, but maybe it is worth a try?

I will set up Zoom meetings every once in a while, if there is some interest. Maybe I am offering to take on more than I can manage. I am not a professional, I have no backing and I would be providing this service free, in my own time and by a free Zoom call. Nevertheless I am tempted to try this out. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as they say.

Does the idea of taking part in something like this interest you? Have you any thoughts on the matter? Will you apply to join such a meeting?

I will watch and wait. Any feedback on this thread will help me take a direction. I am optimistic, but there are no guarantees.

Take care and . . .

keep on keepin’ on
:smiley:

in addition:

Because this is an open space, for your safety, comfort and security, only registered members of the Forum can join the Group.
(you can join My Stroke Guide at https://mystrokeguide.com/)

We will try to make sure everyone who joins gets a chance to take part.

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I like this idea. as it brings people together.
I believe the Different Strokes people do something similar and set up a date / time to meet every so often.

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@Crazicatapila
thanks for that pointer. I went and had a look at their set up on the web. I am running ZOG (Zoom Open Group) on a free version of Zoom, which is limited on what it can offer. The Different Strokes thing is funded by charity and their Zoom offering is far more sophisticated than mine.
I think it is still worth a try though and we will see where it takes us.

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Good idea let us all know when it’s up and running with kind regards des

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@Des_murphy @Crazicatapila

I’ve added you both to the group members list.
Hope you can give it a try. Pass the message along.
We should be getting some sessions going very soon.

Open to all Forum Members.
Group members get notification of any Zoom meet ups.

To join, find Groups and then Zoom Open Group, then simply click the join button.

We look forward to meeting you. :+1:

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Hi Bobbi

have just got home after an afternoon out with the husband

Logged on to the Zoom but you must have finished
I can help run the odd Zoom if you want

I use both Zoom and TEAMS in my work
Fiona

aka Crazicatapila

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@Crazicatapila

That sounds very interesting. I think we could work something out.

Sorry to have missed you. Things are chaotic, only just starting up.

I’m putting up another session for 7.00pm this evening.
You should have a notification.
You are very welcome to join that, though I understand if it isn’t convenient.

I am just firing off random meetings to get some interest. Things should settle down to a routine eventually.

Meetings have been very small, I’ve only had one or two takers so far. It is nigh impossible to get a time that suits everyone.

Thanks for showing interest, Fiona,

Keep on keepin’ on

:+1:

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I think part of the issue will be finding times that suit members of this forum and it may be that there will be people who prefer daytime and others who prefer early evening. But to offer every now and then odd slots will be good

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I’m thinking in terms of three separate areas, with possibly different groups of members.
Day time, evening and weekend. I’ll keep hitting those and see what results come up. Eventually I will slow down and hopefully find groups of regulars who will get a meeting maybe weekly or fortnightly.
Too many meetings will just produce bored visitors. I think there is a fine line to be discovered concerning frequency.

That is for the future. For now stimulating some interest is where it is at.

I look forward to meeting up. :smiley:

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Hi @Bobbi could you add me please? :pray:

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@DDMH
You are on the member list and should be getting notification of meetings.
(there is a session shortly at 7:00PM you are welcome to join it.)

:+1:

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If you join the group you will get notification of meetings. You are welcome to join any or all as you wish. There are no requirements, we just hope you have a good experience.

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Could you add me? I haven’t been in touch with other stroke groups but have been on the forum. Would be nice to see a few of you sometime. Local stroke group is a weekday that I can’t get to as I work full time now.

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You are added Phil.
Welcome to the group. :smile:
If you go to ‘Groups’ you will see the meetings that are set up at the moment.

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Zoom Open Group Meeting Nov 1st

At that last Zoom session we experienced a remarkable, never to be forgotten, virtual event.

Anne managed to create a truly unique impression, on the screen in front of us.

She materialised as a very lifelike Halloween vampire and we were for a moment terrorized as she hung, laughing, upside down before us.

As is always the case with these otherworldly phenomena, though the camera was running during the event, no actual footage remains of what we actually saw.

I’m sure this alone is an indication of spooky goings on and if you ask the others there at the time I know they will confirm my story.

To investigate further we immediately followed with a complete second session, but everything appeared normal. Of course we now know what ‘normal’ really means.

:scream_cat:
:ghost:

Take care and keep the garlic handy.

:smiley:

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If you feel inclined to join this group it couldn’t be easier.
:+1:
Find the Groups button then look for Zoom Open Group and press Join.
No complicated procedure, pressing the Join button instantly makes you a member of the group.
You will then receive details of upcoming sessions.
You can chose to join any meeting, no formalities, we are glad to welcome you.

This is a new group, just finding its feet. Please forgive us when scheduling gets a bit random.

Whatever else, we want you to have a good experience in our meetings. They are informal. You are invited to take part and meet other MyStrokeGuide Forum members.

Looking forward to seeing you.

:smiley:

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HI @Bobbi

Is the zoom group still going please?

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@KGB

Hi, the simple answer is yes.

I can organise a meeting at a time and day to suit you.

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I’ll leave Bobby to give you details of his wonderful ZOG and I’ll also point out this link to a cafe that will be this Thursday afternoon .

There are changes to the arrangements (the young persons is no more, the carers is paused and more)
this Thursday pm will happen and I’ll update that post at some time .

@Bobbi would you like to have a conversation about combining our efforts/coordinating? Possibly even merging or something.

I think things with you and I both running cafes works absolutely perfectly I’ve enjoyed in attending yours, you’re always welcome at mine but I think the ‘yours’ and ‘mine’ rather than ‘ours’ is worth at least conversation. Maybe it’s worth also joining the stroke group network that the stroke association runs - personally I think would be a tour d’force

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