Virtual events are a great way to stay in touch with community and learn a few things! I "attended" the Community Song Circle that was originally scheduled at the Grange but then moved online via Zoom. It was a blast! I believe Te Martin will be hosting them weekly on Sunday evenings, but I haven't seen details for that yet. I also see that Zuza will be hosting her Sunday Morning dance online as well. That should also be fun, though I'm not sure how partnering dancing will work out.
I want to encourage people to post locally organized virtual events to our calendar/events category. Since money works a bit differently for virtual events, with many just asking for a donation but open to all, our policy for charging for "commercial events" will also evolve.
Zoom calls, and other online video platforms, that do not require a payment but do ask for a donation, will be considered a non-commercial event and will not require a paid membership. I encourage everybody to donate generously to the leaders of these virtual events, as it is important source of their income. Similarly, while I offer to promote these events without requiring our small fee, I too ask you consider donating to me/WaccoBB for the service.
I can see truly non-commercial community virtual events happening as well. Perhaps somebody would like to host a community virtual movie party (either fiction or documentary) where people join a zoom call for a bit of a social checkin, then watch the movie (by the presenter sharing their screen?) and then reconvene to discuss. Or organize a call to discuss most anything, political, social, local, practical, whatever! The discussions could also continue on WaccoBB. Perhaps we'll have WaccoBB Virtual Community Picnic at some point, as well...
It's easy to get started with Zoom and you can even host meetings with a FREE account for up to 40 minutes! And there are many members of our community with paid plans that might be willing to host longer meetings.
So let's make best of this new reality!
Barry