[Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] Special Meeting Computer and Technology Group

[Robert Primak]

 Ken -- 
Keep us up to date on the Town's Technology Committee and other plans which affect hybrid meetings Town-wide. That's important info and offers us important opportunities to get the equipment and expertise we will need, at little or no cost to our own members. And in exchange, we as tech-savvy group members can offer our help and knowledge to complement the Town's efforts not just for the CC, but Town-wide. Sounds like a win-win strategy.
But as always, too many engineers may result in an overly-complex solution. Sometimes the best solutions are simpler and less costly to implement. 
That's where those of us who like me are common end-users (what Woody Leonard affectionately calls "dummies") come into play. We get to "road test" the ideas as the experts roll them out. And to beta-test before official rollout. It's called Quality Control, and the Town will need some of that as we all move forward. 
I've been on some "road tests" of Jitsi Meet, and open-source alternative to Zoom. It has been a rocky road at times, especially since this happens under Linux, but it has been rewarding. And reassuring, knowing we won't be spied on as Zoom allegedly may be doing. (The same way Google allegedly spies on Chrome and Amazon allegedly spies on Ring and Echo -- Alexa -- products.) 
Again let me point out that with Windows 11, Microsoft Teams (limited consumer edition) is becoming an integral part of the Windows platform. (Teams essentially will be replacing and augmenting Skype, which Microsoft has fully "Embraced, Extended, and Extinguished".)
-- Bob Primak  
    On Tuesday, July 6, 2021, 08:08:54 PM EDT, Ken Pogran <pogran at alum.mit.edu> wrote:  
 
  My understanding is that the Town is looking into technology solutions to support hybrid (in-room + remote) public meetings.  The expectation is that, long term, there will be legislation amending the Public Meeting Law to permanently provide for in-person, hybrid, and fully remote public meetings.   Folks got a taste over the past year, and they're now demanding it.

The idea is to implement a solution that supports an in-person meeting in a conference room, provides good "coverage" of that meeting to remote attendees, and allows remote attendees to participate in the same level as though they were present in the room.  Several technology solutions are being investigated; multiple products that have come out to do this sort of thing. (Whether these technology solutions are compatible with the Zoom platform, or would be dependent on some other remote meting platform, is a good question)

I don't see why the principal meeting rooms at the Community Center wouldn't be (or, at least, shouldn't be) included in an eventual Town "buy" of such technology.

Ken Pogran
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