Hybrid Meetings with Multiple Breakout Rooms

[Stan4]

Looking to set up a multi-layered hybrid meeting.  In room participants will be in a large room, with Zoom participants to have a plenary session.  This large group (both the in-person and Zoom participants) will break down to about 5 smaller breakout groups with the in-person participants still being in the same large room.   Each breakout group will have around 10 in-person participants.  The groups will be approximately 15 feet apart - possibly more.  After a period of time, the breakout groups will again join together (both in-person and Zoom) for a final plenary session.

While we are pretty clear on what we need to do with the plenary session, we would like some help on what we need to do for the breakout groups.  Each breakout group will have a device (laptop/Surface Pro) to engage the Zoom participants.  What do we need in order to set up the smaller group sessions, especially in order to avoid audio echo/feedback?

[Ray_Harwood]

If each 10-person group is in their own breakout room, you won't have feedback issues... but noise -- any noise, and especially speech -- is likely to cause some issues.  Making sure all of Zoom's noise suppression features are on will help... but might help too good - to the point where not everyone in the group can be heard by their respective device.  I'm thinking the device will be in the middle of the table with the 10 onsite participants spread around the table... definitely not ideal.  But if you're intent on doing it, ask people to sit all on one side of the table, and the device facing them... and don't point two devices toward each other, with the people from two groups sitting near each other.

Seems like small, inexpensive mics attached to each device might help - but I've never tried it.

Make sure all the devices are on mute before leaving the breakout rooms... or you'll surely have feedback as they all rejoin the main meeting!

[GregSteffen]

Hey Stan4!  How did it go? 

I'm planning to do a very similar thing this weekend.  Large-ish room with ~30 people in-room, as well as an additional ~30 online.  Part of the time will be focused on a single person talking to the entire group, and part will be informal smaller gatherings. 

I am THINKING about using several Facebook(Meta) Portal TV units combined with 32" TVs on rolling stands, positioned in the corners of the large room, with each TV setup as it's own breakout room.  I'm hoping that the ambient noise from the various breakout rooms don't cause too much trouble for each other.  I don't know how much control the FB Portal device gives me over noise suppression.  If it's a problem, I can also use laptops running the standard zoom app. 

Any advice you can give will be most welcome! 

Thanks!