trouble apllying spotlight to user´s at meeting

[Hideki2025]

I am the organizer of an event where children and teenagers receive awards for their achievements in artistic and calligraphy work within Japanese language schools.

This event is currently held in a hybrid format, that is, there is an in-person awards ceremony that takes place on a specific date, while those who cannot attend in person are invited to participate virtually on the day of the event.

The problem lies in the virtual format, because the idea is for them to interact in some way, so at the awards ceremony those who came virtually appear when we call their names. Of course, here part of the organization moves to use the spotlight to move the camera to the winners and make them appear. In practice, for operational reasons, many of the winners are children, and they enter via cell phone, which makes it impossible in many cases to get their attention due to any logistical setback, because the chat tab disappears on the cell phone, and sometimes the parents responsible are not paying due attention. We tried to organize through breakout rooms, which became a palliative solution, because we solved it by putting a kind of filter where we organized the winners by name and verified their identity (with the occasional child who couldn't use Zoom and we couldn't call them at the awards ceremony, unfortunately), but the experience is not satisfactory. The fluidity is still better in person, and the virtual one still suffers, either due to the timing or the still low engagement, which I think is unfair considering the existing potential, but maybe it's because we're having difficulty combining the in-person + virtual operation. I would like a suggestion on how we could improve, perhaps by using some onboard Zoom tool?

[storyhub]

One simple possibility is to use the "ask to start video" function in the participant list. This will create a popup in the middle of the screen asking the participant to say OK. If all participants start with their video off they can still watch the live performance. When it is their turn to be seen then the host requests the "ask to start video" for that participant. When they click OK only their video is added. A request to unmute could also be made or the system can be configured so the host can unmute the participant remotely which then makes a notification and makes an audible alert. Prior notification of what the host will due permits the parents and the child to be ready for the notification(s). When that child is done the host can stop their video and mute their audio. If host tools is configured to not allow the participants to start video or unmute then they can only do so when the host makes the request which prevents participants from unmuting or starting video on their own.

If this works please click accept as a solution.