WebEx: Event Hosting

30 Minutes Before Event

  1. The host starts the event and sets up the event
    1. Go to Event > Options (menu)
      1. Communications: uncheck everything except video option (The video is for participants - does not allow or disallow attendee video)
      2. Content sharing: change nothing
      3. Import mode: change nothing
      4. Select OK
  1. The host starts the Practice Session
    1. Go to Event > Start Practice Session option
      1. In the title bar, you see (Practice Session) and the color of the bar will change
      2. The attendees that join early will see you are in a practice session
      3. Panelists automatically join the practice session
      4. You turned off chat and Q/A earlier because those items are not "practice" but your audio and video at this time are "private" in the practice space
    2. Check the audio and video for each person
    3. Pass the "ball" to the presenter: right click on their name and Change Role To > Presenter and they will get the "Webex ball" assigned to them.
      1. Only the person with the "ball" can present. All panelists can speak but are not able to share content.
      2. Check that the presenter is able to share and understand how their power point works on their system
    4. Review any last minute details
      1. Confirm who will "launch" the event when the time comes. Often there is an awkward pause on "are we ready or not" at go time
      2. Inform those present to not pay attention to the Chat or Q&A feed; the other panelists or moderators should do that
      3. Decide when to turn Q&A on (e.g., at the second to the last side of the presentation?)
    5. Plan to wrap up practice no later than 15 minutes before the event start
    6. When you end the practice session, any presenter sharing etc. will stop

15 Minutes Before Event

  1. The larger the event, the earlier attendees seem to connect. You will see this in the attendee panel.
  2. Get the attention of all attendees. Make sure they are aware that you are leaving the practice session and you are "going live" with the event.
  3. Inform participants that they will be going live and they should mute their audio and turn off their cameras until the beginning of the actual event time
  4. Go to Event > End Practice Session to go live
    1. The practice session ends and all participants are connected to the live event
    2. The presenter may now reshare their screen with the "welcome to the event" slide
    3. Remind participants to mute audio and turn off video
  5. Pass the "ball" to the presenter: right click on their name and Change Role To > Presenter and they will get the "Webex ball" assigned to them
    1. Only the person with the "ball" can present. 
    2. All panelists can speak but are not able to share content
    3. The presenter should share their screen with the "welcome to the event" slide showing
  6. If you want to enable any options prior to the meeting start, go to Event > Options and turn those on now

10 Minutes Before Event

  1. If applicable, test live captioning
    1. Go to the live captioning website and connect to chat there
    2. Verify the captioner is ready
    3. Unmute your microphone and say, "This is a test of the live captioning service."
    4. Verify the captioner heard you and you see those words on the screen

5 Minutes Before Event

  1. Unmute your microphone and make this announcement: "Thank you for joining us. We will be starting the event in about 5 minutes."
  2. If applicable, start recording
    1. Go to Event > Start Recording (menu)
    2. A confirmation pop up appears at the bottom of the screen and also in the top right of the menu bar
    3. All participants see the recording icon, as well

1 Minute Before Event

  1. Unmute your microphone and make this announcement: "Thank you for joining us. We will be starting the event in just 1 minute."
  2. Go to Event > Options and turn back on the desired options
    1. Chat can be a good thing and a bad thing - you decide
    2. Q&A is often left off until the end of the presentation otherwise you weed through questions answered during the presentation
    3. Raise hand: you may wish to leave this until the Q&A is turned on as well
    4. Turn on the remainder of the options. They are options that enhance the attendee experience.
    5. Select OK

At Time of Event

  1. All panelists should turn on video
  2. The person that you arranged to begin should start the event
  3. Monitor the chat for "technical issues"
  4. Verify the presentation is showing properly
  5. Depending on how you want to operate, panelists may turn on and off video as they mute and unmute

During Event

  1. Enable Q&A and Raise Hand at the proper time in Event > Options menu. Select OK.
    1. The Q&A panel appears to attendees and participants
    2. Attendees submit questions
    3. Attendees see when questions are marked "Answered verbally" or when someone types a response
  2. The view attendees panel shows any hands being raised in the order they were raised
    1. Make an announcement, "If you are on the phone, press star 3 to raise your hand and make sure that your phone is not muted."
    2. When addressing raised hands, unmute their microphone in the attendee panel.
    3. While doing that, say something like "I see John Smith has their hand raised. John, I have unmuted your microphone. Go ahead."
    4. While they are speaking, select their hand in the attendee panel to lower it.

At End of Event

  1. As the event is wrapping up, and if desired, save the chat and the Q&A
    1. Go to File > Save As (menu)
    2. Choose option to save
    3. Save to local file
    4. Repeat if needed
  2. Allow the leader to end the event and everyone can start to disconnect
  3. Stop the recording by going to Event > Stop Recording and confirm
  4. At the appropriate time (and you have everything you want saved) go to File > End Event and confirm
  5. The event recording link will be mailed to you about 24 hours after the event is done