Most online workshops will be delivered from the comfort of your home, as solid internet access and refuge from possible wind/rain are critical to ensuring good audio-visual quality. However, with proper equipment, we may be open to the possibility of you delivering some of your workshop "in the field", where you can more directly interact with plants, etc..

Are you planning on sharing video content (example: youtube video, pre-recorded video, etc.) during your live presentation? Sharing video consumes greater internet bandwidth. It's helpful for our staff to know in advance if you intend to do this, so we can be better prepared to troubleshoot (if necessary). Note: this question is not referring to the live video feed of yourself presenting; it's referring to pre-recorded video content.

Are you connecting to internet via Wi-fi? Or via a cable? If you have speed/stability issues with connecting to the internet, a wired connection is recommended.

We intend to use Zoom for our online workshops. How much experience do you have using Zoom?

For our 2020 online workshop, we did NOT record; however, many participants inquired about access to recordings. What is your preference regarding recording of your workshop?

The bare minimum requirements to conduct an online workshop include: 1) a laptop (or smart phone) that can capture your video; 2) reliable and sufficiently fast internet access; and 3) a reliably quiet location. Good quality audio is of paramount importance, even more so than smooth video. If you're planning on remaining stationary at your desk during the workshop, you can get by with using your equipment's built-in microphone. However, if you're planning to move around during the workshop, either indoors or outdoors, then using an external microphone (headset or lavalier) becomes very important.

We will turn off audio and visual capacities for participants during most workshops. Especially for large workshops, we found it works much better to have participants use the chat box or Q&A feature. If, for any reason, you prefer that participants have those capacities, we can turn them back on.

Our standard practice is for the moderator to be the bridge between you and the participants' questions / comments. At appropriate intervals during the workshop, the moderator will read the questions / comments out loud. This approach is done, in part, so that you can focus solely on your presentation, and not get distracted by trying to monitor various boxes. Does our standard approach work for you -- that is to say, moderating questions and comments during the workshop? Or would you prefer to hold comments / questions until the end of the workshop?

In our view, one the things that distinguishes a workshop from a webinar or lecture is the opportunity that participants have for direct engagement. We expect that all workshops will allocate time for Q & A. In addition, depending on your experience level with delivering online workshops, you may be familiar with some or all of the following tools for online direct engagement: polls, break-out rooms, or annotation tool. Depending on the topic, there's also the possibility of hands-on engagement via each participant acquiring supplies and completing a real-world activity during the workshop. Other ideas include: informal quizzes, show & tell, even games. What are your thoughts about online participant engagement strategies that you intend to use during your workshop? (Note: the longer the workshop, the more you're encouraged to think of creative ways to engage your online audience; however, it's also okay to just plan to stick with Q & A.)