These days, It’s pretty tough on ship model clubs, not being able to gather together to swap model making stories. But, like other groups across the country, the South Bay Model Shipwrights recently tested out meeting using video conferencing. Zoom has practically become a household word now, though there are other systems available.
This past Thursday, the group had its first test meeting, which I was involved in. It was the first time I had seen some of my ship modeling friends in months, so it was a nice virtual gathering. Being a test meeting, it was just a subset of the whole club, but it wasn’t really all that much smaller than many of the physical meetings.
There were a few glitches to iron out, but overall it was a success. The main issue may be in the use of the free Zoom meeting accounts, which allow only 40 minute meetings. There are ways around this, which require members to log out and then back in, but this being the group’s first meeting, Zoom automatically extends it as a courtesy.
Next week, the group is going to attempt a meeting of the full members, at least those that have computers with video conferencing capabilities anyway. The hope is to meet regularly, maybe even every two weeks, as these meetings provide the only means for some of us to maintain some kind of normal-ish social contact. We’ll see how that works out.
Other Zoom Meetings
I’m personally considering setting up a Zoom paid subscription, as it will allow me to host meetings without such time limits. I’m hoping to get the Hyde Street Pier Model Shipwrights together with a Zoom meeting, as this small group has all but disappeared. Other clubs have been holding similar meetings these days, including the Chicago club and the SMA in Fullerton.
Today, I missed out on a Zoom class by Douglas Brooks on half hull modeling. I think it was the first he’d done by Zoom. I’m interested to hear from him as to how it went.
Zoom and Wasen Modeling
I’ve personally been attending a Zoom meeting of a wasen (Japanese traditional boat) study group that meets every other week, and I have to say that of all the terrible things we have to deal with because of the Covid-19 crisis, by forcing groups into virtual meetings, it’s given me an opportunity to meet with folks and to participate in a way that I wouldn’t otherwise have been able. Hopefully, once things get better, some amount of these video meetings will continue to take place.
And while it’s not a ship model group, this group, called Wasen Kenkyu Kai, has finally given me an audience that is specifically interesting in the things I’ve been modeling so much lately. Sadly, my Japanese language skills are very poor, so it can be a frustrating experience. Time to really work on my conversational Japanese!
Regarding Zoom and my work on traditional Japanese boats, given the scattered interest in the subject, I’m starting to think I need to host a Zoom meeting of people who are interested enough in the subject to join a virtual meeting. I’m sure it would be a very small meeting, but it might at least prove interesting. Ω
Ship Modeler 
Reblogged this on Hyde Street Pier Model Shipwrights and commented:
In this blog post by Clare Hess, he mentions using Zoom meetings. As for Hyde Street Pier Model Shipwrights, we held our first test of the technology just this week. And, while there’s a learning curve presenting a hurdle to access for many individuals, it’s a relatively small one. Our own gathering earlier in the week involved five members, and went well enought that we’re planning on starting up our meetings again shortly, via Zoom.