• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

Michelle's blog

Food allergy and food intolerance, freefrom foods, electrosensitivity, this and that...

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • FreeFrom Food Awards
  • Foods Matter
  • Walks & Gardens
  • Salon Music
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • FreeFrom Food Awards
  • Foods Matter
  • Walks & Gardens
  • Salon Music

Zoominar

04/06/2020 //  by Michelle Berridale Johnson//  Leave a Comment

This morning we held our first Zoominar. It was very much an experiment with nine invited participants who spent just over an hour discussing how to maximise your FreeFrom Food Awards win and (very much the point of the exercise) whether Zoominars were a good thing.

So what it a Zoominar?

A gathering 10 to 15 people on Zoom. First of all listening to one or two speakers – this morning it was Cressida and I on maximising your win. Then going, in groups of five, into Zoom ‘break out rooms’. Here the group should meet and get to know each other, discuss what the speaker had said and generate at least one question. We had allocated 8 minutes for each break out session but we all agreed that you needed much longer – probably 15 minutes to do or say anything useful.

After the first break out, you have a Q&A session – quite easy to run thanks to Zoom’s ‘raise your hand’ facility – and then repeat the process.

After a final Q&A/discussion, participants can leave or, if they wish to continue talking to any other participant, we keep the meeting open and put them into private rooms by themselves where they can chat.

So how did it go and what did we learn?

Well, first lesson. To Zoom flatteringly, you really need to get your lighting and your camera placement right!!

I need to shut my shutters or the light from my huge windows makes me look like a ghost; Karen from Glitterbug Bakery needs to be careful not to lose her chin. (This was the only frame in which it appeared!) Only Cem from Dolfin UK got both of those right – alhtough what is that lurking on the top of that cupboard?….. In the group above, Mel from Twelve Below Tonics above had a pretty cool back ground, but Cressida definitely had light issues. However, the one who had really got it hacked was Nigel from Freefrom Italy whose desert island palm tree really did wave its fronds!!

But whatever we looked like – what did we learn and did it work as a format?

Maximising your win

Well, I am not sure how much our participants learnt but we had a lot of useful discussion around the winning logo and what a brilliant sales tool it is, no matter whether it is gold, silver, bronze or shortlisted. (Never underestimate the power of being shortlisted. Think Oscars, think Grammies, think Booker – what actor, musician or writer would not kill to get nominated – or even long listed for the Booker!)

We noted how important it was that the logo was recognised by freefrom consumers – and how recognition was growing with the ever greater participation of the supermarkets in the awards – and their use of their winning logos on their products. (Our bronze logo is appearing on TV right now on a Lidl ad for their vegan burger!)

We also discussed getting it right on Social media (definitely a subject for a dedicated Zoominar), using your local press, giving your staff ownership of your win (every time they tell one of their friends that is one more person who knows about your product) and leveraging your win to create sales contacts and sales.

Are Zoominars a good thing?

We asked everyone whether, if they could go back to attending a ‘live’ seminar (which presumably at some point we will be able to do) would they prefer to do that or, would they rather Zoom it? Of our nine participants, six were definite Zoom converts; two were on the fence; one would definitely prefer a live meeting.

Why?

  • Convenience – don’t have to leave your desk
  • Time saving
  • Cost saving (obviously we would charge less for attending a Zoom meeting than a live one – and you don’t have the cost of getting there)
  • Saving the world – less travel
  • Meeting and chatting via a screen can be less intimidating than meeting in person and it enables a more easy going workshop atmosphere
  • The Zoom break out room facility allows one to have private meetings – as one would at a ‘live’ meeting
  • People who would never realistically get to a live meeting can attend. Such as Mary and Peter from Liberate Crumpets in Australia below – seen with Yonas from Lovegrass Ethiopia – but Yonas does live in London!

So are we planning to do more Zoominars?

We sure are…. Just watch this space.

Or, even better, if you have any suggestions as to what topics we might cover or how we could make them even more useful, email either Cressida or me.

If you wish to know who all our were participants, here they are:

  • Cem from Dolfin UK
  • Karen from Glitterbug Bakery
  • Mary and Peter from Liberate Crumpets
  • Mat from Planet Kuku
  • Mel from Twelve Below Tonics
  • Mordechai from Nutural World
  • Nicki from Synergis Marketing
  • Nigel from Freefrom Italy
  • Yonas from Lovegrass Ethiopia

Category: Blogging/social media, Dairy-free, Food, FreeFrom Awards, FreeFrom Food, Gluten-freeTag: #Zoominars, DolfinUK, FreeFrom Food Awards, FreeFrom Italy, Glitterbug Bakery, Liberate Crumpets, Lovegrass Ehtiopia, Nutural World, Planet Kuku, Synergis Marketing, Twelve Below Tonics

Previous Post: « ‘Zoominars’
Next Post: Simply Italian, Simply Gluten Free – a treat for coeliacs »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Colliding with a new reality – the hazards of low vision
  • Call for adult allergy sufferers
  • The vegan/allergy labelling issue
  • A gluten free Christmas just could be delicious – not a penance!
  • A food fad won’t kill you – an allergy will

Search this blog

ARCHIVES

Blogroll

  • Allergy Insight
  • Better brains, naturally
  • For Ever FreeFrom
  • Free From (gluten)
  • Freefrom Food Awards
  • Gluten-free Mrs D
  • Natural Health Worldwide
  • Pure Health Clinic
  • Skins Matter
  • The Helminthic Therapy Wiki
  • Truly Gluten Free
  • What Allergy?

TOPICS

A food fad won’t kill you – an allergy will

There has been a predictable outcry in the allergy world this week’s in response to Rachel Johnson’s piece in Thursday’s Evening Standard on ‘dietary requirements’ and food fads. Being charitable, I am assuming that she has never suffered from or lived with someone with a food allergy. However, I do have some sympathy with her …

Bioplastics – a solution or part of the problem?

Everyday Plastic is a social enterprise group using accessible learning and publicity campaigns to reduce the amount of plastics used daily in our society. It was founded by its current director Daniel Webb who, having moved to Margate in Kent in 2016, was horrified to discover that there were no plastic recycling options on offer.  …

FreeFrom Christmas Awards – the Winners

Since they were launched two years ago the FreeFrom Christmas Awards have been a great success. And how lucky are ‘freefrom-ers’ these days!  From Advent calendars to gifts, party food to Christmas dinner, there is no longer any need for them to miss out. Indeed, the whole family can happily eat freefrom and never know …

Do not extradite Julian Assange to the US

Julian Assange is being sought by the current US administration for publishing US government documents which exposed war crimes and human rights abuses. The politically motivated charges represent an unprecedented attack on press freedom and the public’s right to know – seeking to criminalise basic journalistic activity. Assange is facing a 175-year sentence for publishing …

What to believe – applying critical thought

For the average citizen evaluating the claims made for cure all – or even improve all – health products and procedures has always been difficult. Not only is it an area in which we have minimal expertise but most of us have a vested interest in finding a miracle intervention that will solve our health …

Could wireless monitoring devices be killing racehorses?

Regular readers may remember that back in August last year I alerted you to a posting on Arthur Firstenberg’s Cellphone Task Force site about phone masts and bird flu. Could there be a connection between the fact that the two wildlife sites in Holland and Northern France which had suffered catastrophic bird flu deaths were …

Site Footer

Copyright © 2025 · Michelle's Blog · Michelle Berridale Johnson · Site design by DigitalJen·