This tip is courtesy of the entire Oakley Union Elementary School District Board which was forced to resign this month after members trashed parents during a virtual meeting the board didn't realize was being broadcast to the public--and recorded by someone who was watching.
Think about this ***every time*** you participate in a Zoom meeting or any other virtual session, open or closed.
When board members met recently to discuss whether students would be returning to the classroom, parents could join by clicking a link on the school board's website. Before the official meeting began, board members started discussing things they wouldn't want broadcast to the world.
Board member Kim Beede defended herself against a parent who criticized her on social media for going to a party during the pandemic. "B----, if you're going to call me out, I'm going to f--- you up," Beede threatened.
Board President Lisa Brizendine chimed in to commiserate with others about the growing criticism they've faced over closed schools and said parents "want to pick on us because they want their babysitters back."
Another board member said the clientele of his brother's delivery service for medical marijuana "were parents with their kids in school," appearing to suggest that parents wanted their kids out of the house so they could get high. The meeting abruptly cut off when they realized they had an audience.
But not before someone recorded the conversation and posted it to YouTube. It went viral and received the worst kind of bad publicity: worldwide condemnation.
Today's lesson: Software programs and apps make it super-easy for anyone to record virtual meetings and publish them. When in doubt, the mic is ALWAYS on. And assume someone is recording it.
Your friend,
Joan