Welcome to Hope Central
About Hope Central Meetings
Hope Central is a new Alcoholics Anonymous group which is committed to offering meetings simultaneously for both remote (via Zoom) and face-to-face meetings.
With the recent COVID-19 issues, we found ourselves in a situation where we needed more flexibility in our AA meetings than simply being remote via Zoom OR face-to-face indoors. We wanted to be flexible enough that everyone could attend meetings in as safe a manner as possible. We started out as Zoom only meetings. But as the pandemic spread began to lessen, we realized that we could do both face-to-face meetings and Zoom meetings AT THE SAME TIME!!
Zoom Meetings are at the very core of this group - they will NOT be going away, even as COVID-19 related restrictions are relaxed. We have many members from across the US and we have all benefitted greatly from their participation.
About our In-Person Meetings
Currently, we hold several meetings that are still predominantly "Zoom only" - but are beginning to also hold in-person meetings where we are all connected to Zoom - EVERYONE gets to participate!! So if you attend one of our face-to-face meetings, be prepared to use Zoom. If you're new to Zoom, don't worry - we'll be happy to assist you getting it setup and working properly.
What do you need for Zoom?
You can join a Zoom meeting with as little as a flip phone!! (And YES, they do still make those!!)
Most of us use either a smartphone (iPhone, Android) or a computer to attend meetings. Either of these options allows us to have video so that we can actually see each other.
Some Recommendations
After several months, we have a few recommendations to make the meetings flow smoothly and be enjoyable to everyone:
Stay muted unless you are speaking. Other attendees CAN hear all the noises around you, which makes it hard focus on the person currently sharing.
Use a headset or earbuds if you are physically with others on the same call. Using the speakerphone function will cause "echos" and/or "feedback" when others around you are sharing and can be quite disruptive during meetings.