Franklin Town Administrator Jamie Hellen kicked off the meeting with a discussion about how the town has transitioned from all-virtual to hybrid board and committee meetings that allow for a combination of virtual and in-person participation. Hellen showed how Franklin’s Town Council chambers have been set up to allow the council, staff, presenters and meeting participants to attend meetings in-person while the public joins remotely.

Hellen covered important aspects of the set up, such as room layout and the necessary technology, as well as the town’s partnership with its local access TV provider, Franklin TV. He also emphasized the importance of trial and error in order to develop a system that works best for the community.

Stow Town Administrator Denise Dembkoski discussed what hybrid meetings look like in her community, which has transitioned over the past few months to a hybrid meeting format that allows all select board members and town employees to attend board meetings in person, while giving the public the option to attend either virtually or in person.

Dembkoski discussed two different camera systems that Stow has used successfully for hybrid meetings, covering the pros and cons and relative costs of each. She also demonstrated some of the tools that are built into the Zoom platform that make hybrid meetings more accessible, including the use of closed captioning to provide a live transcript of meetings.

• The New Norm of Hybrid Meetings – Town of Stow presentation (2M PDF)
• Changing Dynamics in the Municipal Workplace: In-Person Board and Committee Meetings – Town of Franklin presentation (5M PDF)