Tag Archives: Zoom

P & Z Chair: Here’s Why We Zoom

Posted on July 17, 2023 | 12 comments

An “06880” reader wondered why — now that the pandemic has eased — the Planning & Zoning Commission still conducts Zoom meetings.

I asked P&Z chair Danielle Dobin to respond. She says: 

The P&Z Commission votes every few months to determine whether we will continue with virtual (Zoom) meetings, or return to in-person meetings at Town Hall.

Here’s my take on why a majority of commissioners have opted to continue meeting via Zoom:

1. Electronic meetings are simply superior with regard to P&Z review (and the Zoning Board of Appeals too), which requires applicants and staff to discuss and review in great detail specific site plans, construction drawings and landscape plans.

Via zoom, we (the Commission and the public) are all on the same page, looking at the same plans and seeing the same drawings via screen share as a project’s specifications are reviewed in detail.

Members of the public examine plans, before a meeting. 

In contrast, at Town Hall commissioners would peer across the room at poster boards (often not a complete set of plans) set up on an easel facing our table near the podium (making these images impossible for members of the public to see), or referencing printed-out, thick packets of which the public did not have physical copies.

Members of the public watching via TV from home could barely make out materials as they faced away from the camera, so they could listen along but could not follow.

Former Planning & Zoning commissioners Chip Stephens and Cathy Walsh, at a Town Hall meeting several years ago.

Details of final plans are often tweaked right before meetings, so applicants would also distribute new packets at the hearing to commissioners, and this new information wouldn’t necessarily be posted to the town website.

Consequently, members of the public would have no opportunity to review or see changes in the plans themselves. In my opinion, there simply wasn’t the same level of collaborative review of plans by the public and the commission when the P&Z met at Town Hall.

2. Zoom meetings have exponentially expanded public participation and engagement. Prior to the pandemic, we generally had 2-3 senior citizens attend regular P&Z public hearings.

Now, people of all ages and walks of life regularly join the Commission: moms with young children at home, people traveling for work, people commuting, etc. It’s been a wonderful change!

It’s impossible to predict when an item will be called and when the public will be asked for input. While many people can’t make the trip to Town Hall in the evening, or if they do, won’t wait around for 1 to 2 to 3+ hours to testify in person in the auditorium, they are able to Zoom in with their screens on or off, and jump in with a comment when their item is called.

Zoom meetings allow members of the public to be home to have dinner, tuck their kids in, help with homework, stay late at work, travel for work etc., and to also testify.

Zoom meeting.

3. P&Z meetings often last past 11 p.m. Zooming in from home makes a huge difference for the staff (who face a long commute home from Westport) and for the commissioners, all of whom work and are up early to commute, drive kids to school or travel for work. This also means we can participate in meetings while traveling for work, or even from the office.

4. An unexpected benefit of Zoom is that commissioners can look directly at each other’s faces and at those testifying. and vice versa.

At Town Hall, commissioners sit side by side. We have to crane our necks to see or make eye contact with each other and with anyone testifying. Those testifying look at us from an angle. If we arrange a table to look at each other in the auditorium, then some of our backs would be turned to the in-person audience and there would be no way for applicants to present plans so that we could see them along with the audience.

If we move the podium to the center gap in seats so folks will be looking @ the commission, the faces of those testifying will not be visible to the TV audience or on the recording. On Zoom, we all (public, commission and applicants) sit around the same virtual table looking at each other…for better or worse!

5. Lastly, when meetings were in person it was tough to stay after 11 p.m., as staff and the janitors would have to all stay with us.

On Zoom this isn’t an issue — the janitor doesn’t have to stay till midnight for us to continue meeting.

Danielle Dobin

For members of the public who have waited to testify or present their application through 4 hours of previous testimony, it is a boon to still be able to speak post-11 p.m.

Unless we’re falling asleep, we no longer follow the policy of only opening an application before 10 p.m. unless an applicant or the public asks us to postpone.

I hope your readers will join us via Zoom on Monday for our next public hearing. As is often the case, we have some interesting applications scheduled for that night.

(The next Planning & Zoning Commission meeting is tonight. Click here for the Zoom link.)

(Have a question about Westport? “06880” is happy to try to get an answer. Have a few bucks to support us? Please click here. Thank you!)

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Posted in Local politics, technology

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SMORES: Staples Students Help Seniors Tackle Technology

Posted on June 25, 2021 | 3 comments

The reopening of the Senior Center on July 1 is good news for hundreds of Westporters. For over 15 months they have missed the classes, lectures and social events that were so meaningful and fun.

It’s good news too for all those seniors who need help learning a new electronic device, figuring out how to Zoom, or otherwise coping with the digital world.

Before the pandemic, they got help in person from teenagers. A dozen Staples High School students were part of SMORES (Social Media Outreach Educators), a group started by Jake Motyl.

SMORES members and their “students,” at the Senior Center before the pandemic.

The coronavirus forced them all online. It was not easy teaching someone unfamiliar with a tablet or phone how to use it remotely, but both the teens and their “students” persevered.

Earlier this month, Jake graduated from Staples. This fall, he heads to the University of Southern California.

But SMORES is stronger than ever. The new leader is his sister, rising junior Caroline Motyl.

She’s been Jake’s vice president since freshman year. She shares his enthusiasm for helping older Westporters. In fact, it’s one of her passions.

Caroline Motyl

“I’m pretty active in social justice — racism, sexism, environmentalism,” she says. “But people don’t usually talk about ageism. A lot of people look down on older people. They think they’re not in touch.”

Caroline admits that she’s sometimes guilty herself. “When my mom can’t post on Instagram, I’m like, ‘Come on!’ She says, ‘I didn’t grow up with this. You did.’ I’m trying really hard to prevent myself and others from being like that.”

Through SMORES, Caroline has learned to look at perspectives different from her own. “It’s so easy for me to use a cellphone. My generation does it so fast. We do everything fast. But that’s not the case for older generations. They do things more slowly.”

The importance of “non-digital natives” navigating the complex universe of devices, social media, printers and routers was driven home last Thanksgiving. Caroline helped a woman set up her iPad, so she could Zoom with family members.

“That’s such an important holiday. It meant so much to her to be together, even just on Zoom,” Caroline says.

She looks forward to helping, live, again. “I thought online school was hard. But trying to help someone use a phone while actually n the phone was one of the hardest things I’ve done. I couldn’t point to something, or touch the screen. But it’s so important for them to feel connected. Somehow we did it.”

In 8th grade science class, Caroline had to write detailed instructions on how she made a Lego structure. This year, she hopes to use that concept to create step-by-step instructions for some of the most frequently asked questions.

“So many other countries treat older people with the utmost respect,” Caroline notes. “Our country does not treat them as we should.”

She and her fellow SMORES members are trying to change that. One cellphone, tablet and laptop at a time.

(For more information or help, text Caroline at 203-644-7749, or call the Senior Center: 203-341-5099.)

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Posted in Education, Staples HS, technology, Teenagers

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Unsung Hero #145

Posted on May 13, 2020 | 6 comments

Alert — and grateful — “06880” reader Bob Weingarten writes:

Although the entire staff at the Senior Center should be recognized for their support during the pandemic, I would like to recognize one individual who has assisted many of us seniors on how to participate in the new online Senior Center programs. While doing that, he has also called seniors just to chat and ask about our health.

When COVID-19 struck, the Senior Center made over 30 programs available online. They range from yoga, tai chi, qigong and exercise classes to French language, current events, religion class and studio art.

To take an online class a participant needs a computer, email address and internet access. But having those resources means nothing, unless you know how to use them.

Jason Wilson, in a Zoom meeting.

Jason joined the Center full time last July, as assistant program manager. He has made it his mission to help seniors — and instructors — learn new technology skills.

When I had a problem accessing Zoom for one of my wife’s classes, Jason helped. He remained online to make sure no one else had any problems.

We should all be thankful to the entire staff at the Senior Center, including director Susan Pfister  and program manager Holly Betts. The doors may be closed, by Jason is helpful — and the staff provides phone coverage Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

(To nominate an Unsung Hero, email dwoog@optonline.net)

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Posted in Organizations, technology, Unsung Heroes

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David Pogue Zooms In On Westport

Posted on March 30, 2020 | 8 comments

David Pogue does it all.

Our Westport neighbor is an Emmy- and Webby-winning tech writer (Yahoo, New York Times, Scientific American) and TV correspondent (“CBS Sunday Morning,” PBS “Nova Science Now”).

Those are big companies. David is the first to admit that, as creative and inspired as is, he’s got tons of production firepower behind him.

Until this month, that is. COVID-19 has made mincemeat of modern media. Rachel Maddow talk to US senators via Skype. Anderson Cooper broadcasts from home.

As for David — well, let him tell his tale.

Yesterday, “CBS Sunday Morning” aired my cover story: How to work and live at home without losing your mind.

Here’s the problem: CBS News is locked down. Nobody can get into New York City headquarters. No camera crews are available, and no travel is permitted for making stories.

So I proposed something radical: I’d write, shoot, perform and edit this entire piece at home in Westport.

David Pogue at work in Westport, long before the coronavirus.

Dan asked if I’d reveal a bit more about how the whole thing came together, for “06880.” Happy to comply!

First of all, it’s incredibly easy these days to shoot and record video that’s good enough for TV. All you need is a cheap flat-panel LED light, a digital camera, and a wireless mike.

A big chunk of my story was an introduction to Zoom, the video-chatting program that’s become a hero of the coronavirus crisis. It’s free and easy to use; the video’s very stable; it can accommodate up to 100 people on screen at once —and you can record the video meeting with a single click.

To demonstrate the possibilities, my producer arranged a historic first: All of “CBS Sunday Morning’s” correspondents on the screen simultaneously in a Zoom video. Even Jane Pauley, our host!

There’s David: top row, 2nd from left.

It was supposed to be a 5-minute deal. But it was so much fun, the call went on for over an hour. Even though we’re on the show week after week, most of us rarely meet in person.

(I’ll spare you the story of how the resulting huge video file somehow got corrupted and wasn’t openable … and how, panicking, I hunted down a Zoom PR person at midnight, who wrangled a company engineer into rescuing the file just in time for the broadcast.)

In my script I cited a new rule for the videochat era: Informal is the new normal. You’ll see kids, pets and untidy backgrounds in your video calls — and that’s all allowed now.

Imagine my delight and amusement then, when I interviewed neuropsychologist Sanam Hazeez — and in the middle, her twin 5-year-old boys burst into her office, crying. One had driven a truck over the other’s foot. (To be clear, it was a toy truck.) It was completely unplanned — but could not have made my point any better.

Well, except when Wilbur the Wonder Cat started pacing back and forth in front of my laptop camera during the interview.

Sheltering in place doesn’t mean you’re not allowed out of the house. My 3 kids are all home, of course. I corralled one of them into taking a walk with me beside the Bedford Middle School field, and another to pilot a Mavic Mini drone to film the scene. It came out great!

As it turns out, it’s even safe to meet friends face to face, as long as you maintain a decent distance. In hopes of finding examples to film, I posted a note on NextDoor.com. It’s kind of like a Facebook for neighborhoods, like Eastern Westport or whatever. (If you haven’t joined, you should. It’s free.)

Usually, NextDoor is full of lost-dog notices and “Can you recommend a plumber?” posts. But during the crisis it offers great social-distancing ideas, invitations to virtual gatherings, even a Help Map where you can see who needs errands or groceries, and you can volunteer.

My query led me first to a group of young women, all sent home from college, who gather in the parking lot of Weston Middle School, where they had been together years ago. They park their cars in a circle, sit on their trunks, 15 feet apart, and just hang out. It’s glorious. I filmed it from overhead, with my drone.

I also heard from Westport Library fundraiser Barbara Durham, who lives in an apartment building in Bridgeport. She told me that some evenings she gathers with her neighbors across the elevator lobby, each pulling a chair into her apartment doorway, for “Cocktails in the Foyer.” I drove over to film one of these wonderful social-distance parties.

I love how the story came out. I’m grateful to everyone who helped, who allowed me to film them, and who believed in the idea. (That includes my bosses at “CBS Sunday Morning,” who took a leap of faith in trusting me to deliver a story they wouldn’t see until it was finished.)

Once we’re allowed to be close to each other again, I’ll thank you all in person —with a tender, heartfelt elbow bump.

But enough about David’s back story. Click below for his piece — and Westport and Weston’s contribution to surviving in our new work-at-home world.

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Posted in Media, People, technology

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