Another Virtual Munch 2020/06/20
Welcome to Social Distancing World! With the COVID-19 pandemic, none of the restaurants in town (or possibly in the state) are open for dine-in customers, making in-person munches impossible — not that I’d want to have one. I obviously don’t want to catch the virus, but since it’s possible to have it and be contagious without knowing it, I also don’t want to unwittingly give it to someone else. Sooooo, since today’s the day when I usually host the southern Indiana AB/DL/etc. munch, I’m going to do it online.
I’m using Google Hangouts this time, because of two facts:
- Most people have a Google account, and if you don’t, getting one is free. Google Hangouts is also free. It does have a limit of 10 users at the same time, but frankly I think I’ll be lucky if I get anywhere near that. 🙂
- Other free solutions just aren’t right for this event. Zoom has free meetings with up to 100 users, but they’re limited to 40 minutes. Skype has multiple issues going back years. Houseparty has no time limit but a max of 8 users. Others exist, but I’m even less familiar with them.
So, Google Hangouts. I’m going to be having lunch and dressing up cute, and I’m hoping others will do something similar. Wear your diapers and baby clothes if you’ve got ’em. Plushies welcome! There’s actually a lot more we can do than in a restaurant. Just, you know, keep your appearance PG-13. To join in, send me your Google address, and I’ll invite you.
But how to send me your Google address? Well, use my email link on this page to send it to me in email. Go to Fetlife and send it to me in a private message there. Go to Twitter and send it to me in a DM there. Those are the three things I’ll be checking. Send it to me early, and I’ll send you an invite right at 2 pm. (EDIT: I found out I can share a hangout link, which I will do once the event starts. Before it starts, I won’t have a link.) (EDIT: The link for today’s is https://hangouts.google.com/call/RJMRbrvZYft0EVy7aIyoACEE)
Maybe later I’ll see if I can afford a paid Zoom account (my work uses Zoom, but as if I’m going to use my work Zoom account for an event like this).