Don't eat chicken wings on Zoom

We all spend a little too much time on Zoom these days, but it’s safe to say that the people who actually work at Zoom (they call themselves “Zoomies”) spend more time in Zoom rooms than the rest of us. And even with all the handy Zoom tips we’ve learned over the past two years, there’s more that we can learn from a Zoomie. Protocol spoke with employees across Zoom about how best to run hybrid events, Zoomie etiquette and whether it’s socially acceptable to eat on camera.

Let everyone participate. Zoom’s event specialists manager Sam Kokajko runs an entirely remote operation, organizing feeds and team members from all over the country. The event services team consults with customers on everything from small-business webinars to awards ceremonies like the Emmys.

• For all Zoom events, Kokajko is focused on ensuring everyone has equal opportunity to participate.
• “If someone has an ability in a session to get on a mic and say something in the room, then someone in a virtual audience should have the ability to ask that same question,” he said.
• Keeping the chat open for active audience engagement is crucial, he said. Zoom always displays a QR code for live audiences to scan and enter the chat, too.

Even Zoomies know you can have too much Zoom. The Zoom employees that Protocol spoke to said there weren’t too many rules for meetings, but they don’t like to waste time either.

• In order to make sure everyone is prepared, Zoomies must send written materials at least 24 hours before a scheduled meeting.
• The other rule: Don’t hold meetings on Wednesdays. Sharvari Nerurkar, head of Zoom chat product, told Protocol that she accidentally invited CEO Eric Yuan to a meeting on a Wednesday once. He declined (she won’t make that mistake again).
• Not all Zoom employees work full-time at home. Zoom’s HQ is in San Jose and the company also has offices in Denver, Sydney and Amsterdam where workers can meet in person.

Have your cake and eat it on Zoom, too. Nerurkar told Protocol that recently one of her team members was eating during a meeting and decided to use the Zoom panda avatar to hide their face. Avatars are one of the ways Zoom employees try to have some fun with the platform. In this case, the avatar was socially convenient as well — though Nerurkar doesn’t have a problem with people eating on camera.

• “When I used to go to the office, I would eat sandwiches in a meeting,” Nerurkar said. “I’m taking that forward. As long as you’re not eating chicken wings.”
• Nerurkar is all for flexibility when it comes to meeting etiquette. There’s no formal set of rules inside the company.
• Everyone is expected to act like adults, of course, but turning yourself into a fox with a hoodie is fair game.