In 2021, Virginia Energy, the state’s Department of Energy, needed a solution to enable hybrid public meetings so board members and attendees could participate either in-person or remotely.
They had built-in AV systems in their conference rooms, and considered passing around separate USB camera and microphone devices, but neither option met all of their needs for an easy-to-use solution that would support engagement and participation from remote attendees.
"We’d previously used video conferencing technology in our conference rooms that didn’t offer the dynamic face-to-face experience of the Meeting Owl," explains Carrie Hearne, Virginia Energy’s Associate Director of Energy Equity Programs.
"Our built-in AV system had a camera at the front of the room, so you could see the entire table, but not everyone’s faces, and it didn’t have as many features as the Meeting Owl. It’s also great not to have to manage multiple pieces of technology for our meetings."
After testing out a Meeting Owl, Virginia Energy purchased two of their own through a state contract with DALY Computers, one of Owl Labs’ reseller partners. Now, Virginia Energy’s Meeting Owls are available to check out through their internal calendar system to use for hybrid public meetings.
The team appreciates the Meeting Owl’s ease of setup and use when they move their Owls around to different locations, as well as the variety of different features.
"We love that the Meeting Owl auto-focuses on the speaker and shows a 360° view of everyone else so it’s easy for participants to tell exactly who’s speaking in a large room," explains Jordan Burns, Virginia Energy’s Energy Policy Analyst. "It’s easy for new people to set up and start using, as it integrates seamlessly with Cisco Webex and Google Meet, so we’re able to get people up-and-running with it quickly."
Virginia Energy has used Owl Connect technology to support meetings in larger spaces, such as at the public library, by pairing two Meeting Owls together.
"The Meeting Owls were great for picking up audio in a larger space, especially from softer speakers."
Looking ahead, Carrie and Jordan anticipate the continued need for hybrid meetings with the Meeting Owl, particularly for including guest speakers or attendees from other parts of Virginia.
"The Meeting Owl opens up our meetings for broader audiences to participate,” explains Carrie. “We want to hear from diverse communities across the state who couldn’t join meetings in person otherwise, and the Meeting Owl makes that possible."
The Meeting Owl helps organizations stay connected when team members can’t all be together in-person.