It's easy to hold meetings in Gather. Conversations can either happen in the moment or be scheduled ahead of time.
This guide will provide an overview of how meetings in Gather work and the various ways you can schedule them.
Overview
Meetings are held in Private Areas, like a conference room, table, or your desk.
You’ll know you’re in a Private Area because the rest of the office dims, highlighting only the tiles that make up the meeting room. You’ll also see the name of the area listed at the top of the Participants Panel.
Anyone inside the Private Area will connect audio and video, even if you’re across the room from each other. Anyone outside the Private Area will not connect, even if they’re standing right next to you.
To double check who you’re connected to in a meeting, you can look at the videos that show up in Map View or Meeting View, or look at the top of the Participants Panel.
Calendar Integrations
Scheduling a meeting in Gather is easiest if you’ve connected your Google Calendar or Outlook calendar and installed the corresponding extension. Then you can either schedule a meeting directly within Gather or from your calendar of choice.
- Follow this guide to connect Google Calendar and install the Gather Meetings Chrome Extension
- Follow this guide to connect Outlook Calendar and install the Gather Meetings Outlook Add-In
Meeting Locations
When you schedule a meeting in Gather, there are three locations you can choose from:
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Any available Private Area.
- At the time of the meeting, we'll automatically find an available Private Area with enough capacity for all meeting participants.
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Your desk.
- You must have a desk claimed in the space for this option to be available.
-
A specific location.
- You can choose any Private Area or Spawn Location in your office.
If you choose to schedule a meeting at a specific location, it does not actually reserve the location. Just like a real office, if a different meeting in the same spot runs long or someone gets to the room first, you may need to ask them to leave or find a different meeting spot.
How to Schedule a Meeting
From Gather (for Google and Outlook users)
- Click on the calendar icon at the bottom of the screen.
- Click on Schedule a meeting.
- Choose one of the three meeting location options:
- Click Create OR copy the location link.
- Clicking Create will take you to your Google or Outlook Calendar to finish scheduling the meeting.
From Google Chrome with the Gather Meetings Extension
Before proceeding, make sure to download the Chrome extension here.
- Go to your Google Calendar.
- Click Create and then Event.
- Select the meeting attendees, time, and other details.
- Click Make it a Gather meeting.
- This will open a side panel where you can choose the meeting location.
- Save the meeting to schedule it.
From Outlook with the Gather Meetings Add-In
Before proceeding, make sure to download the Outlook Add-In here.
- Go to your Outlook Calendar.
- Click New Event
- Select the meeting attendees, time, and other details.
- Click More Options and then Gather Meetings.
- This will open a side panel where you can choose the meeting location.
- Save the meeting to schedule it.
Locking Meeting Areas (Remote Office Spaces Only)
By default, anyone can walk in or out of a Private Area at any time. To prevent someone from accidentally stepping into your meeting, you can lock it.
This feature is only available for Private Areas in Remote Office Spaces. If you are in a Team Social or Conference Space, you will not be able to lock the area.
Additionally, you must be an Admin, Mapmaker, or Member in the space to lock Private Areas. Guests do not have permission to lock a meeting area.
There are two ways to lock a meeting:
- Open the Participants Panel and click the lock icon next to the room name.
- Click the lock icon at the top of the screen.
We are currently in the middle of updating the meeting experience on Gather. You may see one or both of these lock options.
When a meeting area is locked, anyone who tries to walk in will be blocked. The people inside the meeting can then either allow them in or deny entry.
Migrating recurring meetings
We can automatically audit your calendar for recurring meetings and add a Gather location to them, so you don’t have to track down each of these events on your own.
To migrate recurring meetings:
- Click on the Calendar icon at the bottom of the page.
- Click on the gear icon at the top for your Calendar Settings.
- Select Migrate to Gather.
- Choose the meetings you'd like to migrate over.
- Click Migrate Meetings.
Enabling a Private Area to be Booked for Meetings
If you want the ability to book a meeting in a specific part of your office, it needs to be a Private Area with a Name and Max Occupancy set. Keep reading or follow along with this video tutorial.
To create a new Private Area or adjust these properties, open the Mapmaker. Select Tile Effects in the top navigation. Then on the right side of the screen, click Private Area.
- If you're creating a new private area, place the Private Tiles onto your map.
- If you're editing an existing private area to make it bookable, search for the name.
Once the Private Area is selected, you can edit its properties to add a name and max occupancy.
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