GSI Zoom Information

How to Request an GSI Hosted Zoom Meeting

We’ve tried to make it as easy as possible for meetings to get started! If your meeting is interested in hosting your virtual meeting via GSI’s Zoom account, please complete the following steps:

  1. Pick a person to act as Primary Contact for your meeting. 
    The Primary Contact will be your point of contact for all Zoom key communications from GSI, and any key information will be sent to this individual for your meeting. 
  2. Decide how your meeting will share the host key amongst hosting members. 
  3. Have the Primary Contact email GSI at zoom@seattleoa.org and include the following:
    1. Email Subject: Zoom Registration
    2. Meeting Day, Meeting Times, and Meeting Location (when off Zoom)
    3. Verification that the person and the e-mail address being used will be designated as the Primary Contact for your meeting.
    4. Your group’s plan for sharing your host key. Please note: we only require that you have a plan, we do not dictate what the plan should be.

Once the e-mail is received, the webmaster will register the Primary Contact for future mailings related to Zoom and send the Primary Contact the host key to use for your meetings.  Instructions for claiming your meeting’s Host Key are in the next section.

How to Use the Host Key

To claim the host key for a meeting, you need a registered Zoom account (with an email and password). This account can be either free or paid. See these directions on signing up for a free Zoom account. 

  1. Login to zoom with your email and password. ( You must be logged into a registered zoom account. You can use a free account.)
  2. Go to SeattleOA.org and click on the Meetings tab.
  3. Click the Zoom link for your meeting, and allow Zoom to open the link.
  4. Join the  meeting.
  5. Follow these instructions on how to claim the host using your host key. 
  6. Ending Meeting – At the end of your meeting, it is imperative to click the red “End” button, and then select “End Meeting For All.” If you fail to do this, subsequent meetings using the GSI Zoom account won’t be able to start.

Best Practices for Zoom Hosting

  • The “Host” can transfer the duty of “Host” to another meeting attendee.
  • The person you transfer “Host” to must have a registered Zoom account.
  • See information on host controls for Zoom.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Can we use waiting rooms?
    • No. We have a few GSI Zoom accounts that own the recurring meetings. Each account has a host key, that each meeting can use to assume the host duties during their meeting. If we enabled waiting rooms, the GSI zoom account would need to start each meeting.
  • Will my personal information be shared if I host a meeting?
    • No. When you use the host key to assume the host duties of the meeting, you will get “(host)” added to your name in the participant list. If you click the Green Shield “Meeting Information” in the upper left of the Zoom meeting, the Host is listed as the GSI Webmaster, as it owns the meeting. Your hosting is temporary for that meeting only.