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SAMCAR Members Indicate Preference for Meeting on Zoom in Survey
The SAMCAR Marketing Meetings Committee directed staff to conduct a survey in September 2023 to determine member attitudes about the format for weekly Marketing Meetings. Responses to this survey indicated a strong preference for continuing Tuesday morning meetings on Zoom. 131 SAMCAR members responded to the survey, which posed questions to determine attendance and priorities for weekly meetings as well as attitudes about the "Watch Party" concept tested in the summer of 2023. Based on a total membership of approximately 3,000 (the "population size"), survey results, as indicated by the "sample size" of 131 responses, may vary by a margin of error of approximately ±8%. Below is a detailed report of survey responses and conclusions made by the Committee and SAMCAR's Board of Directors for moving forward.
Meeting Attendance
Most survey respondents indicated that they currently attend the weekly meeting every week (43%) or sometimes (46%) with only 11% saying they never attend the current meetings. These results were supported by attendance counts at the Tuesday morning Zoom meeting, which moderators regularly report at 120 or greater attendees at each meeting.
Meeting Priorities
The most substantive question in the survey sought to understand member priorities for the weekly meeting. Respondents ranked a variety of considerations from "not important" (-1) to "very important" (+2). Responses were then coded with a numerical value to provide a weighted average score as the basis for a hierarchical ranking.
Responses indicated that the top priorities for a weekly marketing meeting are the speaker or presentation and the opportunity to make announcements, followed by the convenience of joining the meeting from any location and connecting with colleagues throughout San Mateo County in one meeting, both of which have been made possible by meeting on Zoom. Meeting face-to-face and breakfast ranked among the lowest priorities.
Watch Parties
In the summer of 2023, the Marketing Meetings committee encouraged a grassroots effort to augment the weekly Zoom meeting with in-person functions called "Watch Parties". The premise of these watch parties was to encourage members and brokerages to host their own in-person meeting and join the Zoom meeting as a group from that location. Survey respondents mostly indicated that they were not aware of watch parties (79%), did not attend one (89%), were not interested in attending one (69%) nor in hosting one (36% said "no", 49% said "I don't know").
Area Preferences
The questions about watch parties, however, also provided the opportunity to understand location preferences for meetings within the County. Overall, 30% of survey respondents indicated a preference for the Half Moon Bay area, followed by 25% with no specific location preference. Approximately 25% of respondents indicated a preference for the central area (San Mateo, Burlingame), 21% for south (Redwood City, San Carlos) and fewer than 10% each for north (Millbrae, San Bruno, South San Francisco) and Pacifica. Just 4% of respondents said they would be interested in some in-person meeting in all of the areas of the County.
An open responses section at the end of the survey, provided space for members to share any additional thoughts, concerns and priorities along with their responses. Open responses were coded by their primary topic, with 49% of these open responses indicating a preference for continuing the weekly meeting on Zoom, compared to 33% expressing some preference for meeting in-person (23% of which expressed broad preference for meeting in person, 10% of which expressed preference for an in-person meeting specifically in Half Moon Bay).
Some of these responses also demonstrated a misunderstanding of the reasons for continuing the meetings on Zoom, sharing anecdotes about decline in Covid transmission or employers forcing a return to in-person work as arguments for potentially discontinuing the Zoom meeting.
Why Zoom?
For background, the SAMCAR Marketing Meeting transitioned to Zoom in the summer of 2020 in response to Covid-related restrictions on in-person gatherings. Prior to 2020, five local area meetings were held each Tuesday at several different locations. However, even as Covid restrictions have since lifted and in-person gatherings and events have resumed, the convenience and reach of Zoom meetings has proven to be a highly effective method for connecting more SAMCAR members from throughout the County. Prior to 2020, average attendance at local meetings was a fraction of the current attendance on Zoom. Moreover, the single meeting—initiated in October 2022—provides the opportunity for all members to convene each week, regardless of their location within the County. Additionally, Zoom provides the opportunity for a wider range of guest speakers to join the meeting for topical presentations, as well as the broad reach for Realtors (both members and out-of-area agents) to share listings and specific buyer needs.
Conclusions
Moving forward, the SAMCAR Marketing Meetings Committee made the decision to maintain the weekly Tuesday morning Zoom meeting based on the overwhelming support to do so by these survey responses. The meeting will continue to be a weekly, all-hands Zoom meeting, welcoming all SAMCAR members from throughout the County to attend. With an informal start time of 8:15 AM for coffee and conversation, the official meeting will begin promptly at 8:30 AM, provide time for important Association updates and guest presenters, sharing listings and then ending at or around 9:30 AM to allow members to go on tour or gather in-person as desired.
SAMCAR's Board of Directors expressed agreement with the Marketing Meetings Committee's conclusions, sharing a priority for unity and unification of SAMCAR members. The coalescing of five local meetings into a single Zoom meeting over the past several years is part of an ongoing effort to unify real estate professionals in San Mateo County, which began in 1995 with the merger of four local boards to form the 15th largest Association of REALTORS® in California and among the top 100 nationwide, followed by a 2018 Bylaws revision in which members voted to eliminate area distinctions on the Board of Directors.
In numerous conversations about the future of this weekly meeting, members have shared the resounding perspective that "we are all coast Realtors" and "we are all peninsula Realtors", emphasizing how real estate professionals in San Mateo County routinely work throughout the region. The results from this survey along with the priority for unification overall, supports the decision by the Marketing Meetings Committee and assent of the Board of Directors to continue the official weekly SAMCAR meeting on Zoom as the most effective way to connect all members with a single weekly meeting.
The Committee and Board of Directors encourage members to meet and connect in-person whenever and however they wish. SAMCAR provides the opportunity to do so with frequent in-person events throughout the year, at locations around San Mateo County. And members have always been welcome and encouraged to engage with one another whenever permissible, from informal coffee and happy hours to attending Association-sponsored activities. With regard to the Tuesday morning meeting, the official SAMCAR-sponsored meeting will continue to be conducted on Zoom and welcome all members to attend.
Update: October 29, 2024
Hybrid Meeting Trial Reaffirms Zoom as Preferred Meeting Format
At their July 2024 meeting, the SAMCAR Board of Directors directed the Marketing Meetings Committee to conduct weekly hybrid meetings on Tuesday mornings for a trial period in an effort to satisfy the apparent member interest in a Tuesday morning in-person meeting, while maintaining the highly successful Zoom meeting.
The Marketing Meetings Committee conducted a nine-week trial (Sep. 3 – Oct. 29), with an in-person meeting at the SAMCAR office during the Zoom meeting.
Over this trial period, attendance at the in-person meeting remained low—less than seven percent of the average weekly Zoom attendance during the same time period (see chart).
In addition to low attendance, in-person attendees had reduced access to the suite of multimedia tools that enable enhanced engagement in a Zoom meeting, including an individual tile and name display, chat features and reactions, and personalized screen size and display.
Based on these factors, the Board of Directors instructed the committee to end the trial period effective in November 2024, reaffirming Zoom as the most effective format for conducting the weekly Tuesday morning meeting.
SAMCAR conducts numerous in-person functions throughout the year, many with no ticket cost. The Marketing Meetings Committee will continue to explore opportunities to satisfy member interest in meeting in-person; however, future in-person programs will not take place simultaneously with the Zoom meeting.
