In person vs virtual annual / budget meetings

We need to start planning our annual meeting & budget ratification meeting. We've done Zoom only for the last three years.

Wondering if there are trends among HOAs to start holding live meetings for annual meetings and budget ratification meetings?

I've received a lot of comments that homeowners don't know how to use Zoom for hearings, and prefer in person hearings. Zoom is simply enough that I have a hard time believing that and think it's more of an excuse. Still, it's what I'm being told.

Zoom is clearly easier for people with little kids at home so both adults can attend without lining up child care.

Our voting will be electronic, so we expect to attain quorum prior to the meeting. Last year we had 6 people at the bud rat meeting and about 10 at the annual meeting, out of 550 adults, so little interest in the meetings.

I think an assumption that the masses are comfortable with smart phones and computers is wrong. I base this on four months of IRS-sponsored, trained volunteer work helping people get their taxes filed this past tax season. I feel so bad for these folks who struggle to use the only phone that can really allow a person to function efficiently today: A smart phone. Computers? Forget it. A number of members of the U. S. Congress jumped all over the IRS a few months ago for this moronic, highly complicated (for a computer illiterate person) online ID system the IRS had contracted for ID theft situations. I understand the IRS got rid of the contract and system because of all the complaints members of Congress received.

Some people would be surprised at how much technological illiteracy there is. I know I was. Granted I hate the smart phone I have to use. I use only like 5% of its features. The thing exists mostly to facilitate advertising, no? Any new "technology" is designed to serve corporations and sell me other stuff I do not need, except to the extent I want to 'keep up with the Jones's' IMO.

On the other hand, I am in the camp who believes Covid precautions are still appropriate. I just do not want health care workers to suffer anymore than they have. I would rationalize the use of Zoom for HOA/COA meetings for another year at least on this basis alone.

You've noted how many adults in your assn., MichaelT, but how many units or homes?

Anyhoo, Hybrid meetings work well for us whether board or member meetings. But with electronic voting, I don't know why folks would want to attend in person. An exception are the candidate, right?

Are you the one whose assn. doesn't have a meeting room?

No clubhouse or meeting room located in our community.

274 homes.

Meeting attendance is poor, so it's really a formality that we have to follow per our CC&Rs than it is something that our homeowners actually care about.

For electronic voting, we created a election packet and mailed out to all homeowners. Homeowners had the option of voting on paper ballots mailed to them (returning them via e-mail as a scanned document, or mailing them in to the property manager), or they could vote electronically. To make it simple, we placed a QR code that can be scanned by a phone and takes them directly to the election website where they vote via phone.

For security, we required homeowners to provide 2 pieces of information to validate the ballot. One was their name, and the second was their 5 digit account number, which is known to them and the property manager only. Thus, we could reasonably infer that a homeowner at the home voted rather than a neighbor, friend, etc.

The electronic ballot was a Microsoft 365 Survey Form, which is part of my personal Office 365 subscription.

Last year's election included 2 candidates for 2 Board position, plus two advisory votes.

We offered a $100 gift card to one homeowner as a prize for voting, to encourage people to vote.

Last year, we had about 33% of homeowners vote prior to the meeting, well above our 25% quorum requirement. It was the first year that we met quorum prior to the meeting.

I think we accepted votes for 3 weeks prior to the meeting. We did not allow people to change their vote (no different than political elections). Since our meeting was Zoom, we had no way to cast a vote in person at the meeting, however, they could cast them using the electronic system up until the meeting time. None did.

The fact we only had 2 candidates and 2 positions really made things easier for us. If the election was a hotly contested election, we'd need to use a fancier system. The Office 365 system for us was free except for mailing costs which was nice.