There are ‘turns’ followed by ‘chat rooms’. Mairi curates the programme plus sings and plays a song or two. Chat rooms are a Zoom feature and offer a chance to share some news and have a wee chat, as is the way with a ceilidh.

Mairi facilitates the breakout room forms and suggests topics before each one. You then take turns to talk about something familiar to you. In alphabetical order, participants talk on a topic for 2 minutes and then the next person shares and we go round. Topics include: tell us about a hobby you’re into at the moment; take an object and talk about it; what’s keeping you afloat etc.

Despite some folk being initially terrified, they now admit to enjoying this bit of the ceilidh. Mairi’s dad even says he likes it more than the music, which is quite annoying actually…

Online is not easy on the attention. It’s hard not to get wired into the screen and end up feeling overwhelm and headachy. We can experiment with this for ourselves.

We aim to be as transparent as possible and become friends with technology and each other. The technical host of the night is Zooby. Zooby’s voice is sublime and absolutely nothing can go wrong with him at the helm. He’ll put us in breakout rooms and calm our nerves if frayed.

Don’t feel you need to stay for the whole event – drop in and out when you need. Lie down, hide your image, be seen… as you need.

How to get a good sound from your Zoom meeting.

Waving hands is Zoom speak for clapping. It’s a bit weird not to get some audio response so we do unmute after the turns… but maybe we’ll evolve into wavy clappers.

In energy and time: invite a pal or offer a turn.

Money donation: strangely this is almost always just enough to cover Zooby and Mairi’s administrative time.  Suggested donation: £5-£20. Big thank you to all our donors. 

You can make your donation at www.paypal.me/mairicampbell. Or email Mairi for direct banking details.