Conducting a Virtual Annual Owner's Meeting as a Florida HOA or Condo with GetQuorum

by Mark DiPinto

Since the pandemic began roughly 12 months ago, GetQuorum has seen a surge in the interest for our Hosted Virtual Meeting solution amongst Property Managers and Board Members across Florida.

While the initial spike in interest was largely attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic and the corresponding need to adhere to restrictions on public gatherings, as of late, we have noticed that a majority of the interest for our Hosted Virtual Meeting solution has been fueled by the benefits that come as a result of conducting Annual Owner's Meeting virtually.

This comes as no surprise to the GetQuorum team. The improved efficiency, increased accessibility, and other benefits that come with conducting an Annual Owner's Meeting virtually make it a very attractive option for any Property Manager or Boards Members planning their next Annual Owner's Meeting.

The Use of Technology by Florida Property Managers and Boards

Leveraging technology to run more efficient, successful Annual Owner's Meetings is nothing new for Florida HOA's and Condos. Many Property Managers and Boards have used tools like our Electronic Voting or Voter Certificate and Consent services (you can learn more about those by clicking, here) to streamline paper-based, manual processes for years.

On the meeting side, conducting meetings through electronic means isn't a new or revolutionary concept either. In fact, many Condos are able to and have effectively conducted a virtual Owner's Meeting through a web-conferencing platform like Zoom, WebEx, or Microsoft Teams, all on their own. However, due to the differences in election procedures and the dynamic nature of their meetings, the same can not be said for most HOA's across Florida.

Conducting a Virtual Annual Owner's Meeting as a Florida HOA

While similar in many ways, HOA's, compared to most Condos, have notable differences in their election procedures that add a level of complexity to their Owner's Meetings. These differences, such as the need to take nominations from the floor, have candidate speeches and conduct live voting, make webinar software, alone, wholly insufficient for an HOA to conduct an Annual General Meeting. For HOA's that want to reap the benefits of conducting their Annual Owner's Meeting virtually, this is where an innovative solution like GetQuorum's Hosted Virtual Meeting solution comes into play.

At GetQuorum, our full-service, Hosted Virtual Meeting solution does more than handle the technical and moderation side of your Owner's Meetings. Our platform's ability to handle the voting procedures and dynamic nature of an HOA's Annual Owner Meeting is the true differentiator between our platform and a standard web-conferencing tool. To put this in perspective, let's take a look at the example below:

An HOA is conducting its Annual Owner's Meeting virtually through Zoom Meeting. They have 150 'attendees' in their Zoom meeting and now need to determine and account for the following:

  • How many attendees have submitted proxies prior to the meeting?
  • How do you weigh the ballots of those that have proxies on file for the live vote?
  • How do you account for a nominee from the floor if it occurs?

In this example, meeting facilitators need to manually find the answers to these important questions because virtual meeting software, on its own, is unable to answer them automatically. In addition, without the proper voting tools, meeting facilitators will also need to manually account for the variables that come as a result of the dynamic nature of their election procedures, a daunting task that is susceptible to errors.  

On the other hand, if the HOA decided to use GetQuorum's Hosted Virtual Meeting solution to facilitate their meeting, this is where our integration with Zoom and the capabilities of our voting platform comes into play. Through our API integration with Zoom, GetQuorum can instantly determine attendees' identities and indicate which have voted via proxy. On the voting side, the GetQuorum voting tool is able to modify the weight of live votes submitted by those with proxies on file ballots, and modify a ballot nearly instantaneously in the event of a candidate nomination from the floor. This ability to streamline and accommodate the dynamic nature of their meeting and election procedures makes the use of a Hosted Virtual Meeting solution, like the one offered by GetQuorum, essential for HOA’s looking to conduct a successful virtual Annual Owner's Meeting.

Ready to get started?

If you'd like to learn more about our Hosted Virtual Meeting solution or other services designed to help you run more effective and efficient Annual Owner's Meetings, click here.

If you'd like to use our Hosted Virtual Meeting solution for your upcoming Annual Owner's Meeting, get in touch with our team today.