Things I wish I had known at the time I began my editing business, #1: Zoom.

The awful truth is that before late 2018, I had never even heard of the videoconferencing platform known as Zoom. There are other such platforms that exist, such as GoToMeeting and MS Teams, but Zoom was the first one of which I had ever heard.

It was actually quite embarrassing how I first became aware of Zoom.

I had just started my editing business—put in the paperwork with the state, launched a website with the help of a friend—and I needed to network with other editors. I had just joined the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) and decided to look at their directory to contact other editors in the state where I live. One editor’s profile looked particularly interesting, and a look at her website told me she really knew what she was doing when it came to editing. I made up my mind that I really wanted to talk to her.

This editor was extremely organized, and in order to speak with her, I was going to have to sign up on her website and get on her schedule. Okay. There was only one problem: She made all her calls via Zoom.

“Zoom?!” I thought. “What the heck is Zoom? Isn’t it a PBS children’s show from the 1970s that I used to watch when I was five years old?” What made matters worse was that Zoom required the use of a webcam and microphone. The old desktop computer I was using at the time had neither. I ended up being able to contact the editor, but I did so over the phone, which was rather embarrassing. I feared that I looked like a backward person who didn’t know the latest technology.

Fast forward seven and a half years: Today I use Zoom on a regular basis to meet with one of my regular clients, and another friend recently showed me how to initiate and host meetings myself. I have gotten pretty good with Zoom. Six years ago, I bought a laptop that had a webcam and microphone (as all of them do now), and I am still using it for Zoom.

Now, if only videoconferencing didn’t remind me so much of the telephone conversations on The Jetsons…