The worst part of most Zoom meetings is the end. Not because it’s the moment when we have to lose human connection after being isolated for months during the COVID-19 pandemic. The end of a Zoom meeting is the worst because it’s so dang hard to quickly and gracefully end a call.
With a typical not-Zoom call on a smartphone, you bring the phone down from your ear and tap the end call button. That’s it.
On a Zoom meeting, you say your goodbye pleasantries, put your hand on your mouse, find your mouse on your screen, move it in the right direction toward the end call button, overshoot said button in your desperation to leave the meeting as soon as possible, and then finally click the button, all on video, where anyone who is still in the meeting can see the growing desperation in your eyes as you go through this process.
Brian Moore, a creative director at Anomaly, took it upon himself to make leaving Zoom meetings easier. He made a way to use a physical lamp cord that he can pull on to instantly leave the meeting. Just watch this thing of beauty:
And if this looked like something you want to have for yourself, I have good news for you: Moore shared all of the files you’ll need to make something like it on GitHub.
Now I’m imagining other ways I could quickly escape Zoom meetings. Perhaps smashing a Staples Easy Button? Throwing a giant switch like what you’d see in a campy horror movie? Or, like David Zhou, making a way to end calls after sighing loudly?
The possibilities seem endless here, and I hope more people create fun ways to quickly get out of their Zoom calls. Maybe they will be the 2021 trend that replaces having a creative Zoom background.