Meeting up for half an hour takes weeks of planning for my group of old school friends.

But wouldn't it take a bunch of planning for everyone to "arrive" at a particular persons video?

Finding half an hour isn't the problem, it's the two hours of travelling it takes me to get to one of theirs (and another two to get back) or what they do with their dogs, or what they do with their newborn. It requires lining up an entire day or weekend we're all free, rather than just a half hour.