Veteran GM new to Roll20 with a question about finding a group for his game...

So I've been running games for about 30 years now, but I'm brand new to VTT's. Thing is, I'm a person who learns by doing more than anything else. I can pick up some stuff from books, videos, tutorials, etc, but ultimately I need to DO to learn in a way where I develop a robust skill from that knowledge. I find myself at an impasse because I don't want to run a game, not knowing how to use roll20 to properly do so, wasting my players time as I fumble to figure out how to do what are likely relatively simple things, but I feel like the best way for me to learn it is to actually do it. I have started playing in a group as well, and I'm learning things about roll20 through that avenue, but I feel like I'm not learning anything that has to do with the GM side of things. Is it unheard of for GM's who are newer to roll20 to build groups and seek at least a couple players that have some experience at running a game in roll20 as a means of helping them learn the ropes? I don't know what the etiquette is regarding this sort of thing, I'm just eager to get to a level of comfort and proficiency with roll20 that would facilitate me running a game, as that's my true passion, even though I definitely love playing too. Thoughts? Suggestions?  HALP! lol (Also, I apologize if this post would be better put elsewhere, I looked around and thought this was the best fit for it)

i can help you set up your table and such if you want.

Thanks for the kind offer! I guess a good starting point in my learning process would be to learn some key terms, so when you say 'set up your table', what is, and is not, meant by that? What would that entail? 

I sent you a PM.

As someone who is a ludite, I really do not worry much about the techy side of roll20, I let the players worry about that. To me it is all about time, the more time you spend on the tech side of things the less time you have to really run a great game. I do have an opening in my Curse of Strahd campaign today, so if you can play today at 12 noon CST, I'll invite and teach you the bare minimum about roll20.

@Scott Thanks for the offer, unfortunately its not really possible for me to play during the day on weekdays, or I would probably take you up on that kind offer.  So some players might not even care that I haven't pulled out all the stops on the technical side of accomplishing things in roll20? In your experience how often do you encounter a player that seems disappointed that more roll20 bells and whistles aren't being used? 

When I bring players into the game, I tell them know up front that there will be no bells or whistles, it distracts from the DM narrative and eats up precious time. My goal as DM is to keep the players focused on the game not on music, not on limited special effects and so on. Of course you will have the grand experience of dealing with unreliable players, kooks and much more lol. It is the internet after all. Basically, do not get frustrated with both the techy side of things and nutty players, it usually takes a few sessions to get a good group together.

lol yeah as far as nutty people goes, that much I'm WELL experienced at dealing with, although you're right to point out that this is the internet and so even that aspect I'm already very familiar with will be on an entire order of magnitude higher than in person. lol

Hey, if you're looking for players to run a test game to figure and try some things out, I'd be willing join (depending on the time and date, of course). About what you and scott discussed.. as a player for me it's not important that the DM knows all the tricks and options. In fact the DMs of both long-term campaigns I am participating in don't really use much. One of them is mostly just us talking and then using roll20 to display a map and use the character sheets (mostly for rolling dice). That being said it's obviously pretty cool if you can do some neat things as they can help the game to become a bit more immersive (like background music and maybe even some sound effects) or help with story telling and surprises (like fog of war and/or parts of the map being obscured and revealed bit by bit). It might also make your life (and that of the players) easier, though I don't really have any examples for that since I'm not very experienced myself.. but I know they exist. :P So yeah, it's a cool bonus if the DM knows about the different features here, but it's definitely not a necessity. Sure, there are some basic things like changing maps, allowing a player to use his/her own token, make names and health visible to others etc., but they are pretty easy to learn.

@Avalus  Ok cool, thanks for setting my mind at ease.