Getting Started with Online Conferencing and Seminar Tools July Ask questions! Otherwise we re speaking to a black hole!

Transcription

1 Getting Started with Online Conferencing and Seminar Tools July 2012 Logistics Ask questions! Otherwise we re speaking to a black hole! Use the Raise Hand button Enter questions into the Chat with Presenter box Make the slideshow or demo bigger Getting Started with Online Conferencing July

2 Logistics I ll doing some wholesale muting and unmuting, but you can do it yourself as well. *7 to Un-mute *6 to Mute Logistics After the session, I ll send out: The slides (in fact, I send them already!) A link to the recording Any links we ve discussed 2

3 Wait for the Recording Lady Getting Started with Online Conferencing and Seminar Tools July

4 What We ll Cover What is an Online Conference? Components and Features A Selection of Vendors Tips for a Successful Online Conference Introductions Laura Quinn Executive Director, Idealware Me! What do you hope to get from this session? 4

5 What is an Online Conference? They Can Have Four Components Shared Online Visuals Audio Conferencing Interactivity Archiving 5

6 How Might They Be Useful? Team meetings One-on-one training Seminars Demos of websites or applications Online multisession conferences Group collaboration A Quick Tour of ReadyTalk 6

7 Components and Features Shared Visuals Desktop sharing Slide or document sharing Video 7

8 Software Requirements What operating systems and browser can participants use? Almost all support IE Most support Firefox Check about Mac Safari A number don t support Macs, or especially Linux Often facilitator requirements are more limiting Audio Conferencing There s three different ways of managing audio, which might be integrated or not. YOUR phone line THEIR phone line Voice Over IP ReadyTalk Be careful - pricing often doesn t include audio. 8

9 Chat Ubiquitous Useful and familiar Not all are comfortable with typing Takes practice to read while speaking Elluminate Some advanced tools also offer break out chat rooms, or tools to facilitate chat Q&A Understanding Participant Status ReadyTalk Adobe Connect Allows your participants some basic communication with you or even an informal straw poll 9

10 Polls Can be simple or complex You set them up in advance, and then activate them in a conference WebEx Can add in a another of level of interaction - especially useful for a large group Shared Control Allowing more than one person to control the shared visuals Adobe Connect Remote desktop control is also very useful for support or user testing 10

11 Recording Records the session but what part? for future viewing ReadyTalk ReadyTalk Adobe Connect What format is the recording in? What s Most Important For You? Which features and qualities are most important for your needs? 11

12 A Selection of Vendors More Powerful, Inexpensive, Unproven Yugma Desktop Sharing Toll or Toll-free phone line Video sharing VOIP integrated w/ Skype Recordings Cross platform Very limited free option; otherwise $100- $800+/yr Nice features, inexpensive, less proven. 12

13 Google+ Hangouts Video Sharing Desktop Sharing Recordings VOIP audio Cross platform/ browser, no installs for anyone Free beta accounts Useful features. Free. Not completely reliable. WebHuddle Slide Sharing Desktop Sharing Polls Recordings No integrated phone line Open Source Cross platform/ browser, no installs for anyone Free beta accounts Kinda geeky Useful features. Free. In beta for years. 13

14 DimDim Aquired by Salesforce Jan 2011, and not accepting new customers. Stay tuned! A Selection of Vendors More Established 14

15 GoToMeeting/ GoToWebinar Desktop Sharing VOIP or Integrated phone line (toll) Polls Recordings Somewhat complex to use PayPal integration Limited support for presenters on Macs $468/yr for up to15 particpants; $948/yr for up to 100 Solid but complex WebEx Desktop and slide sharing Video conferencing Integrated phone line or VOIP Recordings Polls (with pricier version) Strong cross-browser support $225/yr for one organizer and 8 participants; $600/yr for up to 25 participants and up. Plus audio. Polished and full of features; pricing is complex 15

16 ReadyTalk Desktop Sharing Slide Sharing Integrated phone line No VOIP Polls Recordings Strong cross-browser $45/year for up to 25 people, plus $0.06/person/ minute audio (through TechSoup) Otherwise, about $1000/yr + audio Reliable and nonprofit friendly Adobe Connect Desktop Sharing Video Emoticons Polls Integrated phone line Recordings Strong cross-browser Breakout rooms + Q&A support Free for up to 3. Comparable to WebEx, Readytalk for more people. Plus audio. Reliable and robust; a serious elearning platform 16

17 Elluminate (What was Wimba has merged with Elluminate) Desktop Sharing Slide Sharing Video Conferencing Integrated phone line Polls Recordings Breakout rooms Strong cross-browser Time consuming for participants to login About $600/yr for up to 50 people, plus audio Not as polished, but a serious elearning platform The Matrix Video Recordings VOIP Integrated Phone Polls Breakout Rooms Things change quickly; don t take this to the bank 17

18 Discussion: Which Looks Best For You? Which tools makes the most sense for your organization? Tips for Successful Online Seminars 18

19 Assume Many Have Never Done This Tell them how to participate Don t assume they re experts with their computer Expect technology issues Good Visuals are Critical Lots of text in bullet points is even more deadly online It s boring It makes you want to read them It makes people multi-task They stop paying attention It makes them wonder why it s not just a conference call Add something through your visuals Diagrams are terrific Photos, screenshots, demos Videos It s killing me not to have an image on this slide 19

20 Prepare for the Deafening Silence At least if crickets were chirping I d have confidence the phone line was still connected! The silence is surprisingly frightening and distracting. Interactivity is Hard Chat questions? Breakouts? Chat exercises? Audio discussion? Polls? Brainstorming? People aren t as likely to participate just to help you out 20

21 Set the Tone Early Participant energy level varies across webinars Expect Multi-Tasking Anyway Let s do some polls! How many of you checked your ? Stepped away to deal with something? Think through what that means for your conferences 21

22 Keep it Meaty and Fast Paced Questions? 22