Week 4 - more tools :)

Our online session this week was a mixed bag - both in terms of technical issues and new stuff. We had ten in the meeting room, but one had outbound sound problems and another participant had webcam issues, but fortunately, everyone could hear, and communicate, so it still worked for the session. The topics were del.icio.us and RSS feeds and readers, and then we all watched a YouTube video on making a podcast. Actually quite a lot for one session - plus working out what works in the presentation.

Megameeting works well in the meeting room and it was good to all go and watch the same video, and then come back to discuss it. But when the presenter was working through various websites, there was a delay which slowed down the presentation, and it may be better for the future to make a Powerpoint presentation of the various screenshots. Again, it was an entertaining session, and really great to not have to drive on a cold night, and being home with a coffee, and yet also in a training session with others was a real bonus! (Mary)

Week 4 - What to do, and what not to do!

Last night I presented in Megameeting for the first time. I have experience presenting and facilitating in Discovere and have participated in online meetings in both Elluminate and Adobe Connect - so I am not a stranger to online conferencing. I decided to try something different and my intention was to demonstrate how to use Del.icio.us, RSS and Podcasting. The idea was to inform participants about a range of software which they may choose to investigate further and use in their business. It was not intended to be a training session - just a demonstration. Simple!! (or so I thought...).

To prepare I had two computers and logged into one as host and one as a guest so that I could see the demonstration from both perspectives. I decided to deliver the demonstration using the Desktop Sharing feature and demonstrate straight from the web. This immediately brought to my attention the delay which occurs between the moment I click a link and move to a different screen and when the audience see that screen. The delay is up to 30 seconds. I wondered if this was happening because both computers were on the same network so I trialled the presentation with a colleague with the same result. So, to proceed or to rethink was the question! I decided that each part of the demonstration was going to be quite short, about 10 minutes I thought, and that I would intersperse them with discussion to maintain interest and, I thought that to overcome the delay issue was a matter of technique. If I could work out when to click in relation to my dialogue it may be possible to deliver a smooth demonstration. (That, in fact, turned out to be very difficult). So my decision was to proceed and what follows is the planned structure:

Del.icio.us -a straight demo of the features followed by discussion (20 min)
RSS - a Common Craft 3 minute Youtube clip and then briefly describe and show my Google Reader account followed by discussion (20 min)
Podcasting - a second presenter who would show a video showing how to record in Audacity and upload to Podomatic followed by a short tips and tricks presentation. (30 min).
(The session was planned for 90 minutes).

All good on paper, but what happened in practice?

- there were frequent periods of waiting while screens were downloading for the audience which caused frustration and loss of interest
- when using the shared desktop feature the presenter loses sight of the conference room. There is no visual contact and the text chat cannot be seen. There is audio only. The benefit of video conferencing over audio conferencing is the ability to see how the audience are responding to your presentation. I found this quite disarming and felt as if I was talking into space.
- videos cannot be shown from within Megameeting - the download time prevents them from running smoothly. This was overcome by putting a link into the note board which took the audience to the Youtube video. However this means that the audience are leaving the room to watch the video. This was not a problem last night but the potential is there to lose people or for people to experience problems getting back into the room.
- finally our second presenter had technical issues and dropped out altogether after running her video which meant that we lost the benefit of her experience and advice.

All in all, it was very disappointing. If I were to have the night over again I would have selected no more than two topics and used screen dumps and Powerpoint instead of web tours. The videos worked well, but it is important that they are short and they need to be followed by a well structured discussion. Upon reflection I realise that I approached the session from a teaching perspective and was trying to emulate a face-to-face environment. Some of those concepts just don't transfer to the online world and live web demonstration seems to be one which doesn't work!

Nevetheless, all experience is worthwhile and I learned a lot yesterday evening. There are great advantages to online conferencing in terms of cost saving, convenience, the environment, etc. However, it's important to identify its strengths and weaknesses. This project has already exposed us to a range of online strategies and I'm sure there is more to come! Bring it on!

Week 3 - The College Perspective

I missed this session unfortunately but was interested to see the comments in Google Groups and the other Blog entries.

From discussions with Mary and participant's comments in Google Groups, what immediately struck me was how quickly and easily James seems to have adapted his face to face teaching techniques into a virtual environment. The professionalism of his presentation was mentioned more than once in Google Groups and the length of time spent in preparation was, I gather, quite minimal. This is likely to encourage participants to use Megameeting for themselves and it seems that James is a convert!

Google Groups is moving along and several people are now confidently responding to posts, however few are starting discussions. Our conversations are generally about the meeting we have just had or the meeting that is next on the agenda and I think we need to consider other topics for discussion in Google Groups in order to engage in a different way and really experience the benefits of belonging to a forum. (Ann)

Trainers Viewpoint - definitely cool!

“Wow, what a cool experience. After initially getting over the feeling of being a voyeur, I loved teaching, interacting, and communicating my usual content in a totally different forum. This is really exciting software and it’s just the beginning of things to come. As people get busier and busier it is programs like this one that will revolutionise the way that people learn.

This software is best used when its capabilities are maximised. There’s so much value in the chat box, the notice board, and the poll features. By combining it all with the occasional presentation, I was able to target the various learning-style preferences of the participants. I found the whole experience a lot of fun and really recommend that people give it a try not only for training but also for business meetings, especially businesses with employees in different sites.” (James Adonis)

Week 3- Training Online can be cool!

Our next session was an online training meeting on a topic that's important for most growing small businesses - How to Recruit and Engage Staff. Our trainer and workshop leader was James Adonis, who is a corporate speaker and also growing his own business. Prior to the session, I had demonstrated the features of how he could display his powerpoint presentation, set up polls, and how he could use the chat and noteboard. I had done this in a short online meeting with James and so he modified his presentation to use all these features. During the session, James moved in and out of the presentation and meeting modes, so that everyone in online meeting room was able to comment -even though we had nine of us! There was some occasional sound loss as the each part of the presentation was being set up, but overall, everyone was able to follow what was said and able to contribute.

It really showed how this could be used to train staff, or present a new feature to clients, or to learn something new from a supplier. And because the presenter can go back to the meeting mode as often as he/he likes, no-one can leave, read a book or check emails! And eating is OK, as we don't yet have smell-avision - it's not the problem that it would be in a face to face meeting! (Mary)

Online Meeting Starts – The Team View

As the time drew closer the faces started appearing in the MegaMeeting room, after an initial 5 minutes of sorting out all our own technical issues of microphones and webcams we were all present seeing each other and able to be seen and heard!

Hosting the session was Terie from MegaMetting in LA and his local time was about 2.30am – and we thought Small Business Owners worked long hours. This first session was challenging and eye opening for all the Online Meetings participants with an introduction to the software features and functionality of how you can run a meeting online from various locations around the world.

The Team’s feedback was positive and encouraging and initial fears of technical incompetence were quickly laid to rest. A feeling of involvement and interaction was shared for the meeting room with most being impressed with the ability of how simple it appeared to share information with everyone.

On talking to all and reading through the comments on Google Groups, in the day or two following, several of the team were already thinking of concepts on how using such technology and how these could benefit theirs businesses. We are all away now to play with the software and meet up again in smaller groups, whilst looking forward to the next online meeting in the comfort of our offices or homes… (Mike)

Online Meeting - Technical viewpoint

With just one formal online session of MegaMeeting under our group's belt, and some informal training around the edges, most of our members are starting to get the hang of it - and overcome some of their initial technical problems.

Before our first formal session, everyone was asked to come online and use MegaMeeting's online meeting product - even on their own - just to make sure they could connect, and communicate properly with those helping them test the environment. One of the advantages of MegaMeeting is that there is typically no special setup or configuration required; nearly all computers have a web browser with Adobe Flash support - the same requirements you need to watch YouTube videos - so there is no cost in downloading and setting up applications to get you started. While it's not my specific topic area, this is also a great feature if you'd like to invite clients or one-off viewers into your conference: there is really not much work to do on their end - they just click a link, and - off they go!

Of course, it doesn't always work as easily as I've described, and we have had some teething issues. The biggest issue we've experienced is getting used to the MegaMeeting interface, as well as some simple issues (or unexpected features!) to do with sound. It took some users a few minutes to get their sending volume quite right; they were initially too soft, and later too loud, an effect visible as everyone within the conversation could actually be seen removing their headphones due to some of the overwhelming noise. A headset is certainly a must, too: a single user with external speakers and a microphone can very easily cause a feedback loop, something not fun inside a meeting of twelve.

Additionally, some users reported that their experience was quite sluggish if they had a few applications, or browser tabs, still open. If you have a slow computer, it might be a good idea to close any non-essential programs before you join into MegaMeeting. Additionally, if you're connecting from an environment where other users might be downloading large files - make sure you ask them to stop before coming in!

Overall, after these small issues, most users in our group were able to get started, participate and provide some feedback within the meeting itself. Terie from MegaMeeting was also available in our first formal session, which was a great help in getting over some of the unfamiliarity people experienced with the system (Sam)

Megameeting Training - the college perspective

The training was delivered by Megameeting themselves. Terie, our trainer was exceptionally competent, well prepared, patient and understanding and generally did a fantastic job - particularly when you consider that he was in Los Angeles and it was 2.15am!!

Terie began by outlining the benefits of online conferencing and the features of the room. Then he took us to a second room where he shared his desktop and demonstrated how each of the features work. The training was delivered over a two hour period and was structured as follow:

- Camera & Microphone/Headset Troubleshooting
- What is Videoconferencing/What is MegaMeeting
- Basic Account Functions/Features
- Logging into your MegaMeeting Account
- Creating a Meeting
- Meeting Name
- Setting a Date and Time
- Configuring Additional Meeting Settings & Appearance
- Inviting Participants to Meetings
- Joining a Meeting
- Ending a Meeting
- Installing Additional Utilities (ShowMyDesktop / Outlook Meeting Add-In)
- Inside the Meeting
- Controlling Video (Turning it On/Off – Resizing Video Images)
- Using the VoIP Feature (Hold-to-Transmit vs. Lock)
- Differences Between Host & Guests
- ShowMyDesktop Feature (Showing Participants Presentations)
- Host Options (Additional Host Abilities inside of the Meeting Room)
- User Rights (Controlling what Participants can do inside of the Room)
- Invitations (Inviting Additional Participants to the Meeting)
- High Quality Video (Upgrade Video Quality for a Meeting Participant)
- What to do When Your Meeting is Over (Disconnecting vs. Quitting)

In my opinion, at the end of the training most people had an understanding of what they software can do, and comments in Google Groups indicated that some are considering how they can use virtual conferencing in their business. Comments were made about bandwidth issues, strategies for conducting meetings and the potential for networking with peers and colleagues.

Our first group meeting online!

Our first online training session was run by our cool trainer from MegaMeeting (the product we have chosen to use) - and we could see and hear all 11 of us, plus Terie our trainer, in the one online meeting room. Most of the group were at their own premises, but one was outbound using a wireless system at a motel in NSW, and another initially joined the meeting using her laptop and connection while a passenger in a moving car. So that was quite something, as we could see and hear her, and also the traffic flow behind her. She soon arrived and continued from a less distracting venue, so we were able to concentrate on the session.

Our session first covered the basics of being a GUEST in the online room, and then we all were able to create our own meetings rooms as HOST so that in future, we can invite guests, and each have our own online meetings. The presentation used the feature "Show My Desktop" and how to set up an online poll. And lots of other stuff as well. It feels good to be able to see everyone in the meeting room, to use the voice over IP, and the chat window. Overall, the reactions were positive - one connection was not great as it was through a wireless network, but it still worked. I think there is now some appreciation that while its easy to be a guest in an online meeting, to really use this tool well as a host, it will take some practice. And that's what we plan to do! (Mary)

Session 1 - Face to Face

Google Groups is developing nicely. We have added a photo of the group and five of our nine participants are registered with Google Groups and are ready to chat online. All but two have been in other forums and are familiar with the concept of online chat which is a good start.

Our challenge is to encourage initial engagement and then to facilitate ongoing discussion. Mary has made a great start by adding a YouTube video on setting up a Blog and we will be looking for feedback on our session and ideas going forward. (Ann)

Team meets!

Our first meeting was in real space - which was good to get to know everyone. The session included some great finger food, and an overview of the main online tools that we plan to use. These include Megameeting, ( a web based video conference system) for online meetings, Blogger for the project outline, and Google groups for the main team communications.

Small business depends on connection - and blogging is a really quick way to connect to clients. It can be your main web presence or a more informal site linked to your man website. Blogger is a free and easy to use blogging tool - there are others, but this is an easy one to start with. Several of the business owners are planning to set up their own blogs, so I found this really simple video on You Tube and posted this link to our Online Meetings Google Group (Mary)

The college perspective

Hi all

As you will see as we move through the program the blog will present three perspectives of the project: the participant view, the technical view and the college view - I will be talking from the college point of view.

Our aim is to explore a teaching and learning model for collaborative learning with young business owners using technology.

From your point of view, I have no doubt that this will be the least interesting part of the blog(!) but it's likely that other educators will be interested to read about our experiences, both good and bad, to help them with their own program development.

So please tell us about how it feels to be a participant. What is frustrating, what is exciting, what is useful, what you hope never to see again.....

See you online!
Ann

Our Blog is Born!

July 3rd, and our blog has form - and today it breathes its first post!    Mike and I set up a gmail account and then went on to blogger.com and basically worked it out.  We selected a Template and played around with colours, went to Layout and put up some details ABOUT US, except that it still shows ABOUT ME as the heading on the PROFILE page.   "US"  is a group of business people, all in small business in Sydney, and all in the early years of business growth.  This Blog is our record of finding out about  OnLine meeting tools - follow our progress, maybe it will be useful for you. (Mary)

P.S We had some help with the HEADING - it's always important in business to have a good sign, so a friend made a collage of images from FLICKR and built the name of the group into the image.  This gives us a different look than using the Blogger style, with the name of the blog over the uploaded image.