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)
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