23ThingsKansas--Online Conferencing Experience.

N.B. This is a duplicate posting. I posted these comments on the 23ThingsKansas site earlier today.

I decided to sample a couple of the webinar options, and I got some great ideas (as well learning about some new concepts/technology tools like bee tags!) from the Infopeople archived webinar on revitalizing the library experience. For example, rethinking hospitality: how welcoming is our building? the entrance? How do we get people to think of it as a place for them, like the British museum with the slogan, "the free destination for the incurably curious?" I found the format for this webinar easy to use--it offered chat and Q&A options.

One of the nice facets of archived webinars is the ability to pause as well as to skip to slides to which one might want to return.

I nipped into the Kansas Tax webinar using Wimba and found it quite similar to the format of Infopeople. I have participated in a SirsiDynix webinar in the past, and I found it easy to interact. I contrast this with a recent training webinar experience I had. The firm used Netspoke for video conferencing, and while the information was good, there was some lag time between screens from the presenter. In addition, participants had to phone in as well as be logged in. That was awkward. i don't understand why they didn't opt for a platform that would allow participants to headsets. Moreover, one had to press a certain code in order to mute and unmute the phone for questions.

I think online conferencing is the future for committee meetings where members are separated by great physical distance. They also enable groups to archive those meetings for members who had schedule conflicts. This would allow absent members to catch up and follow up as needed.