Murphy's Law Strikes a Webconference! part 4

the next time we do this...

Dazed by the onslaught from the Dark Lord Murphy and his minions, our fearless adventurers crawled from the field of battle. The damage was extensive; nearly every aspect of the meeting had been affected. Would our courageous champions recover? Had they learned enough to push on, to risk another encounter with the Dark Lord?

Although our first attempt at a webconference was a disaster, at least for those who tried to participate from remote locations, the venture was not a complete failure. The meeting itself was quite successful; we received many favorable comments from those who attended. None had ever seen presentations of the products offered by ARCOM and BSD Softlink on the same day, and few had had the opportunity to discuss the products with the presidents of those companies. Discussion of the 4specs.com website, and other information gateway sites, and the future of on-line product information was enlightening. And, about thirty local specifiers attended the unscheduled "bonus" session, in which Robert Johnson discussed activities of the MasterFormat Task Team and the OCCS group.

We were also fortunate that, despite widespread promotion, only half a dozen remote sites signed up for the webconference. That number was large enough to make a valid evaluation of the process, yet sufficiently limited so as not to scare off all of the other people who might be considering producing such a meeting.

It was obvious that we would not be able to make any of the video available, and we terminated the virtual part of the meeting early in the evening presentation. Video problems fell into two categories: those we could prevent, and those we could not. The software upgrade falls into the second group; last minute changes simply cannot be avoided, and problems on the providers end are beyond control.

Had we attempted a full-scale test, we would have found that the webconferencing software was unable to handle complex slide shows. The resultant problem could have been avoided by eliminating background color from the PowerPoint slides, reducing or eliminating animation effects, relying more on text and line drawings than on pictures, or splitting each show into a series of smaller files. Of course, it would have been nice if the instruction manual had mentioned this minor shortcoming.

Degradation of our Internet connection is something that cannot be avoided, unless a site with something better than a dial-up connection is chosen. Still, the program might have been successful even with a slow connection had the PowerPoint files been sufficiently small.

The audio problems were something of a surprise. Most hotels provide AV services for a fee; paying for this service should allow one to assume that the sound system will work. But, after considering frequently AV problems occur - bad microphones, feedback, pulled plugs, burned out bulbs - it's obvious that even professionals can't make things work every time.

Will we try again? Definitely! As a large chapter, with the ability to draw and pay for high profile speakers, I believe that we have an obligation to share our programs with smaller chapters. Unless we get an inheritance, we will have to charge enough to cover costs. But when you consider the convenience of virtually attending a meeting in another city - no travel time, no travel cost, no lodging cost, and the ability to watch in your bathrobe - a hundred bucks is a pretty good deal.

This is still new technology, and it has its problems. I have attended several of CSI's Audio Exchange seminars, with mixed results. A few have gone exactly as planned, but a couple of them have been delayed or postponed due to technical difficulties. It will improve, though, and I intend to make it a regular part of our chapter activities.

Stunned by the surprise attack from the dark forces, our intrepid leader and his faithful apprentice were brought to their knees. Downcast, writhing in agony, they struggled valiantly - and though they did not achieve victory over the Dark Lord Murphy, neither did they perish.

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Material from CSI Chapter newsletters used with permission.