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May 10, 2006
Skypecasting geek meetups.... it works!
Well it took me about 5 minutes to figure out how to login to Skypecast (I swear its a bug in the software) but at least it didn't prevent Robin, Dermod, Damien and Mike having a conversation, so we know the host is dispensable! Despite a few shortcomings, like some kind of visual feedback on who's speaking for example, I think we'd all agree that Skypecast is highly usable.
Mike Fitzgerald introduced us to his company Cucoco Ltd. who produce ReadPal, software for a more comfortable on-screen reading experience. And he even gave us coupons to unlock a free copy each - see that's what you miss when you don't tune in! (Don't worry if you check out his blog you might just find a similar voucher.)
This was of course a test run of the Skypecasting service with no agenda but now that we know it's usable let's starting planning out a few topics of conversation. I say 'we' because its best if a number of us host Skypecasts at different times throughout the week to suit a variety of schedules.
Dermod made the point that a group of up to ten people would be manageable and I think it was Robin who said it might be a good idea to pass the microphone around instead of having a free for all. I agree with both statements and think we can definitely use Skpecasting as a productive means of business networking in Ireland.
Recommendations -
- Plan and publish agenda in advance
- One topic per Skypecast
- 30 minutes duration
- Pass the microphone (instead of free-for-all)
Thanks again for coming along lads and let's do it again....
PS. Tom you're going to have to get a real computer! ;-)
Technorati Tags: skypecasting, networking
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Comments
Glad it worked out.
sorry I missed it. Could you have the next one at lunchtime (between 1pm and 2pm) or evening ?
Posted by: walter | May 10, 2006 4:11:08 PM
Ouch!
Posted by: Tom Raftery | May 10, 2006 6:35:38 PM
Sorry Tom, couldn't resist ;-)
Sure Walter, that's the time I'll host my next Skypecast at and hopefully some other people will host 'casts at different times.
Actually Walter, would you mind if we made the PXN8 experience the focus of the next one? You have a story of Web 2.0 success to tell and there's alot we could learn. How about a quesions and answers session where I pass the mic to others who'd like to pick your brains? I think it could make a fascinating Skypecast.
Posted by: James Corbett | May 10, 2006 8:20:04 PM
It was good to be part of it and I'm amazed that it worked for me, being on ISDN in the middle of the Italian countryside!
It's possible to have a concurrent chat window running with all participants, so that if, for example, there's a "pass the mic" situation going on, people could indicate in the chat window that they've got a question etc., and the moderator could see it and then turn their mic on.
Another point: if people are using built-in laptop microphones, they are really distracting to others if you type! Perhaps it was the Polish kid...
Posted by: Dermod Moore | May 11, 2006 8:53:41 AM
Good points Dermod, I'll add those to my list of reccomendations. I didn't know there was a concurrent chat option - that's handy!
Oh, and one other recommendation - be ruthless in ejecting the tyre kickers! Because Skypecasting is so new there are lots of people just joining random rooms to see what its like but that's quite distracting to those who're there for a reason. So next time I think I'll ask those who think they're going to attend to 'register' their interest either in a comment here or via email (if they're worried about skype spam).
Posted by: James Corbett | May 11, 2006 9:02:52 AM
