Nearly 200 people are registered to attend the PLA 2008 Virtual Conference (everyone who attends the PLA 2008 conference in Minneapolis can also log in now to participate, or later to gain access to the archives), and so far, everyone seems to be really happy with it. I was recruited to “host” the conference, which really means a cheerful welcome message at the beginning of the day and chatting with the attendees during the “Virtual Happy Hour” at the end of the day (sans cocktails, sadly). It’s been a hoot so far. The Learning Times crew has been doing an excellent job of keeping everything together and moving!
The Adobe Connect interface that the attendees see isn’t much different from the interface that the presenters see (click on the screenshots for a larger view complete with interface notes):
Here you mostly see the areas for slides and chat, but normally you could also see a floating list of attendees. Live, on-the-fly polling, white boards, co-browsing and desktop sharing is possible with the interface, so it really adds to the interactivity of the experience. So far, getting the presenters ready for their sessions has been really easy: put on the headsets, show them the interfaces, and off they go. We’ve had a few problems with streaming audio and video simultaneously, but I think that might actually be an internet connection problem in this case.
Speaking of interactivity, one of the best examples is the Inside the Author’s Studio sessions. Yesterday, Nancy Pearl donned a headset and spoke directly with Virtual Conference attendees for a full hour, taking questions directly from the audience and answering them.
Since the Adobe Connect interface can be altered on the fly to meet the needs of the presenter, Learning Times set her up with a a “Questions for Nancy Pearl” chat box that was separate from the General Chat. That way, attendees could still talk amongst themselves, and Learning Times could pass along links related to Nancy’s comments — for example, she mentions an author, they go out and find the URL of the author’s site, and post it to the chat — and Nancy could focus directly on what people were asking her.
It’s really a nice setup.
Today’s session was especially interesting, because we experienced a typical conference problem: a presenter who doesn’t/can’t show. I still haven’t heard what happened with those presenters, or what the plan is, but in a pinch they needed someone to fill a slot. Since I had mentioned the PLA 2008 Twitter experiment to the Virtual Conferencees, hoping they would also share their thoughts using the #pla08 hashtag, and there were many librarians who instantly had questions, I was called in to pinch hit with an impromptu presentation about Twitter. Overall it was really interesting, and I think most attendees got something out of it. I know I got about 12 new Followers on Twitter for my time 
. It also led to a really interesting chat discussion about using Twitter and Meebo for reference, the idea of roving reference, single service points, and more, and I’m glad we recorded all of it for the archive. Who knows, maybe you’ll all see me as a future PLA presenter at some point.
Virtual Conference attendees: be sure to sound off in the comments here!
There are 2 Comments to "Virtual Conference: Adobe Connect, Nancy Pearl, and the pinch hit"
I’m the other Cheri and one of the people who was already on Twitter, by the way (though i’m still learning the ropes). I have fairly extensive experience on real-time online learning and usability software (not best term, probably) as a independent contractor librarian for the KnowItNow service in ohio, so technically for me, everything worked great. I’m with you that except for a few of the presenters with brief microphone issues, most of the problems were at the virtual “attendees” end. The Learning Times software worked perfectly.
What worked in general? Interactive (quizzes)worked, as did the ability to chat with the presenters. And in what other setting would Nancy Pearl have answered two of my questions!?) Lengthy lectures where presenters read the comments to their slides, not so much. It was a smart move to put the presenters who were not only quite personable. but comfortable with technology (gaming librarian, Leonard Souza-technobuzz) in the sessions at the end of the day, when most of us had “seat burn” and needed someone energetic & chatty to keep our attention. the ability to chat with each other was also a very positive aspect to the conference.
What didn’t work so much? The no-show (we know who we mean) on a topic generating buzz among those of us in public service jobs. Unlike at the real PLA, we didn’t have the option of finding another program. (You – Andrea – did a great improv program on twitter – kudos!). I really think the presenter owes us the session – maybe in a podcast setup or videoconference scheduled at a time convenient for the virtual attendees. And it should be ONLY for us – if a podcast, open only for us for the first month.
I’d also like access to the real-time conference handouts for the session not on the virtual conference schedule. during the conference as well. I haven’t had a chance to explore more than one poster session, but those look quite useful.
Would I do this again? Absolutely. And I also vote for ALA to carry the virtual conference idea to their conference. Again, thanks PLA & Learning Times!
I’m glad that those who are participaing in the Virtual Conference are enthusiastic about it. I agree with Cheri that “the real-time conference handouts” for the non-virtual sessions be available. Maybe then I would feel that the significant charge for the Virtual Conference would be something that I could afford. Paying the registration fee when I could only be free to participate in one or two sessions was not realistic. If I could have afforded the time away from work, I would have gone to Minneapolis. Maybe a per session registration could be arranged next time. PLA is a wonderful experience that should be shared with those who have to stay home.