Let’s consider a couple of scenarios.

Conference or Seminar

With growing environmental concerns and of course travel cost and time considerations, online conferencing or online conference participation is a developing option.

Case I

Conference web space hosts pre-recorded presentations, intellectual articles and streamed video case studies as the introduction to blogs or discussion forum. The conference is time bound to one month during which an invited participants’ list can read articles, watch presentations and videos and make comments and participate in debate. After a month, comments are locked and summary proceedings are produced and eMailed to the group as well as posted on the conference web space. Further debate may emerge from the proceedings.

Case II

Audio from the main presentation room and from multiple computers in side meetings, for the term of a conference with 200 participants is streamed over the internet, complimenting a well designed conference website hosting keynote presentations and other conference documents. A blog is used in the side meetings for invited participants unable to be present at the conference, but who experience fully streamed audio from the meeting room via links on the website. The side session blog facilitator moderates comments and posts summary responses.

A Case II scenario could use TeamSpeak or the Mumble-Murmur combination for managing the audio between conference rooms so that online participants can switch between meeting rooms as easily as walking between rooms.