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Free Webconferencing - Great resource for Chapters (and Individuals)!!!!
Created By: Herman, Marie On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 12:03 PM
I have recently been researching (FREE!) web conferencing options and I have come across a great option that I wanted to let people know about.

For those of you that are not familiar with the terminology, a webconference is similar to a videoconference or audio conference, and is held over the internet. You can type things that everyone in the room can see. Depending on how the site is set up, you can have one person speak and a lot of others listen, or you could have multiple people speaking and collaborating. You can share documents on the screen (PPT, PDF) and everyone can see them at one time. The "host" of the web conference can display their computer screen for everyone to see (or designate someone else as presenter if you want to take turns). A webinar is a seminar delivered live or recorded via the internet using web conferencing technology.

Chapters could use these sites to host webinars at meetings (so you could try contacting me, for instance, to see if I was available to do a webinar (even on the fly with a last minute speaker cancellation!!!)) or as a fundraiser. They could also use these sites to host webconferences of their board meetings (so everyone could participate from the comfort of their own home), committee meetings, CAP/CPS study groups, training sessions, etc.

One of the sites I have liked the best from my research is DimDim (www.dimdim.com), which offers free web conferencing for up to 20 people. From their homepage, just scroll down to the bottom and under Products, choose Free Web Conferencing to get to that area.

The sign up process is very easy. Just type in the screenname that you want to use, your email address and pick a password. Once you are in, your basic sign up screen (which remains the same all the time as the webconferencing "room" is assigned to you). you have two buttons - one to schedule a conference in the future and one to start a conference right now. Easy peasy!

The free webconference version allows the host to share their screen with the rest of the attendees. The first time you go to do that, it will prompt you to download a plugin for your browser. Depending on your dial up speed, this could take 10-20 minutes to complete (so: BIG HINT, do it BEFORE you host your first live webconference!). This is a one time process. The people viewing your screen do not have to go through that process. You can also share a presentation (PDF or PPT), share a whiteboard (the equivalent of a dry erase board where you can enter text in text boxes, draw arrows/circles/squares, etc.), visit web sites, and everyone can see the screen at the same time (though it seems to have a 1-2 second lag time).

You can invite people in advance by entering their email addresses or you can invite them on the fly from right inside the web conference room.

The site automatically sets up a conference bridge for you to use if you wish to include audio. It is free (other than regular long distance charges you might incur).

This is a really cool tool and I STRONGLY encourage chapters to check it out, especially since it is free. This could be a fabulous resource for your chapter and if you think of other cool ways to use it, I'd love to hear about them. Get in there and play around a bit!
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Comment  
Corinne Cooper
3/20/2010
8:24 PM
Hi Marie,
Thank you for sharing this information! We use web conferencing in my office; however, I was looking for a low cost web conferencing program to use for chapter board meetings, member orientations, webinars, so I am glad I read your post.
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