Real Time Collaboration and Web 2.0 tools, tips, and reviews

Skype introduced Skypecasts this month as a way for groups of up to 100 members to participate in live, moderated conversations online.  The idea is fantastic – the more so because it is free.  Imagine attending virtual speeches or lectures online via Skype.  Now imagine being able to virtually “raise your hand” and ask the speaker a question.  Last week I participated in a Skypecast with Know More Media’s Easton Ellsworth about business blogging.  While we found the idea great, the execution still needed some work. 

The main problem was that only three people’s microphones could be turned on by the moderator at once…most of the time.  If more microphones were “turned on” we experienced drop outs or severe echoes.  Three worked well, although we did start to see some dropping out.  Since we had participants from all over the world, I’m not sure how much was due to Skype’s problems or just bandwidth/distance problems.

There is no way for a participant to tell when their microphone has been turned on by the moderator.  This was confusing at best.  At worst, in a different setting, it could lead to comments unintended for the audience to be broadcast.

There is a chat window which turned out to be a good way to raise your hand virtually – but Easton, as the moderator, had quite the time trying to moderate the discussion, turn on and off mikes and help those with trouble connecting. 

I’d like to see several features added by Skype before Skypecasting makes the big time:  First, the ability to have a panel of five or so people live at a time to facilitate discussion;  Second, a way for participants to see if their microphone has been turned on by the moderator;  Third, some way for the moderator to transfer moderation duties to another party.  If a second person were turning microphones on and off, watching for questions, watching the chat, etc. the main moderator could focus on the discussion itself.  Finally, it would be nice to have a button that notifies the moderator when you have a question or comment. 

Overall, not a bad start at all, Skype.