Hang In There to Hang Out

I was on a high last night after having an enjoyable and educative experience in my second Hangout on Air and so had a bit of trouble entering the Land of Nod.



I was of course disappointed that more genealogists were unable to join in and share their books. Unfortunately once I am on air it is difficult to give assistance/instructions to those who wish to join. As I learn more about this tool I will develop a cheatsheet with some clearer instructions.

We started last night with five panellists and quickly reached a full complement of ten. By the end of the session there were several vacancies on the panel which I announced. The idea being that one tunes in and watches the Hangout and when I (or my helper) announces that there is a vacant spot on the panel one clicks on the arrow on the left hand side of the GeniAUS Google+ Community page to take the vacated spot. One needs to "Hang In to Hang Out".

Thanks to those who joined the panel from England, The Northern Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria; my mate Russ Worthington from the US viewed and posted comments at some obscene hour; we had representatives from three continents. You can view the video to see who was on line. But where were the Tasmanians and Western Australians?  

I am going to use the PMI evaluation strategy to make a few comments. I welcome further suggestions on the GeniAUS Community on Google+

Plus +
We did again it, Hooray!
Sharon's first book was a perfect intro and it wasn't even staged.
There were more prospective panelists than places on the panel
There was interest in this event not only from Australia but from overseas
Panelists used the GeniAUS Community page to add details of books
We got to see and hear people we hadn't met in person
Pauleen assisted with the monitoring of the conversation on the Community page
There were participants who were first timers
There were participants from outside my blogging circle
Panelists were respectful of others
Several panelists managed to share screenshots
We all learnt about some new resources
The conversation remained on task
We managed to cover a lot of ground
I was able to easily add tags and further information about the video at YouTube 
DearMyrtle's suggestion to create a Google+ Community overcame difficulties with issuing invitations to join the Hangout - Thanks Myrt
I am becoming more familiar with the Hangout interface
There is enthusiasm for more hangouts

Minus -
I still said Um far too many times
My head still bobbed around - I must try to be still
Some people had trouble joining the panel
We could not help late arrivals with setting up their lower thirds
Some peoples' sound and video was crook at times
At times we lost video and audio was patchy (problems with storms?)

Interesting ?
Only one male joined the panel.
The age range of panelists was huge - spanning several generations
Books ranged from weighty scholarly tomes to children's stories and humour
The crispest picture was from Maggie all the way from England
Panelists suggested a weekend hangout. - will try to schedule that.
Panelists suggested MetaHangouts (Hangouts about Hangouts)
I think I'll repeat this topic in six months or so - we're on a winner with this one and it's not too onerous on the host.

Our next Hangout on Air - Online Resources for Australian Research is scheduled for 28 or 27 November (date dependent on your location).