[pm-h] Perl Mongers meeting times

[G. Wade Johnson]

On Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:32:15 -0500
"Haufler, Wayne A" <Wayne.A.Haufler at boeing.com> wrote:

> 1. Which days of the week would be good for you to attend Houston.pm
> meetings?
> 
> 
> 2. What times of the day would you be willing to attend Houston.pm
> meetings?
> 
> 3. Would you come to the meeting if we changed the time/date?
> 
> 4. Would you come to the meeting if we changed the location? If so,
> where would you like to see the meetings?
> 
> I think you'd see a big jump in attendance (including mine) if you
> opened it up to virtual attendance, that is, setup a Webex session or
> some such.  I brought this up before and I understand there are
> challenges, but there are also more tools and services (web-based)
> that provide for this (GoToMeeting.com?).  I'd think most of us may
> even be willing to pay a modest club dues to pay for this.
> 
> Advantages include gas money savings and drive time savings
> 
> Disadvantages include less natural / more awkward conversations, less
> face-to-face networking (though those with webcams might could use
> them).  Ok, I think there was a show-stopper or two when I brought
> this up last, but I forget, and am too lazy to look it up right now.
> 
> Of course, virtual meetings might drastically reduce the number of
> physical attendees.

Since you've mentioned it, I'm doing a bit of research into the idea.
In order to make this work, we need to identify required features in a
system.

In my first pass research, the most difficult requirement seems to be
supported OSes.

We have regularly had individuals come in with Windows, Linux, and Mac.
Although many of the online meeting tools support Windows (usually with
a download), and some support Mac, few support Linux.

Features we would need/like to support this are:

1. Conference calling
	- without voice, the virtual meeting would be a bust

2. Screen/slide sharing
	- We normally use slides or demo some code locally. Slides are
	  a minimum requirement. Screen sharing would be very nice.

3. Video mode
	- Handy to be able to see the speaker and such if we need to do
	  examples on a whiteboard. Could be replaced in some contexts
	  by with screen sharing.

4. IRC-style chat
	- Handy for taking notes and running questions

5. Free or low-cost
	- One of the problems with dues is that we don't really have an
	  "organization" to deal with any income. I'm not sure the
	  overhead wouldn't suck the fun out of Houston.pm

So far, I've checked the following:

1. GotoMeeting.com
	- Seems reasonable if the presenter is on Windows (the next one
	  won't be.<grin/>)

2. GotoMyPC.com
	- Presenter should be in Windows, suggestion that it might work
	  from Mac, does not work from Linux.
	- Viewer appears to work from Linux
	- Beta.

3. LiveLOOK at ShowScreen.com
	- Claims to support all three OSes.
	- Signup seemed to go pretty easily for the trial
	- Requested signup on a payment plan before trial started.

4. Skype
	- Now supports conference calls for free up to 14 people.
	- Available for all OSes
	- Has voice and chat
	- Does not support video on conference
	- no screen sharing

5. Ekiga (Was GnomeMeeting)
	- Runs on Linux
	- Supposedly connects with Windows Meeting software (unable to
	  test)
	- No idea if it works on Mac.

Any other favorites to try?

Since I'm going to do the next meeting, I'm willing to be a guinea pig.
We could even do some trial runs before the meeting (in two weeks) if
anyone wants to help.

G. Wade
-- 
If it doesn't have to be right, I can make it arbitrarily fast.
                                                    -- Rick Hoselton