Getting NetSmart - Videoconferencing: Bring it on

Videoconferencing: Bring it on
Options are limited for stranded passengers with pressing meetings to attend

Network World, 12/11/02

They say that half of getting through life is being there. I'd amend that saying to "half of getting through life is being there, even if it's virtually."

What leads me to this revelation is a recent trip to Chicago. Network World was hosting our State of the LAN/MAN event there and we had the complete misfortune to schedule it during a snowstorm that brought on intense whiteout conditions. Flying into O'Hare Airport was, to say the least, unpredictable as ground stops were in effect on and off throughout the day.

All day, I received updates from conference speakers who were strewn out across the country trying to make it to the Midwest. My cell phone rang off the hook with the same message - "Not sure if I'll make it there in time."

The most disconcerting call came from our moderator, Kevin Tolly, who was stuck in Newark Airport. Tolly and I called back and forth from early afternoon until late evening, only to come to the realization that he would not be meeting me in Chicago. Flights had been canceled and indefinitely delayed.

He joked that I, as co-moderator, could give his presentation. What I wished for, more than anything, was a fully installed, fully mobile videoconferencing set-up that we could have quickly installed in the hotel ballroom for the next day.

However, reality set in and the hassle and cost of putting together a videoconferencing setup overnight was a bit prohibitive - just from standpoint of the A/V and Internet hookups needed from the hotel. And the quality of the average consumer camera strapped onto a laptop would not have been good enough for this event.

In the not so distant future, this problem will be easily solved. All hotels will be outfitted with inexpensive Web-based portals that will let anyone, anywhere be presented to a ballroom full of eager listeners. And soon, users will be outfitted with high-quality cameras on their laptops that will allow them to be streamed live around the world with little jitter or delay.

This is not to say that parts of this system do not already exist. They do. And they work very well. But we still need some work on the "on the fly" versions of these interactive videoconferencing programs and the costs associated with a daylong live streaming connection. After all, Kevin's role as presenter and co-moderator is critical to the program. His involvement in the question and answer roundtables is of great benefit to audiences. Trying to recreate that atmosphere through a Web connection is a challenging feat today. But tomorrow… let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

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