Dissatisfied with Webinars

[mcogilvie]

I have read, watched, and listened to almost all of the content in Connect, except for the new webinar format. I have viewed about 1/2 of one and 1/4 of another out of the 5 now available. I started to watch the latest on email, a topic of great relevance to me right now, and just.. stopped. Why?

I think the reason is largely the format used by gotomeeting. Although I have a fast internet connection, there is negligible buffering. This makes it essentially impossible to, e.g., watch part at work and then the rest at home. Although it has been stated that the file sizes are large, they should not be. It's just audio with very slowly changing screens. I want to stress that I was not making any conscious decision to not watch the webinars- I just didn't do it. That suggests the format just isn't working for me somehow. Isn't there some better format available?

 

[jsturtridge]

Just to make sure this gets seen by the right folks, you should forward your observations to connect@davidco.com

J.

 

[laurac]

Thanks for this feedback

Hi mcogilvie,

We appreciate hearing from you on this. We're aware that the webinar format has some limitations and is bringing up some accessibility issues for our members. Right now we're actively exploring some alternatives that would fully integrate into Connect while still giving our members a user-friendly experience. It's all still in the R&D stages, but we are definitely on the path to giving you all a more reliable viewing experience.

Hope this helps. Do feel free to email the team at connect@davidco.com (thanks for that, J) if you'd like to share more details or thoughts.

 

[Barb]

I really like it but most of all.....

The webinar format is great for me, but I hope something can be worked out that's great for everyone.

Most of all I appreciate how hard you are all working to bring new content every week to Connect. Particularly wonderful has been the fast turnaround on getting the replay up on the site. I have no idea how much behind the scenes work goes into everything that shows up on the site, but I have a feeling it's a LOT.

 

[12hourhalfday]

I haven't really gotten into the webinars since I review all my GTDconnect media with my Ipod. It would be really cool if it was possible to play back the webinar as a slideshow in video podcast.

 

[Barb]

Make the time

I haven't really gotten into the webinars since I review all my GTDconnect media with my Ipod. It would be really cool if it was possible to play back the webinar as a slideshow in video podcast.

Brian,

Make the time. You've missed some of the best stuff on Connect YET.

 

[hwend]

How to get Webinar onto iPod

It's pretty straight forward to get the webinars onto the iPod, at least on a Mac with QuickTime Pro. I just go to the web site for the replay and in Firefox I open the file using QuickTime Pro (I believe you need the QuickTime Pro version to get the option to save the file). Then I wait until the complete webinar is downloaded in QuickTime Pro. After it is fully downloaded I can select the option to save the file as a QuickTime movie. To get it onto the iPod I export the file from QuickTime Pro into the iPod format (see the QuickTime Tutorial http://www.apple.com/quicktime/tutorials/creatingvideo.html) and then upload the generated file into iTunes.

Hope this helps.

Horst

 

[mcogilvie]

It's pretty straight forward to get the webinars onto the iPod, at least on a Mac with QuickTime Pro.
..
Hope this helps.

Horst

Thanks, that's potentially very helpful. I didn't upgrade to quicktime pro when I upgraded to Leopard, but it's very inexpensive.

 

[dschaffner]

It's pretty straight forward to get the webinars onto the iPod, at least on a Mac with QuickTime Pro.

Mac users may also want to check out Flip4Mac.

The free version will allow saving as a quick time movie.

Their website indicates that the $29 version will allow you to "Move Windows Media files into your iPod"

- Don

 

[dschaffner]

I think the reason is largely the format used by gotomeeting. Although I have a fast internet connection, there is negligible buffering. This makes it essentially impossible to, e.g., watch part at work and then the rest at home. Although it has been stated that the file sizes are large, they should not be. It's just audio with very slowly changing screens.

I think it's not so much the file sizes as the gotomeeting server that is serving the files is just really SLOOOOOOW.

I ran some speed tests just now and I can get almost 10mbps down on my connection.

The gotomeeting server is sending the files at 20-30 kbps.

 

[mcogilvie]

I think it's not so much the file sizes as the gotomeeting server that is serving the files is just really SLOOOOOOW.

I ran some speed tests just now and I can get almost 10mbps down on my connection.

The gotomeeting server is sending the files at 20-30 kbps.

That makes sense. I wouldn't think Microsoft and Citrix technology was that intrinsically slow.

 

[12hourhalfday]

It's pretty straight forward to get the webinars onto the iPod, at least on a Mac with QuickTime Pro. I just go to the web site for the replay and in Firefox I open the file using QuickTime Pro (I believe you need the QuickTime Pro version to get the option to save the file). Then I wait until the complete webinar is downloaded in QuickTime Pro. After it is fully downloaded I can select the option to save the file as a QuickTime movie. To get it onto the iPod I export the file from QuickTime Pro into the iPod format (see the QuickTime Tutorial http://www.apple.com/quicktime/tutorials/creatingvideo.html) and then upload the generated file into iTunes.

Hope this helps.

Horst

Is quick time pro a product I would have to purchase?

 

[Julian]

Two solutions

I agree with the slow connection as well as the benefit of iPod viewing.
I just let the movie run/buffer at night. In the morning I save the now-buffered movie to iPod format as described above. Has been working well for me.

 

[mcogilvie]

Is quick time pro a product I would have to purchase?

I saw a report tonight that Quick Time Pro functionality will be included in Quick Time in the upcoming Snow Leopard release of OS X. While QTP is not expensive, it might be worth holding off if you have a mac and are planning to upgrade.

 

[kelstarrising]

Webinars on the iPod

Would you really want to watch something like an Outlook demo on your iPhone? The screen would be extraordinarily small and we would not be doing lots of post production to zoom in and out on the detail.

Just checking...

 

[carlomojica]

Portability is good...

Would you really want to watch something like an Outlook demo on your iPhone? The screen would be extraordinarily small and we would not be doing lots of post production to zoom in and out on the detail.

Just checking...

What got me into GTD is the podcasts. My work is very much mobile and the iPod Touch is a constant companion. It would be good to be able to watch the webinars while on the go...

 

[cmcantwell]

Already watched one on my iPhone

I've already transferred and watched the Managing Email webinar on my iPhone and it was perfect. It's great for commuting or travel flights. I'm in the midst of downloading the Outlook webinar right now [although I don't use Outlook, I have many colleagues who do and often turn to me for GTD advice].

The only problem I have now is that the GoToWebinar links for the rest of the Webinars [Weekly Review, Guided Mindsweep, Making it All Work] are not appearing anywhere on Connect. If I can't get back to the GoToWebinar archive, I can't download the files into QuickTime for transfer to my iPhone. Is it possible to post the actual archive links for the other webinars?

Thanks!