Tid-Bit 21 - Sharing and Preserving Knowledge
These technical Tid-Bits have, over the last 3 plus years, resulted in my getting to know NAWCC members that I would have never otherwise met. Likewise, with an average of over 100 attendees, the 5 webinars I have hosted have provided additional insight into what at least some of the members of the NAWCC expect from the organization. There is clearly a strong demand for technical know-how, in the form of down to earth explanations of how to do the things needed to keep our clocks and watches running. One of my new correspondents who watched a couple of my webinars wrote what I think is a good summary of what is a critical need for our organization: “As I watched these live webinars I realized that it is critical to get this knowledge permanently recorded and make it generally available to the membership (and beyond) on the internet. NAWCC membership is aging and declining. Just as important, the pool of horological experts world wide is declining… I am writing to encourage the development of a program to record and make available through internet the expertise of the many experts in our organization. We are not mentoring enough young people. By streaming instructional videos we could reach young people through the format they understand and use. It could be on their terms and in their time. If free to members, it would be a huge incentive to join the organization.”
I agree with Chucks comments, and am a bit flattered that he thinks my knowledge needs to be preserved.
So how do we make this happen. Easy answer is that the NAWCC needs to start video recording sessions with old guys. Yup, sho nuff – thems folks in Columbia PA need to get started shooting bunches of video. OK – in a dream world this might happen. But, given budget constraints and how busy headquarters staff is just doing the good things they do now, it is totally inappropriate to expect them to magically start down the path of creating clock and watch restoration webinars and videos.
Each of us needs to focus on what we can do to help preserve horological knowledge that will be otherwise lost. Perhaps this means working with an older member of a chapter who knows the ins and outs of a specific mechanism but is not able to set up web-cams or a webinar. Or becoming knowledgeable enough that you can record presentations at meetings and turn them into videos or webinars. The bottom line has to be that it is up to all of us to build the on-line knowledge base through videos and webinars. To paraphrase the illustrious Pogo in a chat with Porkypine: We have met the folks who need to start making webinars and videos, and they is us!
With this in mind I wrote this Tid-Bit, which shares some of the things I have learned in hosting 5 webinars.
The simplest webinar would likely be a slide show that people can view over the internet. The NAWCC uses Go To Meeting (under 25 attendees) and Go To Webinar (up to 1000 attendees) to host meetings and webinars. These programs both work pretty much the same. In this article I will refer to them collectively as GTW.
GTW allows you to “share your screen” (allow everyone attending the meeting/webinar to see whatever you have on your monitor) or to “share your webcam”. In its simplest form, you would set up GTW to share your screen, and then view your slides on your computers monitor. Or view a video – though video action will be jerky unless you keep the resolution fairly low (as in a small picture).
You don’t even have to have a microphone on your computer since GTW is set up so one can use telephones for the audio.
On the technical side, you need to have an internet connection that meets GTW’s needs. They require connect speeds of at least 700Kbps. For best results they also specify a processor speed of at least 2.4GHz and 2GB or more RAM.
This is sort of neat – the NAWCC schedules and promotes your webinar, they set up the GTW side, you log on, bring up the first slide on your monitor, and just start talking if you are using the microphone built into your computer or webcam. Or, you can call provided phone number and speak to your listeners over the phone.
The GTW programs offer a number of great features – more than I can really cover in this Tid-Bit. To name a few:
-Attendees can ask questions either verbally or by typing them in.
-You and the attendees can use webcams so as to be visible to the other attendees.
-You can make other attendees the presenter and they can share their screens.
-You can even give an attendee the control of your keyboard and mouse so they can use the mouse to point at specific details of a picture on your screen
Likely the next more challenging webinar would be one in which you both share your screen as well as your webcam. The beauty of the GTW program is that you just click buttons and you are set up.
Of course, that means you have to have the webcam set up to view what you want to show. If you just want to show your face – this is pretty easy. But, if you want to show what you are doing on a work bench, this could be a little trickier.
When thinking about doing my first webinar the immediate question was what camera could I use. Heck, I have 5 digital cameras – I wondered if any of them could be used as a web-cam. Answer is no. That was frustrating. Turns out that if I had bought a different handi-cam it could have been used as a web-cam. Yup, frustrating. Until I realized that web-cams are really not all that expensive – you can buy a decent one for around $50, and a really great one for around $100. I have ended up with a range of Logitech webcams and find that they all work very well (see Figure 1). Granted, they are not going to focus closer than around 12 inches, and they are not going to match the pictures you can shoot with a 15 megapixel digital camera (Webcams are typically around 2 megapixels). But, they work very well for use in webinars. I was pleased that the webcams in Figure 1 allowed people attending my webinars to see what I was doing with the various wheels and levers on the front of a Vienna Regulator.
Figure 8 – Watch balance wheel shot with a webcam under ambient lighting
In comparison, if one shoots these same three photos with a digital camera one will find that the details are much more precise in pictures show with the most light.
I realized after looking at Tid-Bit 20 in the May/June 2013 Bulletin that sometimes the resolution and the color in my photos does not reproduce well in the printed pictures. Especially when the original photo’s relied on color to get a point across, but the pictures in the Bulletin are in black and white. If you would like to see the photos for any of my Tid-Bits in high resolution and color, please go to http://www.snclocks.com. You will find the Tid-Bits under the “Technical” tab.
Each of us have our own way of presenting things, own way of talking. For myself, I find it best if I have an outline that covers the major points I want to make. Then, during the webinar I find it extremely useful if I have a moderator monitoring questions as they come in. When a question is asked that would add to the presentation the moderator can pose it. In the 5 webinars I have done so far I had the moderator on the phone and wore a headset so I could hear what the moderator said but the webinar attendees could not. I think it would be better if the moderator could be heard by the webinar attendees – this would eliminate the silent moments when the presenter is listening to the moderator.
Something that is handy, but not critical, is having a second monitor set up above your work bench so you can see exactly what webinar attendees are seeing. This is not nearly as hard as it might seem – you will likely need a USB external video display adapter (roughly $60) and a second monitor. If you were really lucky your computer might be set up for two monitors. If not, you can get the device mentioned above which plugs into a USB port and provides a video card for a second monitor. Then you can set up your computer to show different programs on each monitor. While I could provide instructions for the operating system I use, it is easiest to just search the web to find out how to set up your computer with its specific operating system.
The second monitor allowed me to have the GTW webinar and the ManyCam control panels open on one monitor, and the output from ManyCam showing on the other monitor (by clicking on “Full Screen Broadcast” under the “ManyCam” tab in the upper left hand corner of the ManyCam control panel). You then drag the ManyCam Full Screen broadcast to the second monitor. Really very slick when it is set up.
One last thought – my wife reminded me that a number of women will likely be attending webinars. It is therefore not appropriate to refer to the attendees as gentlemen!
I hope this Tid-Bit helps you realize that it is not impossible to do a webinar. Start with something simple like a slide show. I think you will be amazed at how easy it really is, especially with the help of the headquarters staff in setting up the GTW portion.
