Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2012 20:59:15 +0530
From: Nitika <ntandon(a)wikimedia.org>
It is free and there's nothing to install. Do
make sure you check your mic and speakers beforehand (and the screen also asks you to
check your hair!) It allows everyone to see each other's video - making it a more
human experience. Also, we'll be able to view each other's screens which will
make it simpler to conduct this session. We can have a max of 10 people doing a hangout
at any point in time. In case we have more than 10 interested participants, we will
organize multiple sessions.
Thanks for initiating this, Nitika! Very interesting and full of potential.
I have recently run a set of Google+ Hangout sessions for a similar
training exercise ("Git, Gerrit, and You!" - training software
developers in using some new tools). My experiences were mostly
positive, and it was great to be able to screen-share and see others'
screens! Two things to watch out for:
* There is a plugin or two that one needs to install in order to
participate; in my version of Firefox it's "Google Talk Plugin" and
"Google Talk Plugin Video Accelerator" (in Addons), but I think it's
also called "GTalk Voice/Video Plugin" or something like that. I got
reports that it doesn't work with Chrome/Chromium.
* It's useful to tell people who haven't done Hangouts before to show up
on chat or IRC 15-30 minutes early in order to get Google+ accounts,
install the plugin, get invited to the Hangout (if you're running it
invite-only), test their voice and video connectivity, test
screensharing, iron out technical issues, etc. In my case, I also
wanted to get them set up with accounts ahead of time, but for you it
sounds like a great idea to do the account setup as part of the training.
Hope this is helpful! And if you think these tips should go somewhere
on the outreach wiki(s), please feel free to add it or point me to where
I should. :-)
--
Sumana Harihareswara
Volunteer Development Coordinator
Wikimedia Foundation