Cos. Archive Meetings Online

<B> Cos. Archive Meetings Online</B>

By Chris Davis

Meeting managers grappling to find ways to add value for attendees might find a solution on the Internet, where streaming media technology now can transmit and archive video and audio--so that conferences and seminars can be accessed by attendees long after the meeting itself is over.

At its highest functionality, the technology allows for live broadcasting, though that is still well beyond the reach of all but the largest corporations. But it doesn't take much in the way of capability to store a videotaped conference on a corporate intranet site and make it accessible to all employees.

"Streaming can enhance your meeting in two ways," said technology consultant Jeffrey Rasco, president of Wimberly, Texas-based HMR Associates. "If employees can't attend the meeting, they can keep up with what they're missing. And because these aren't huge files, they can be archived to the Web site for repeat viewing."

Still, Rasco said, thinking of the technology as an alternative to travel is probably a reach. "Videoconferencing didn't replace meetings and neither will this."

Most of the streaming media today is provided by Dallas-based Internet startup Broadcast.com (www.broadcast.com). While the company can broadcast a meeting or trade show live over the Internet, hospitality sales manager Kyle Smith said the primary demand of the corporate meetings market is to use it "as more of an enhancement to meetings than as a way of cutting costs."

Corporations that want to archive footage need modems with at least 28.8K speed, Smith said, and software that enables them to download the images, though that is available in several places on the Internet at no cost. It costs about $675 to videotape and store a one-hour presentation on a corporate Web site. A three-hour live broadcast of a trade show costs about $50,000 and works better over faster modems.

Users report good results. "We've broadcast a lot of speeches by (CEO) Bill Gates and other executives live at conferences and trade shows," said Mike Sullivan, a Dallas-based enterprise accounts manager for Microsoft Corp. "We'll provide some live broadcast capabilities from conference and trade show sessions themselves. Regionally, we also do a lot of virtual seminars and breakout sessions."

Microsoft also archives sessions for its employees to access later. Still, Sullivan acknowledged, it's not exactly the same as being at a live meeting. "You probably can do 75 to 80 percent of what an actual seminar can do in terms of content, but it's tough to replace the face-to-face feeling, and it's tough to broadcast live demonstrations," he said. "But we've got the audio and Powerpoint pieces of the puzzle down to where it's pretty high quality and it's a good experience."

Other companies for the most part are sticking to using the software to archive meetings. Big Planet, a Provo, Utah, technology firm, twice a year holds a large conference that it records and archives for people who can't attend. Said director of digital broadcast services Al Jensen, "Anyone who is on the Internet can play them back and listen to everything they would have listened to if they had come." But he acknowledged that a certain technological expertise--and a technology budget--are important. "It helps a great deal that we are in the business," he said. "To play the meeting back, you must have an audiovisual system on your computer, and with anything less than 28.8K modem speed, you will not get a seamless flow of images."

Sullivan agreed that "you can't do video over 28.8K, but you can have a good audio experience. At 56.6K or above, the audio is really nice and you can scrape the surface of decent video, although it's still a bit jagged."

That's why "the early adopters always are technology companies," Smith said.