[Air-l] Why not make Aoir 5.0 "Virtual conference"? Because a test is needed first

[Ed Lamoureux]

Really seems to me that the virtual option is something that needs to 
be developed as a test, then scaled over time.

Hard to imagine both running a convention AND providing wall-to-wall 
interactive coverage of it.

I do think that Aoir should do virtual conferencing.

But I don't think that it should be in the traditional conference mode.

I'm thinking more of panels of people interacting with each other 
remotely . . . with broadcast to a larger audience . . . in sessions 
that are entirely virtual.

Attending academic panel sessions is often deadly boring business. 
Watching them on TV (esp. with bandwidth and screen size limitations) 
is daunting. However, if the interactants are primarily in a virtual 
space, they have to adjust their behavior in order to enliven that 
space anyway . . . which then makes for a better audience experience 
too.

I think that the group would be better off developing a model that 
works by doing an off-term virtual meeting or series of meetings   . . 
. but not messing with the yearly convention at this point.

The travel issues for an international/global organization are vexing. 
But it would be better to have a meeting one can count on than risking 
an entire year with a tough-duty laden, trial balloon (even if other 
organizations have made efforts from which we can learn).

Edward Lee Lamoureux, Ph. D.
Director, Multimedia Program and New Media Center
Associate Professor, Speech Communication
1501 W. Bradley
Bradley University
Peoria IL  61625
309-677-2378
http://hilltop.bradley.edu/~ell
http://gcc.bradley.edu/mm/