Notes from the Social Software Showcase
Jul 2nd, 2008 by Karen
Watching and participating in the Social Software Showcase from a distance is really neat. Particularly watching Griffey in action! My biggest disappointment was that only 2 people showed up for the virtual discussion :( . I can understand why, hey the discussion was on a Saturday. I’m hoping that more people show up for the virtual discussion today Wednesday July 2, which will focus on the social aspect (or not) of library software.
The uStream live video worked like a thing of beauty. The biggests downside… you can’t participate interactively. Although I did get to talk to someone else watching, which was pretty cool.
The presentations themselves were awesome, as usual. I love seeing how different people choose to create their web-based presentations. Even the differences among videos created. Some are more traditional screencasts but other incorporate other elements. Chris Barr did a great job with adding music and graphics to his on Social Features of VuFind to make it snazzy. Jason Griffey took a completely different approach and chose to not “talk” in his at all. I can’t describe it well, you just have to watch it. All of them gave me new ideas about creating web-based presentations.
The biggest thing we found out with the Showcase this year, which we sort of already knew. Is that it doesn’t scale well. Jason said over the video that they had 90+ people which is cool. But how do you do small group discussion with 90+ people? Rachel suggested more tables with topics spread out over a bigger room or multiple rooms. Another person suggest it be open all day for people to come and go.
Where exactly the Showcase goes next year I don’t know. I can’t imagine BIGWIG not doing it again. But we are going to have to resolve some of the physical space issues. However, I’d love to see us keep expanding the virtual parts and trying to make it better. I believe it is a worthwhile experience for most participants, even with some of the bumps in the road.
