In 1979 British group the Buggles in their smash hit proclaimed a new technology - “video” - would kill off radio. Similarly there have been countless claims that the internet will kill of radio, TV, print and traditional telephone services and that web conferencing will kill off face to face meetings and events.
Well, rumours of their demise are well and truly exaggerated. The internet is a truly wonderful and disruptive technology – the vehicle where new horizons can be explored and in some cases supersede old technologies. Web conferencing is interesting but it simply does not provide the same experience sitting 60cm in front of a small, “stuttering” screen versus being there. I mean what would life be without the social networking, boozing and dangerous liaisons that meetings provide.
This technology is still too embryonic to be a serious threat. It is still too expensive to be widely adopted, but over time it will become mainstream. This will happen when a number of things occur.
• When all the baby boomers are gone – they still like a good knees up at a meeting and are not used to assimilating information via the small screen
• Conversely when Gen Y rule they will have been conditioned to receiving all manner of information on their tiny two inch phone screens.
 • When the internet is ubiquitous and fast. Video conferencing really does not work well on speeds under 20Mbps – and most of Australia is still on .512 to 1Mbps.
The technology however is maturing and I thought it best to look at the various steps you would take to web cast a meeting.
First is capturing the images. We use at least two cameramen as there is nothing so boring than looking at a speaker presenting at a lectern. The images and sound are recorded in broadcast (DVD) quality (very large size). Average price of a cameraman and broadcast quality camera equipment and lighting is about $2000 per day. The price goes up dramatically if you want to have an interactive session where home viewers can ask questions live. It is rare that live footage is webcast – the venue would need an exceptionally fast internet connection and the right hardware.
Next we engage a video editor whose task is to mix in any graphics the presenter has used, perhaps add sub-titles, integrate questions, sometimes add music and edit out the pregnant pauses. A video editor will charge at least $1000 per day and most say that it takes at least three times longer than the length of the raw footage shot to edit it into something useful. We often get the presenter in to the studio later to shoot some question and answer sessions or to add more clarity to their presentation – more cost.
Once the footage has been edited it is converted and downsized into smaller (usually QVGA 320x230x15 frames per second or VGA 640x480x30 frames per second), compressed to MP4 or AVI or streaming media video files that can be accessed over the internet. These are loaded on a media server with a good high speed (at least 100Mbps) internet connection. The server usually has software that manages pay per view or free downloads. There is a cost in using a hosting server.
However, home and businesses are using the technology on a smaller scale for business meetings, training, chatting with the rellies, etc. All you need is a cheap web camera, a PC and hook-up to Skype or other programs. The thing that holds them back is bandwidth. Whilst a voice call (VoIP) can successfully be transmitted in well under 100Kbps (.1 Mbps) video requires more like 2Mbps minimum to transmit small, stutter-filled images.
Home users will put up with this and use QVGA, or if they have a very fast connection then use VGA. There are traps, however. Video chews up megabytes per minute and can quickly exhaust typical download limits. If you are with an ISP like BigPond you also pay for uploads – almost twice the cost.
Yes, video will eventually replace expensive airline flights but I doubt that it will be immersive and fast enough to kill off face to face meetings – at least in my lifetime. And besides, we all enjoy and profit from networking.
Costly – very costly to do it well. Ugly, very ugly to do it on the cheap.
Ray Shaw is an accredited meeting manager (AMM), IT journalist and chairman of Event Planners Australia. To contact him email ray@im.com.au or visit www.eventplanners.com.au.
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