JANUARY 2007

Connecting with Acrobat user groups & users

by Kurt Foss, Editor, AcrobatUsers.com

Since AcrobatUsers.com was launched slightly less than a year ago, the ranks of registered members has reached 8,000, representing some 80 countries. During that time period, those members living within a reasonable distance of one of the 18 (to date) local user-group chapters have had an opportunity to attend quarterly meetings led by experts in the community and/or from Adobe Systems.

The one downside of the carefully managed addition of new chapters in 2006 — a deliberate move to allow the first wave to prosper before launching too many new ones — left many users without a nearby gathering to attend. In 2007, proximity to a local chapter is no longer a barrier to participation.

All existing chapters are being enabled with and trained to utilize Adobe Acrobat Connect, which will allow virtual attendance and participation through the use of each chapter's respective Connect meeting room. Local chapter meeting announcements will include a specific URL for that meeting; users will be able to log in at the appointed time, view the live presentation, ask questions and get most of the same educational benefits as on-site attendees.

NOTE: To find a Connect meeting near you, check out the meeting details page of upcoming chapter meetings.

Boston chapter is first to connect

Early last month, the Boston-area chapter was the first to offer the use of a live Connect meeting room. A handful of members logged in for a December 8 presentation on new forms functionality by Ali Hanyaloglu of Adobe Systems.

"Using Connect is allowing the Acrobat User Community to bridge the power of the web with the interactivity of a live meeting," says Hanyaloglu.

It appeared to work seamlessly, and asked afterward about the experience, several Connect participants gave it high marks.

Almost like being there, participants say

"It is very difficult for me to attend in person," says Terry Paolino, Advertising Production Coordinator for The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, "so this was a great opportunity for me to get a feel for attending."

"I had not attended any of the meetings in person prior to logging in," he says, "because location and times are difficult. I learned about the online access via email and was extremely happy to be able to 'sit in' on this meeting."

"I've attended other meetings using the Acrobat Connect and think it is a step in the right direction," Paolino says, "because it offers an opportunity to people who cannot physically attend an on-site meeting. The audio and presentation are as if you're right there as well – you’re able to comment or ask questions online."

One member who had attended a previous chapter meeting in person didn't think he was going to be able to get to the Boston session in December. Turned out he got there — without leaving the office. After attending via Connect, Mr. Jiggs, the IT manager of a small area company, indicated he'll definitely be logging in to future meetings. "I have attended a previous meeting and intended to attend this one," he says, "but too many things arose at work that morning."

Chapter leaders see numerous benefits

Other chapters will be promoting their respective Connect meeting room URLs in future announcements during 2007, once they've been trained on how to make effective use of the web conferencing tool. Users will no longer be limited to attending local or regional meetings, but rather will be able to log in to any chapter meeting if the presentation topic or speaker is of interest. Nicole Sell, leader of the Nebraska chapter, sees interest from and benefits to users and chapter leaders.

"We have had many requests to have the user meetings online," she says. "It will be useful to the Nebraska Chapter because we have branched out to two different groups, Lincoln and Omaha. It will be nice to have both groups come together at one time, rather than having the same meeting twice."

"I am also excited to have the opportunity to join other user groups," she says. "It will be great to learn from their meetings. It's also a nice way to share speakers and topics."

Breaking down geographic barriers

Boston chapter leader Hanyaloglu agrees. "The primary benefit is that group members can very easily participate in these meetings without having to be concerned about leaving the comfort of their offices or homes. It also allows me to be able to bring in speakers from anywhere without worrying about them having to travel. In the near future, I'll be able to hold meetings more frequently, and record them for others to see at a later date.”

Figure 1: Users can see the presenter's screen at their location.
See larger image

Adobe Systems is usually represented at the various chapter meetings, and the required travel helped to keep Lori DeFurio on the go in 2006. For the December meeting, she was on hand via Connect to help Hanyaloglu respond to user questions. She still plans to attend a number of meetings in person in 2007 because "it is very important for me to stay connected with the local chapters, and I visit a few meetings per quarter throughout the year. However, I will be able to attend many more meetings via Connect and plan to attend all this year — unless two are at the same time."

The use of Connect opens up new possibilities for chapter leaders and for the concept of user-group chapters in general, according to Hanyaloglu.

"We've already seen in our first meeting how I can reach out to Acrobat users well beyond the geographic range of the community," he says. "I'm planning on using Connect to be able to grow the user-community membership and reach out to Acrobat users in New England further afield from metro Boston. We'll also be able to have live meetings out in places like beautiful Portland, Maine or Burlington, Vermont and yet still include members closer to Boston."

Subtle impact on presentation delivery

It also changes some of the ways he'll run meetings.

"One important thing that a meeting host or leader has to keep in mind is to make sure online attendees are engaged throughout the meeting," says Hanyaloglu. "If you don't include the online attendees through things like polling or chat, then they won't feel connected to the live meeting. In person, we can all meet each other, talk to each other and have discussions. Those things can be translated into the online Connect meeting world, but require some thought, planning and possibly subtle changes in the way the presentation is given."

There was one minor limitation: At the Boston meeting's first Connect test drive, only on-site attendees were eligible to win the door prize. But even that could change.

Hanyaloglu says "I'll just need to figure out a way for online attendees to be included in the prize raffle we always have!"

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