APRIL 2007

Online-only PDF Conference connects with attendees

by Kurt Foss, Editor, AcrobatUsers.com

Normally it wouldn't be good news if you planned an industry conference and nobody came.

But for Carl Young, founder and host of the PDF Conference, the fact that no users journeyed to attend the latest incarnation of the longest-running annual event of its kind—launched in 2000 and focusing exclusively on Acrobat—was exactly what he wanted. This year, in part as a test of the concept, he brought the event to them.

Young had announced months earlier he was adopting a new look and format—switching the traditional site-based conference to a series of online-only events, utilizing Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional to link a small group of expert speakers with attendees logged in from a variety of locations. The first event, conducted March 20-21, was organized around a theme of how to "Optimize Your Workflow with PDF Forms." It featured a handful of expert presenters who each gave a one-hour presentation on a specific forms topic, with the six sessions spread over two days. The pricing structure ($50 per session or $300 for all) allowed for the conference to be broadcast into one conference room for group viewing, so a company could have multiple people involved at no additional expense—the more people in the room, the lower the per-attendee cost and the greater the potential corporate benefit.

For Paul Showalter of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the online-conference approach meant he could involve 22 people at the Washington, D.C. office in one or more sessions—a cost of less than $15 per person—rather than the one or two he might have been able to afford to send to a site-based educational event. "I can't get cab fare from here to the airport for that," he says. "From a cost-benefit analysis, it was huge."

Gathering in a well-equipped IRS training room—with computers, an overhead projector and built-in sound system—Showalter says employees could leave their desks five minutes before a session was set to begin, walk down the hallway and then be back at work shortly after a session ended an hour later. From an efficiency and productivity standpoint, "You can't beat that," he says.

The significant cost savings helped Steve Dayton with the Electronic Media Group of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints get quick approval to register for the recent PDF Conference, which he'd attended in previous years at several hotel-based locations. Attending virtually appealed to him on a personal level, too.

Figure 1: The first online-only PDF Conference had a forms theme for all six presentations.

"I rather liked doing a conference this way this time," says Dayton, who was logged in from his office cubicle in Salt Lake City. "I don't particularly like to travel—especially by myself—so this was a great opportunity to not have to use up so much time getting to a location to learn something. It was fairly easy to arrange the time and I could go home at the end of the day."

Things didn't go quite as smoothly for Jim Peet with the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station near Phoenix, operated by Arizona Public Service (APS). His plans to involve up to 25 people were thwarted by last-minute logistical changes, forcing him to switch to a smaller conference room that could accommodate only seven people; audio was limited to a speakerphone.

Figure 2: The Acrobat Connect interface provides a main document viewing area framed by a variety of smaller pods for specific purposes.

Peet says the confined space contributed to some comprehension problems. "During the online conferences, it is sometimes difficult to keep many participants quiet if the detailed information gets too complicated and they become disinterested," he says, noting that the cumulative attention span seemed to get lower toward the end of the conference.

And while attendees sought to adapt to some of the pros and cons of what for most was a first experience with an online-only conference, the expert presenters likewise faced a variety of challenges in speaking to a faceless, virtual audience. Some things worked well and others left room for improvement, or at least refinement.

On the plus side, Lori DeFurio of Adobe Systems was able to participate even though she was actually on vacation in California on the conference dates. Had it been a live, in-person event, she says she would have had to decline.

Much further to the west, Hawaii-based Ted Padova enjoyed being able to give his presentation from his desktop computer at home "where I have access to all my files," adding in jest that it also meant he was "able to work in my underwear at 3 a.m." (Then again, considering the local time, maybe he wasn't kidding.)

Rather than being able to see each other and all the cues and types of information that can be gleaned through visual interaction, conference attendees and presenters were linked through the Acrobat Connect meeting room interface. It provides a central presentation area, with a series of smaller, special-purpose "pods" framing the primary viewing area. The pods provide a means to submit and respond (by text entry) to questions during a presentation, post and download relevant support files, survey participants and so on. There is also a private pod area where presenters can host live discussions with each other during sessions; they can also join in public discussions, which proved valuable.

"I like the idea of having interaction from colleagues while delivering a presentation," says Padova. "I think it makes the presentation more interesting for the audience."

He also felt a need to develop a routine for conducting sessions online with multiple presenters, especially getting support with handling questions being submitted live by attendees. "I wanted more interaction from hosts and other presenters to keep up with the audience comments," Padova says.

What he'd like to see developed, based on lessons learned from the PDF Conference, is "some guidelines for setting up our Connect workspaces—screen resolutions, setting a presenter's sharing space, logging in on multiple computers, standards for audio, muting audio and general practices. These should all be written up in a guide and shared with presenters prior to a conference."

Figure 3: Attendees could ask questions--and get answers from the presenters--in one of the Acrobat Connect pods.

The lack of physical interaction also proved challenging—to differing degrees—for attendees. And not just regarding communication with the host and speakers.

"The comments I got back from my people is that they missed the interaction of not being able to talk to other attendees," says the IRS' Showalter. "It would have been nice if they could have asked questions of each other. Most of the time when you go to a conference, what you learn probably comes about 40 percent from the sessions and around 60 percent from interacting with the other attendees."

Dayton concurred that the lack of contact among attendees was a shortcoming. "When you're attending a conference in person," he says, "there can be interaction with other attendees sitting in the same room. Sometimes you find someone with a similar interests who you can get together with to discuss solutions or share ideas between sessions."

Peet says "I find it easier to follow the subject when I can see the presenters in person," adding that as a power user, he prefers the traditional conference format with a broader range of topics. At the same time, he says on the basis of "the cost and the ease of getting the information," he would recommend an online conference. "It gives those users who will never be allowed or available to attend a full PDF Conference a chance to experience and learn more about what Adobe has to offer."

Figure 4: Speakers could make presentations and associated files available for download by attendees in a special Acrobat Connect pod.

Showalter had suggestions for future attendees that he believes would help to maximize the benefits, recognizing the differences and finding ways to take advantage of what the online format offers. In his opinion, projecting the conference onto a large screen allowed the IRS to facilitate greater interaction among company attendees, drawing attention to key features and the most-relevant tips—something not possible during an on-site presentation.

"What I noticed in watching it on a computer monitor and on our larger projection screen is that you get a different feel for it if it's projected versus watching it on your computer," Showalter says. "My recommendation to attendees is that, if you can, get a conference room, get a laptop and hook a projector up to it. Because we didn't have two-way audio, we were interjecting comments back and forth about the presentations as things were going on, such as 'This is very pertinent to us' or 'Look at how this is being done.' That was really one of the best things."

Adobe's DeFurio also had advice for future online speakers. "To present online, you need all your materials either preloaded or right at your fingertips," she says. "In a live event you can chat while looking for a file, or talking about something, whereas online the audience can't 'see' what you are doing and you need to have something on screen at all time."

Conference host Young solicited feedback from all attendees and presenters to help guide the development of future events. For now, he is "rolling out a series of online classes in April and May" on various Acrobat and LiveCycle Designer topics. He hopes the low-cost ($75), one-hour sessions will help to "educate the market about this concept."

While there were some tradeoffs and key differences in the online-only format, most agreed the first-time experience was a success and a sign that "the time of the online conference has come," as speaker Thom Parker summarized the event in his blog.

At the IRS, Showalter agrees. "It vastly exceeded what I thought it would be," he says, adding that he'd expand to include participation by other IRS offices if similar events are offered in the future.

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