Live Streaming - Someday All Events Will Be Like This!

UPDATED: 16:00

I am currently attending Digital 2012 (hashtag #digi2012) via their entirely excellent Glocast live stream.

I am sitting in Kirkwall watching Marc Sands from the Tate Gallery explain the there social media strategy, engaged in a text based chat session with other remote-attenders (all as part of the application making the event available online), which is moderated by someone at the conference in ...erm.... wherever it is physically (UPDATE 16:00: It's at SECC in Glasgow, and there are about 400 people there in person, apparently: they seemed to like the fact they were joined by people from Shetland, Orkney, Greece and Finland, judging by the applause!). Hannah, the moderator, is occasionally providing weblinks in chat (for example, a piece by getambITion on twitter and the Tate), and noting questions to be asked of the speakers. I'd usually be content with an audio link, but it's nice to have the video on this occasion as well (some great hair styles and fabulous images from the Tate's collection are appearing!)

Now it's Paul Gillooly of BSkyB speaking: his opening comment is that anyone who tells you they are an expert in social media is either trying to sell you something, or .... (I think he said may not be all they claim to be). I agree, and so I want to listen to the talks now, so will finish with this thought: why are so few organisations who claim expertise in technology or communication any good at all at providing live streamed events? This one has obviously spent a good deal of effort and money on providing the facility, but there are cheaper, easier ways of doing it. Any organisation claiming to offer an inclusive, national service should be ashamed if they do not, by now, have an appropriate plan in place to ensure that live streaming of events is (on some fairly short timescale) embedded in their operations.

(UPDATE: 16:00) BElieve it or not, someone arrived in chat, asking if streaming to an iPad would work for the event. On being told "it's not available on Glocast yet, he said: Would suggest serious omission in terms of today's event. Signing off! Which just goes to show 2 things: there is always room for improvement, and Apple users are (to put it politely) very demanding!

This will be one of my suggestions for discussion at IslandGovCamp in Kirkwall (25-27 May 2012) - if you are interested, please register via that link. If you wish, you'll be able to attend via our live stream, but then you'll miss out on social activities .....