The Age of the Webinar

Monday, the Mesa FamilySearch Library moved into the Age of the Webinar with their first online presentation by Lynn Melville. They are using the term "Webinar" to refer to a live online presentation that can be watched in real time. The term "Webcast" is being used to refer to previous presentations that are now available to be watched at any time. Links to the Webcasts are on the Mesa FamilySearch Library site along with a link to upcoming Webinars. You might notice that I am scheduled to talk about FamilySearch Family Tree on October 15th at 2:00 pm. The presentation will be broadcast live online at that time. Arizona does not have Daylight Savings time so right now our time is the same as the Pacific time zone.

The Mesa FamilySearch Library has installed a new state-of-the-art Webinar class room that enables the presenter to use a white board with the computer to both emphasize the presentation and control the presentation from the white board. If you watch Lynn Melville's presentation dated 17 October 2012, you will see the technology in use.

I realize that all this is old news to some of the genealogists out there, but Mesa may be the first FamilySearch Library (formerly called Family History Centers) to jump into online presentation in a big way. As I watched Lynn's presentation on Monday, I realized that there would need to be some changes in the way I have been presenting classes. If you watch one of my webcasts, you might keep in mind that I will be changing some of the things I did previously. Also, the technology of the newest webcast, the one by Lynn Melville, is what will be used online in the future.