Today we held our first Google+ Hangout On Air. We didn’t advertise the event broadly because we wanted to run through the process once to make sure we didn’t have any major technical issues. Our first Hangout included Julia Stone, Kameron Swinton, Aaron Lintz, Joshua Jones, Arron Daniels, Randy Bailey, and Laurie DesAutels (our #SourceConLive Co-Host). Despite a few minor technical issues (mostly user error on my part), our first show was a success.
Why did we choose to use Google+?
- Hangouts are highly interactive.
- Hangouts are streamed live on Youtube. Viewers can watch shared Hangouts in their Twitter feed, on Google+, on Youtube, or anywhere else we choose to embed the video.
- A new QA feature allows viewers ask the Hangout participants questions.
- At the end of each show, videos automatically save to Youtube.
Watch our first attempt and hear more about how Kameron Swinton solved the Grand Master Challenge.
What did I learn as a host?
1) The audience sees what I am looking at. When I click on a person, the audience sees exactly what I see. For that reason, when people are talking on this week’s video, it’s often showing a different person on the screen. I will make sure not to make this mistake moving forward.
2) Since I work virtual, it was a nice diversion to hang out with a group of my peers during the middle of the day.
Moving forward
Our next show will be on Thursday, October 24, at 12pm CDT. Laurie DesAutels and I will be joined by several industry thought leaders who are at LinkedIn Talent Connect in Las Vegas this week. Join us to ask them any questions you have about the event. #SourceConLive will stream on my Google+ profile and on the SourceCon page so be sure to circle both.
Getting started with Google+
If you’ve avoided Google+ due to social media fatigue, it’s time to get out of your Twitter/Facebook comfort zone. Here are a few posts to get you started.
The Best Google+ Help and Resources