Sound Quality Tips:

• Make sure you are calling in from a quiet location so that you do not distract participants with background noise.
• If you have a weak Internet connection and want to share your video, then dial in by phone so that your audio will not be interrupted if there is some lag in your video.
• Ask others to make sure that you’re not speaking too far or too close to your microphone.

Screensharing: If you want to share your screen, you must use the Firefox Internet browser (screensharing with Chrome is coming soon). You will have to download this Firefox Screensharing Plugin, and then drag it onto Firefox to install it.  Screensharing takes additional bandwidth, so you might need to dial in by phone instead of using your computer microphone if you intend to share your screen.

Example script for organizers to familiarize participants with QiqoChat when the event begins:

• “We have many people on the call today.  Please mute your phone when you are note speaking, or if you are using your computer microphone, there is a mute button on the screen.”
• “If you would like to speak, press the red “Raise Hand” button on the left side of the page.  Go ahead and try it now.  [Wait a few seconds as people try it.]  You will be able to put your hand down by clicking the red X next to your name.  If you are on the phone but not at your computer, speak up anytime and I’ll call on you in order.”
• You can see the notes for the main table on the right side of this page.  Go ahead and write something so that you can see how it’s done. [Wait a few seconds as people try the notes.]
• “I’ll explain how to jump to a breakout table when it’s time.”

Example script to read participants when it’s time to head to breakout tables:

• “Please listen to all the instructions first; they only take a few seconds.”
• “Everyone will simply click on the table number on the left side of the screen.  If you are using your computer microphone, you browser will prompt you to turn on your microphone again.  If you are dialing in by phone, you must also press the star key.  Then you will hear the instructions to enter the table number followed by the pound sign.”
• “I’ll read these instructions again.  If you are not sure what to do, just stand by in the main table, and I’ll point you to where you need to go after everyone else gets on their way.” [Then read instructions above again.]

You can use the collaborative notes area to have people suggest topics for the breakout tables.  It’s best to have a small number of people at each breakout table (3-5) so that everyone gets a chance to speak.  If you have more than 5 people who want to discuss a topic, consider having multiple tables with the same topic.  To label the breakout tables, click “Admin Controls” and then “Label the Breakout Tables”.

Before having people head off into breakout tables, have all participants indicate which breakout table they want to join first.  You can accomplish this by listing all table topics in the collaborative notes, and having everyone add their name near that table in the notes.  This makes the breakout process much, much simpler.  If some people are not using the web interface (just dialing in by phone), you can assign them to a breakout table by writing their name in the notes and letting them know which table you have assigned them to.

When people use their phone to jump to a new breakout table, they sometimes forget to update their screen so that they can see the breakout table notes.  If that is the case, then they will still be looking at the Main Table’s collaborative notes.  After everyone has gone to breakout tables, you can post the following message note on the Main Table Collaborative Notes:

[Put a few blank lines above.]

“You are currently looking at the notes for the main table.  You probably want to see the notes for your breakout, so click your table on the left to update your screen.”

[Put a few blank lines below to make it stand out.]

Then remove those instructions when everyone has updated their screen.