Podcast: Is social media a waste of time?

Fascinating! I really enjoyed the discussion about meetings and being able to use social media tools. We’ve all sat through horrid, badly chaired meetings that are just a huge waste of attention and resources.

Seth Godin wrote a while ago about a meeting app that could be built specifically for an iPad.

I loved this so much i tried to use aspects of it with Microsoft Communicator and sharepoint – there has been mixed success.

I would be interested in readers thoughts:

1. There’s an agenda, distributed by the host, visible to everyone, with time of start and stop, and it updates as the meeting progresses (we do this manually).

2. There’s a timer, keeping things moving because it sits next to the agenda (i use a clock/stopwatch widget).

3. The host or presenter can push an image or spreadsheet to each device whenever she chooses (we collect these before the meeting and anyone can call for them to be raised).

4. There’s an internal back channel that the host can turn on, permitting people in the room to chat privately with each other. (And the whole thing works on internal wifi, so no internet surfing to distract!) (we have communicator online).

5. There’s a big red ‘bored’ button that each attendee can push anonymously. The presenter can see how many red lights are lighting up at any give time. (I ask people to raise their hands if they are bored or if they think we are going off topic – its an unobtrusive and pretty analogue method but it works).

6. There’s a bigger green ‘GO!’ button that each attendee can push anonymously. It lets the host or presenter see areas where more depth is wanted. (we just ask people for more info).

7. There’s a queue for asking questions, so they just don’t go to the loudest, bravest or most powerful. (if people have a question they send them to the minute taker and we have a list at the end that we address)

8. There’s a voting mechanism. (we don’t do this).

9. There’s a whiteboard so anyone can draw an idea and push it to the group. (we have made whiteboards available but this isn’t popular!)

10. There’s a written record of all activity created, so at the end, everyone who attended can get an email digest of what just occurred. Hey, it could even include who participated the most, who asked questions that others thought were useful, who got the most ‘boring’ button presses while speaking… (minutes are created online and so they are sent out within the hour).

Thanks!