skypecast scaredy-cat rethink

I'm cancelling the Skypecast scheduled for tomorrow evening. Not sure I'm ready for that. But I'm going back to the orginal plan and do a chat. I'm going to suggest Campfire since you can do it through a regular browser and I like the stuff that 37signals build. Time will be the same - 6pm BST. The address for the Campfire room is planningschool.campfirenow.com and the password is iloverussell. But I think you don't need the password, I think you can go straight in as a guest if you go here - http://planningschool.campfirenow.com/95aac

If anyone's around this evening at 6pm BST I'm going to try and have a practise then.

Comments

[ed]

Hello Russell.

Tried getting into the Campfire thing just now. I think it's maxed out on participants (four people in the room currently). Have you limited capacity to only four people?

Cheers.

Ed

[Michelle]

Any chance this chat can be recorded somehow? As much as I'd love to chat, I'm not at my best at 3am :)

[Glyn Britton]

Just out of interest, why was the Skypecast idea scary?

Fear of speaking to a large group of people? You must do that a lot though?
Fear of not being able to control the cast and it descending into chaos?
Fear of actually speaking to people who until now have just been email addresses?

Or something more mundane?

Disclosure: I’m a planner, working on Skype. We’re finding some really fascinating things from this early preview of Skypecasts. One of the most attended ‘casts so far was a bunch of mates watching the recent game between Trinidad and Tobago and Peru together.

[russell]

hello Glynn, thanks for the suggestions. We should try that. And thanks for the questions. You're forcing to examine myself now, which I never like doing, but here are some answers:

1. Not really fear of speaking to a large group. You're right that happens a lot. And it's not that I can't see them, I've done a bit of radio and that's not scary. I think it's more fear of being responsible for a large group. Will I know how to keep the thing going? How will I manage it? etc

2. Yes, definitely fear of it descending into chaos. Or worse descending into something akin to a poorly attended chatroom. With those bits of cactus blowing through.

3. Somewhat fear of speaking people who have been only email addresses.

4. Lack of preparation. I hadn't really worked out what to talk about.

5. Technological doubt. I've been trying to have a few conference calls via Skype recently, and they've not worked very well. That seems OK with people I know, but for something like this it seemed like inviting people to a party when you're not sure if the venue you've booked is actually going to be there.

Does that make sense?

I will reschedule though. Maybe with less notice, and therefore less expectation.

[Glyn Britton]

Thanks Russell, that’s really useful feedback, which I’ve passed on to the Skypecasts team.

I had quite a ‘yuk’ feeling about the idea myself, but I still think it’s cool to put the pre-beta preview out there and see what people make of it.