I attended the event virtually too, and fortunately the sound worked for me. I really enjoyed the backchannel options, in fact it was probably this element that kept me nipping back to listen to the presentations. Getting confirmation of views from others attending virtually and those at the event made it feel like you weren’t missing out. On the etiquette front, it was interesting/surprising (?) to see some quite pointed comments being made regarding one particular presentation while it was underway, but perhaps that just makes the audience think about it all the more…

I posted my thoughts on the event (http://tinyurl.com/4u7go7) not as erudite as yours, I’m afraid!

@Rowin – gosh you write well! Very engaging and thoughtful post. I think you’re right about the etiquette of technology in F2F circumstances still evolving (and this is happening in a society where many folk seem to think all basic public courtesies are eroding).

I am one of those who gets initially annoyed if a meeting venue doesn’t have wireless. However, these days I let it go and relax into it: it gives me an excuse to be behind in my work!

However, many sessions only require half my attention to pick up the useful stuff though. You can bet that if there is a presentation or discussion that needs my full attention, it will get it. That doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with the presentations requiring only half my attention- I am still getting benefit and it is not always a reflection on the presenter or the topic. I saw a good presentation at an ALT-C in recent years where someone (from the OU I think) quoted another teacher who openly said to people at the start of a session: if you need to be online during this, that’s fine. End of story. That’s the reality of technology and what it lets us do these days. If I can multi-task by working and listening to a speaker or discussion, that’s great.

Re your point about the live blogging / twittering etc. though: I think some folk get carried away with gadgets and things- and that is another fact of our times and technology. I feel for the speaker or facilitator having to deal with the rudeness of people holding, basically, side conversations in full view of everyone. However, I’ve never actually experienced this, I am reacting to yours and Sheila’s posts! I don’t get out as much as I used to

Asking questions at events is in itself not for the weak and seems to decrease event by event as often you wonder whether you’re going to be made to feel just a couple of feet tall by the answer you receive to the question you ask.

So, to know that there’s a channel of communication going on that you can engage with when you return to your seat (as a presenter) or contribute to yourself when the questions are streaming was I felt the sort of thing that all presenters ought to be excited about – it puts them on their mettle and places them into possible zones of discomfort that can only improve the quality of the overall event.

The one rider to all of this is that it does mean the slides have to be provided in advance of the event so that all participants – present and remote – can better take part.

Thanks for your post however; it provides a different perspective to mine on the same event, which is to be found at http://tinyurl.com/5eb5mf

This has really made me think about my own practice. I have started twitter etc at conferences and I have to say that on a personal level I’ve found it very useful for keeping me focussed on what is happening. I’m afraid I can be a bit like Paddington and my mind does tend to wander at times and think of marmalade sandwiches etc. Previously I would have probably just doodled but now at least I have a (sort of) coherent record of where I’ve been and what happened.

It’s also interested to see other people’s impressions of events/talks too. Maybe I’m just a technology optimist, but I’m all for people having laptops at conferences. Also as Andy Powell noted from their recent symposium, you can get more questions from online participants, than those in the room. We’ve all been in that horrible situation when someone asks “any questions” and there is a lot of shuffling, paper rustling etc but no questions:-) To counter the noise from typing maybe we just need to remind people that they don’t need to hit their keyboards with the force of a hammer:-)