April 6, 2012 Update: The talk is over and went very well. We had a max of around 22 participants and the interaction with Bob was very informative. We attempted to record the talk using the built-in recording feature of the webinar software we are using (GoToWebinar by Citrix). It created a Windows Media Video (.wmv) file that plays correctly on a few Windows computers we tested on. However, when we tested it on OS X machines using a wide variety of video players we could never get it to fully work. We also attempted to upload it to YouTube and their software rejected the format as well. So we can't promise it will work on all computers. We are investigating alternatives for recording future webinars.
Click here to download a recording of the talk (170MB WMV file).
(There is some technical chit chat at the beginning - you may want to skip 5-10 minutes into the recording for the good stuff)
Citizen Sky/AAVSO will be hosting a webinar/online talk with Bob Naeye, editor-in-chief of Sky & Telescope magazine on April 4, 2012 at 3pm EST (19 UT).
We are experimenting with a new chat software called GoTo Webinar. It is a web-based application that allows the speaker to talk w/audio and also share their screen and presentation slides. It also can host up to 200 people, far more than our text-only IRC software. As the attendee, you can ask questions via a text chat box or via your audio microphone, talking to Bob directly.
To join the webinar/online talk, you need to register by clicking here.
You can do that now, to reserve a spot, or you can do it later when the talk begins.
All you have to input is your name and e-mail address. No other information is requested.
We hope this new software allows for a better chat experience between attendees and presenters. Please let us know what you think about it after the chat is over.
We do not plan to remove the existing AAVSO IRC chat room. Instead, this software will be used to augment it for special chat occasions.