PowerPoint Blog
Labels: brainshark, interviews, online_presentations, powerpoint
Joe Gustafson, CEO of Brainshark, Inc., founded the company in 1999 to help knowledge experts accelerate the flow of information to their audiences in a highly effective format. He is an experienced leader in the technology-based training industry, and prior to Brainshark, was the founder and CEO of Relational Courseware, Inc. (acquired by Gartner). Under Joe's leadership, Brainshark has become a leader in on-demand business communications and a successful Software-as-a-Service company, with more than 1,000 world-class customers, including a third of the Fortune 100. In this interview, Joe talks about the new myBrainshark site.
Read the interview here...
Categories: brainshark, interviews, online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint, presentation_samples, slideshare
SlideShare's annual presentation contest continues showcasing changes in PowerPoint design -- and also design in relation to SlideShare's social media evolution. The winner for this year's World’s Best Presentation Contest is a presentation called Healthcare Napkins All, created by Dan Roam with Dr. Tony Jones.
You can see all the winning entries on the SlideShare site.
Finalists were chosen by a panel of judges comprising Padmasree Warrior, CTO of Cisco, Guy Kawasaki, Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures, and David Armano, founding member of Dachis group and author of Logic + Emotion.
Also, read SlideShare CEO Rashmi Sinha's thoughts on this contest in this Indezine exclusive interview.
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint, presentation_samples, slideshare
Labels: interviews, online_presentations, powerpoint, presentation_samples, slideshare 
Rashmi Sinha is cofounder and CEO of SlideShare, the world's largest community for sharing presentations. She manages design and business development at SlideShare. Rashmi has a PhD in Cognitive Neuropsychology from Brown University. She did a PostDoc at UC Berkeley in Human Computer Interaction. She blogs at www.rashmisinha.com about social software and running a startup.
Geetesh: Three presentation contests in as many years – how has SlideShare’s World Best Presentation Contest evolved over the years?
Rashmi: The first year, it was a straightforward contest - to identify great presentations. But we realized that there were different categories of presentations and introduced categories (Tech, Education, About Me, Business, Creative / Offbeat), the second time. This time, we have new judges - people who are social media experts and understand the power of presentations as web media. And that is the focus of the contest this time: Presentations as social media.
Geetesh: Tell me about the winner?
Rashmi: The winning presentation is one of those that that makes an impact on you straight away. Health care is such a complex issue. Its really hard to get one's head around it. Dan Roam has done a remarkable job of summarizing how health care works in America in 57 slides. Its quite impressive.
I wish there would be a series of such presentations explaining complex topics in simple terms.
Geetesh: Tell us more about the Best Acrobat Presentation subset that’s being organized as part of this contest.
Rashmi: Adobe is helping make the contest happen on a much larger scale than before. We have been able to organize it on a bigger scale, offer some great prizes for SlideShare users - all thanks to Adobe. Adobe recently introduce Acrobat 9, a new platform for creating presentations, and we wanted SlideShare users to have a chance to explore this new platform.
See Also: The World's Best Presentation Contest 2008: Conversation with Rashmi Sinha
Categories: interviews, online_presentations, powerpoint, presentation_samples, slideshare
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint, slideshare
SlideShare announced the 3rd of their successful presentation contest series -- this one is called the World's Best Presentation Contest '09. 
You need to submit your presentation as part of this contest that runs from August 3rd to September 8th, 2009. There are three contest judges: Padmasree Warrior is CTO of Cisco, David Armano of the popular Logic + Emotion blog, and Guy Kawasaki, a well known author. There are exciting prizes to be won, including an Apple MacBook Pro, an Amazon Kindle DX, and an Apple iPhone 3GS. There are also 5 category prizes comprising copies of Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro software.
More info here...
Categories: online_presentations, slideshare, powerpoint
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint, slideshare, templates
At last count, I found that there were at least 3 PowerPoint presentation contests happening online.
Picture Courtesy: Shutterstock
On the top of my list is Microsoft's own PowerPoint Template Contest called Create a Spark. The rules are simple enough:
The second contest from SlideBoom is called the SlideBoom Presentation Contest 2009. They have fewer rules, but that's not always an advantage:
The third contest is from SlideShare, and is called the Tell A Story Contest. They seem to be offering the best prizes! The rules are:
So if you have created a cool presentation that you can share, there are at least three places that they can be uploaded to -- wish you all the best!
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint, slideshare, templates
Labels: odf, online_presentations, slideboom
SlideBoom, a leading slide sharing platform announced support for Open Document Presentation (ODP) files. The ODP file format is increasingly being used in free office suites like OpenOffice, NeoOffice or IBM Lotus Symphony and proprietary software packages like Sun Microsystems’ StarOffice. SlideBoom continues support for PowerPoint and some other file formats.
More info can be found on the SlideBoom blog...
Categories: odf, online_presentations, slideboom
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint, slideboom
SlideBoom, a presentation sharing site from the makers of iSpring announced the SlideBoom World Presentation Contest. This contest, open to everyone requires participants to submit any PowerPoint presentation (or another compatible file format) on the SlideBoom site. All participants need to be members of the site, and basic membership is free.
Applicants can submit their works from 18 May to 21 June inclusive. Winners will be announced on 30 June 2009.
The contest winners will be judged by a panel of 5 presentation professionals including yours truly.
More info can be found on the contest site...
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint, slideboom
Labels: authorstream, online_presentations, opinion, powerpoint, slideboom, slideshare
You can easily boost your business and your SEO / SEM efforts with the help of an old friend: PowerPoint. All you need to do is pick a topic that you want to relate your business to, prepare a presentation on that topic and then publish it on presentation plattforms like SlideShare, Slide.com, etc. You can then bookmark your online content and enrich it with keywords and descriptions to further promote your content and boost your SEO / SEM efforts.
Jörg Hahn tells you more in this Indezine exclusive article...
Categories: authorstream, online_presentations, opinion, powerpoint, slideboom, slideshare
Labels: elearning, online_presentations, powerpoint
Adobe is a name well known to anyone who works with graphics and media content -- and they bundle several of their award winning programs in suites that contain a set of applications geared towards a specific use. Adobe already has such suites for the Creative and Production categories -- and their newest Suite offering is squarely aimed for the burgeoning eLearning market. The main products in the Adobe eLearning Suite are Captivate, Acrobat, and Presenter. These work directly with Microsoft PowerPoint whereas other products in the Adobe eLearning Suite such as Photoshop, Flash, Dreamweaver, Soundbooth, etc aid in making the Suite sweeter and more integrated.
In this review, we'll take a closer look at the Adobe eLearning Suite.
Categories: elearning, online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: add-in, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash
Adobe Presenter 7 is a PowerPoint add-in that allows you to create high-impact Adobe Flash presentations and eLearning courses from PowerPoint. In addition, you can also create high fidelity PDFs using this add-in. You can add narration, edit audio, add multimedia capture video, animations, interactivity, quizzes, surveys, and software simulations to eLearning courses created using Adobe Presenter -- all inside PowerPoint. Output can be customized as presentations published to Flash, PDF or Adobe Connect Server.
Read the Indezine review here...
Categories: add-in, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash
Labels: microsoft_office, online_presentations, powerpoint, slideshare
SlideShare, an online presentation sharing site now ups the ante by supporting more file formats including:
And all sorts of PDFs and PowerPoint presentations can still be upoaded -- a few months ago, SlideShare added support for Apple Keynote presentations as well.
All such documents can be easily embedded in WordPress and other blog platforms, as well as on LinkedIn networks.
Categories: microsoft_office, online_presentations, powerpoint, slideshare
Labels: authorstream, online_presentations, powerpoint
authorSTREAM, a leading slide sharing site launched their Premium services that offers many options over and above the free services. The free services are still available, and are unnchanged with the launch of the new Premium services.
Premium services are available in two flavors:
Jagdeep Singh Pannu of authorSTREAM sent me this link that explains the differences between all their services
Comparison of Free, Pro and Plus Premium Memberships
And here's an embedded presentation that explains more.
Categories: authorstream, online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: authorstream, interviews, online_presentations, powerpoint 
Dinesh Awasthi is Product Manager for authorSTREAM.com at authorGEN (authorSTREAM's parent company). In addition to developing the strategic product roadmap and implementation of various features on authorSTREAM, he works with the development team and keeps an eye on user feedback to formulate new releases. Dinesh holds a Masters degree in Computer Applications, and certifications in Quality Management and Software Testing.
Geetesh: What are these new presentation channels on authorSTREAM?
Dinesh: authorSTREAM Presentation Channels are your personalized web pages that showcase a collection of presentations -- be it on one topic or a theme. We realized that each individual usually has a bunch of presentations on each topic, and that everyone has a variety of interests. authorSTREAM Channels allow users to create multiple channels, say each focusing on one topic of interest. For example, a channel on photography would cater to photography enthusiasts and another one on China travel would help people find information on traveling to China. One can start a channel on 'Global Warming'. Companies can create a channel for each of their products and services. We went a step further by empowering channel owners to allow other users to upload presentations in their (owner's) channels. Say, an instructor might want to let all her students upload their English assignment presentations in one channel and so on.
Geetesh: How do you think channels will help users in a web-social way? Also, do you plan to provide a pro level channel with more abilities?
Dinesh: We have visualized authorSTREAM Channels as a platform for creative collaboration. Channel owners can also invite other authorSTREAM members to add presentations to their channel. A university department can create a channel and allow its professors to contribute, a journalist can start a channel about a story or an event where witnesses to the event can post their own point of view. A teacher can create a channel on a homework assignment and allow her/his students to submit their assignments there. This gives people the freedom and the ability to keep a lively discussion going about any particular topic or theme.
If you like a particular channel, you can subscribe to it with a single click and authorSTREAM will keep you updated about them on your dashboard. Soon, you will also see the RSS feed of a channel. If you like to embed a particular channel on your blog or website, simply use the channel embed code -- in a small area on your website, all the channel presentations would show up! The buzz has already started with people creating channels on fashion, spirituality, marketing, beliefs etc.
In the coming months, we have plans to add pro level channels with advanced features.
Categories: authorstream, interviews, online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: authorstream, online_presentations, powerpoint
Many PowerPoint users create and send their cards as PowerPoint presentations, mainly as email attachments. These work great, but do have some disadvantages:
Now authorSTREAM has added a new feature that lets you resolve both the problems. Their new option to create and send custom eGreetings is easy to use -- read more on their site...
Categories: authorstream, online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: add-in, elearning, online_presentations, powerpoint
The amount of content available in the form of PowerPoint slides is amazing -- almost every computer literate person has a bank of slides, be it at their company, home, school, university, or elsewhere. Most of this content won't work too well when saved as a document -- but since slides typically have (or should have) small portions of large sized text with contrasting backgrounds and visuals, they end up becoming perfect as content from PDAs and Smartphones.
Products like ToolBook Instructor do a whole lot more than just such conversion, but in this review, we will focus on the PowerPoint capabilities of Toolbook Instructor, which will help you to convert your PowerPoint files into online, interactive learning course content with ToolBook's rapid eLearning content creation capabilities.
Read the review here...
Categories: add-in, elearning, online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slidesix 
Todd Sharp (pictured to the right) is the creator of SlideSix.com, an online presentation sharing community site. He has been programming in ColdFusion since mid 2004 and blogs regularly about ColdFusion and Ajax at his site cfsilence. Todd provides ColdFusion/Ajax development and consulting services through his company Sharp Interactive, LLC.
In this discussion, Todd discusses his SlideSix site.
Geetesh: Tell us more about SlideSix, and how it evolved.
Todd: Just over a year ago, in December of 2007 I decided to experiment with ColdFusion's dynamic presentation capabilities by integrating them with a well known Java API called Apache POI which allows you to read and extract text and objects from PowerPoint 97/2000/XP files. Using the Java API was extremely simple by leveraging ColdFusion's ability to easily integrate with Java.
I created a few test cases and was very excited about the potential for creating dynamic, Flash based presentations. So through that experimentation the idea for SlideSix was born. Over the next six months I set out to create a presentation sharing community and finally launched it on May 1, 2008.
The initial launch lead to the realization that Apache POI wasn't quite 'ready for prime time'. It was fun to experiment with, but the presentation conversion simply would not be sufficent to handle anything more then a simple presentation with very little formatting. I quickly realized that I would need to utilize a different conversion engine and switched to utilizing OpenOffice to convert the presentations. Using OpenOffice gave me the added advantage of being able to support a wider array of presentation formats like the OpenOffice format (ODP, SXI) as well as MS PowerPoint (PPT, PPS). There are other techniques I use to support the conversion of additional formats such as Adobe Acrobat (PDF), QuickTime (MOV) and PowerPoint 2007 (PPTX).
In addition to the conversion engine, there have been numerous enhancements to the user interface. For example, our presentation viewer and user management console are both newer additions that are build with Adobe Flex.
Since the launch I have been constantly looking to improve and enhance the site to become one of the world's premier online presentation sharing communities.
Geetesh: How is SlideSix different from other online slide and presentation sharing sites, and what is SlideSix's best feature according to you?
Todd: SlideSix has many features that differentiate it from other presentation sharing communities. First and foremost we try to keep our site extremely simple. Some other sites put too much focus on being a social network. We focus on being a mutlitmedia enabled presentation sharing community. In other words, we realize the focus of the site is our users' presentations, and we try to empower our users to create a unique identity for themselves. The most powerful feature that we offer to help our users create that identity is the ability to record video or audio directly within our management console. Once recorded, the media becomes embedded directly within the presentation. We also offer the ability to embed supporting documentation directly within your presentation (by uploading data in ZIP format), and embedded slide notes. Other familiar features are also available such as RSS feeds, groups, favorites, tagging, ranking and much more.
Our About page contains a comprehensive overview of our features and even has a sample multimedia presentation.
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slidesix
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint, slideshare, youtube
SlideShare announced the capability to embed YouTube videos within SlideShare uploaded presentations in an open beta. Embeded YouTube videos show up as separate slides inside the SlideShare player. The embedded demo below explains the entire process.
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint, slideshare, youtube
Labels: delivery, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slideboom
SlideBoom, an online presentation viewing and sharing site announced the availability of Pro accounts that add more options than what are available to existing Free accounts.
These extra options include:
More info can be found on the SlideBoom site...
Categories: delivery, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slideboom
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint
I just read TechCrunch's coverage on SlideSix.com, a new presentation sharing site that lets you upload and share your PowerPoint presentations and other file formats such as ODP (OpenOffice), PDF, QuickTime MOV, etc.
At first glance, this looks like an interesting site not too different from other presentation sharing sites like SlideShare, authorSTREAM, and SlideBoom. But SlideSix's Todd Sharp says there's a difference. He adds: "Simplicity and identity are keystones of our presentation sharing community. Social networks, more often then not, are utilized by people looking to create a unique web identity. The motivation for the desire to create such an identity varies. Some people use social networks for personal reasons – to keep in touch with friends and relatives or reconnect with others whom they may have lost touch with. Others use them for business reasons - to create an online presence for a company or product. Often folks use them for a combination of business and personal reasons. SlideSix is a social presentation sharing community that caters to everyone."
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: keynote, online_presentations, powerpoint, slideshare
SlideShare, a leading site that lets you upload and share PowerPoint presentations now supports Apple Keynote files too. All you need to do is zip up your Keynote presentation files and upload.
There's an interesting tutorial on the SlideShare site that's embedded here:
You should also read this announcement on SlideShare's blog...
Categories: keynote, online_presentations, powerpoint, slideshare
Labels: authorstream, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, presentation_samples
Parts of a Shoe: This is a sample presentation we created in-house at Indezine so that we could create a presentation that had lots of internal hyperlinks to other slides in the presentation. And yes, it was a good topic -- we haven't found any visual representation of a shoe that shows its various parts -- anywhere on the net!
We uploaded this to authorSTREAM, and their Flash conversion is awesome -- it retained all the hyperlinks in the presentation.
Uploaded on authorSTREAM by indezine_powerpoint
Categories: authorstream, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_2007, presentation_samples
Labels: interviews, online_presentations, powerpoint, presentation_samples, slideshare 
Jeff Brenman (pictured to the right) is the founder and director of Apollo Ideas, an award winning presentation design and consulting firm based out of North Carolina. Jeff regularly works as a communication consultant to top executives in corporations around the globe, empowering their business communications with better visual storytelling. His presentation won the last The World's Best Presentation Contest held by SlideShare -- and he won it again this time!
Geetesh: How does it feel to win consecutively for the second time?
Jeff: Surprising. There were a lot of great presentations entered in the contest this year, so it's an honor to have been chosen as the winner by such accomplished judges. Honestly, I was more concerned with entering the dialog than entering the competition this year. The SlideShare contest is a fantastic way to bring good design to important issues, and spread critical messages to people around the world.
Geetesh: Tell us more about the type of research you did on the topic – also what made you choose Water as the topic of your presentation.
Jeff: Everybody drinks, but hardly anyone is talking about water. The fresh water crisis is a fascinating topic because it's one of those things not a lot of people know about, but is going to affect all of us very soon. In my opinion, that also makes it a perfect topic for a web-based educational presentation.
The water crisis is a big issue, so to do it justice required spending a lot of time researching the storyboard. The full list of books, articles, and news stories that went into THIRST can be found at http://apolloideas.com/thirst.
Putting together a presentation is kind of like making a pizza. There are dozens of delicious toppings you could add to a pizza, but you have to be selective and choose just a few. A pizza with every topping imaginable wouldn't taste very good. In the same way, a presentation with every piece of research you discover isn't going to be very interesting — it'll be overwhelming. You have to be selective with the information you include.
THIRST is far from comprehensive, but intentionally so. It doesn't offer a list of suggestions for how to conserve water. It doesn't get into the politics of who controls the water resources around the world. It doesn't even go into detail about the problems surrounding the bottled water industry. Instead, THIRST is a conversation starter, designed to inspire people to explore the topic deeper on their own. As a story, THIRST was created to act as a beginning, not a beginning, middle, and end. Based on the feedback it has received so far, I'm proud to see it's working.
Categories: interviews, online_presentations, powerpoint, presentation_samples, slideshare
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint, slideshare
SlideShare announced the winners of its The World's Best Presentation Contest -- and the results include some really amazing presentations.
The overall winner is Thirst, a presentation that brings alive the impending worldwide water shortage that's staring at mankind. Interestingly, this presentation was created by Jeff Brenman (pictured on the right) -- he also won the first prize in the last contest that SlideShare held. Indezine interviewed Jeff last year for his Shift Happens presentation.
Footnotes, a photo slide show that documents Melanie's journey through photos of her feet, won the second prize for its novel theme while the third prize was won by a presentation about the crisis in Zimbabwe.
The judges for this contest included Guy Kawasaki, who conceptualized this entire presentation contest concept -- other judges were Nancy Duarte, Garr Reynolds, and Bert Decker.And at Indezine, we have something exclusive for you -- an interview with Rashmi Sinha (pictured to the left) of SlideShare. Rashmi talks about this contest, her favorite entries, and more.
And here are some statistics: the contest this year attracted 2415 entries and 22,000 votes from voters in 130 countries. There are 3 overall winners, 6 category winners and 9 honorable mentions. The first, second and third prize winners will receive a MacBook Air, Amazon Kindle and iPod Nano respectively. Winners in each category will receive an iPod Touch.
Here are embeds of the three winning entries:
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint, slideshare
Labels: interviews, online_presentations, powerpoint, slideshare Rashmi Sinha is cofounder and CEO of SlideShare, the world's largest community for sharing presentations. She manages design and business development at SlideShare. Previously, she founded Uzanto, a user experience software company, that worked with companies like eBay, iFilm, AAA and Blue Shield. She also lead the team that created MindCanvas, a rich online survey platform for customer research. Rashmi has a PhD in Cognitive Neuropsychology from Brown University. She did a PostDoc at UC Berkeley in Human Computer Interaction. She blogs at www.rashmisinha.com about social software and running a startup.
Geetesh: Tell us how the idea of The World's Best Presentation Contest evolved.
Rashmi: The idea of the contest came from Guy Kawasaki. We had toyed about with the idea of a contest earlier. I met Guy at a conference and he mentioned that he had always wanted to organize a PowerPoint contest. We continue talking and discussed several ideas before finalizing on the World's Best Presentation idea. It was Guy's idea to keep it general (not focused on any one topic) and not limit to slidecasts (slides + audio) which we considered at one point.
Geetesh: How is this contest being held in 2008 different from the previous one.
Rashmi: The 2008 contest is bigger - 1670 entries so far compared to 400 last week. Partly its simply because SlideShare has grown. But also, the results of the contest last year captured the imagination of many people and this year they have decided to participate as well.
Also, we were inspired by global contests and events like Oscars and Olympics. We really wanted a sense of scale (all the world participating), but we also wanted an openness that you can only have on the internet (anyone with a computer and internet connection can participate). PowerPoint is a people's medium. We wanted a people's contest.
Its really great to see that come alive as the contest captures the imagination of people the world over. We see slideshows from all across the world. We see blog posts and Twitters from all across the world. Its really quite cool.
Also, we have six category prizes this year that we did not have last year. Finally, we have participants form many more countries (it is truly an international contest).
Geetesh: Tell us about some entries that you find unconventional, strange, funny, or just different.
Rashmi: Here are some interesting ones this time in the contest; one interesting trend is that last time, the contest was the first time -- and so many of the entries were from the early adopters; this time the audience seems to be far more broad-based.
There's a bunch of presentations on green, environment etc. and they are all very popular (getting lots of votes)
About a social issue
A love story
Categories: interviews, online_presentations, powerpoint, slideshare
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slideboom
You already learned how you can upload your presentations to SlideBoom -- but do you know that unless you enable the option, all downloads of the original PowerPoint presentation (PPT or PPTX) are disabled when you share the URL of your online presentation. Most of the time, you might be happy with this default behavior, but it is good to know that this can be changed on a presentation-to-presentation basis.
This and other similar options can be found within the Privacy options values within the Uploading your presentation screen within the SlideBoom site. If these options are only visible as a thin strip that you can see in Figure 1, click the downward pointing chevron to see all the options, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 1: The Privacy options strip shows you options
Figure 2: Click the chevron, and you can edit the privacy options.
Thereafter, click the Submit button, and you are done.
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slideboom
Labels: interviews, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slideboom 
Yury Uskov is a founder and CEO of iSpring Solutions Inc., an innovative software company with their development center in Russia. Yury has a Masters degree in Software Engineering and since 2001 have been working in rich media industry inspired with the idea of making the best solution for online presentation sharing. iSpring Solutions has already launched several Flash technology projects including iSpring, a PowerPoint to Flash converter, and SlideBoom, an online service for presentations sharing.
Geetesh: Tell us more about SlideBoom -- did you look at this as a natural evolution process after iSpring?
Yury: I’d rather mention two aspects. First is that iSpring users needed such a site to share their great presentations converted by desktop products. From this point of view SlideBoom is just a great companion to iSpring.
Secondly, it is not a secret that people use online services more and more each day. This growing tendency inspired us to build SlideBoom as an online alternative to iSpring. From this point of view, SlideBoom looks like a result of iSpring evolution process.
Geetesh: What sets SlideBoom apart from similar slide sharing sites?
Yury: Thanks for the good question. Other similar sites are usually good for sharing static presentations only, and this kills some advantages of PowerPoint presentations. SlideBoom is designed for sharing rich video-like presentations with animations, embedded Flash movies, audio narrations and video clips. The unique feature of SlideBoom is graphical annotations over presentation content, which could be saved with a presentation on the portal.
I can say that SlideBoom leads the second generation of PowerPoint sharing facilities (PowerPoint to Web 2.0) and I know that our competitors also work on similar solutions. We have developed iSpring technology since 2004, and have an advantage over competitors at least for 2-3 years.
We get feedback from people that use SlideBoom and most of them tell that SlideBoom is the service that they were looking for a long time. And I am sure there is a room for SlideBoom at the market, and it will have a great future.
Categories: interviews, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slideboom
Labels: articulate, interviews, medicine, online_presentations, powerpoint, training 
Greg Friese, MS, NREMT-P is president of Emergency Preparedness Systems LLC and a paramedic, educator, author, and outdoor enthusiast. To learn more and to receive rapid e-learning design and production tips subscribe to the EPS blog at their site.
Geetesh: Tell us more about yourself, Emergency Preparedness Systems LLC, and the training programs you create.
Greg: I am the founder and president of Emergency Preparedness Systems LLC. EPS does four things:
Our training programs for EMTs and paramedics, generally 25-30 minutes long, are used for continuing or refresher education. Since emergency responders work rotating shifts, it is very difficult for all employees to be in the training room together. Online lessons allow asynchronous delivery of the exact same content across multiple shifts and multiple stations. If users are called out for an emergency they can resume the training program when they return. Each lesson is approved by the Continuing Education Coordinating Board for EMS (CECBEMS) so students know that it will be accepted for local, state, or national recertification requirements. Most EPS content is distributed through CentreLearn.com and RapidCE.com.
Geetesh: Why do you use PowerPoint as the starting point for the creation of these programs? And what else do you use to enhance and distribute these programs.
Greg: We use PowerPoint for several reasons. First of all it is an excellent tool for us to storyboard a lesson. During initial production, each slide is given a working title and the script for the audio narration is written in the notes view. As production and editing progresses, notes for images, objects, and animations are added to the notes view. Once the script is finalized, slide production begins which includes a descriptive slide title and sub-title, insertion of images and objects, and animation formatting.
The final step is to convert the PowerPoint slides to Flash using Articulate Presenter. The audio is inserted and synchronized with the PowerPoint slide animations. The end user watches a narrated Flash movie inside the Articulate Presenter player. They may not even be aware that they are watching a movie that was created with PowerPoint.
We also use another Articulate product called Engage to create and insert custom Flash learning objects into the PowerPoint. The Articulate Engage Interactions publish inside the Articulate Presenter movie.
Categories: articulate, medicine, online_presentations, powerpoint, training
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slideboom
You already learned how you can join SlideBoom and upload your presentations as part of this SlideBoom series. In this post, I'll go beyond the basics and show you how you can share your uploaded presentations with others:
Figure 1: Your account page at SlideBoom
Figure 2: Your presentation page at SlideBoom
Figure 3: Share options at SlideBoom
I'll explain all the options you can see in Figure 3 here:
Next time, I'll show you how you can make changes to your SlideBoom profile.
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slideboom
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slideboom
I already introduced you to SlideBoom and showed you how you can join as part of the SlideBoom series, I provided a brief introduction to this slide sharing site. In today's post, you'll learn how you can upload your first presentation to this site.
In the next post in this series, I'll show you how you can share your SlideBoom presentations.
Figure 1: Sign in to upload presentations
Figure 2: Upload presentations
Figure 3: Uploading process
Figure 4: Add meta info at this stage
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slideboom
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slideboom
In the last post in the SlideBoom series, I provided a brief introduction to this slide sharing site. In today's post, you'll learn how you can become a member of the SlideBoom site. Remember -- SlideBoom in its present form is a free service.
Follow these steps to join SlideBoom:
In the next post in this series, I'll show you how you can sign in, and upload your presentations to the SlideBoom site.
Figure 1: Join Now button
Figure 2: Sign Up form
Figure 3: Activate your SlideBoom account
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slideboom
Labels: freepath, online_presentations, playlists, powerpoint
Freepath, Inc., today launched the public beta of its Freepath 2.0 playlist application, and its companion myFreepath content sharing community site -- both are free services, and allow you to combine your PowerPoint presentations in a playlist that seamlessly integrates many other media and document file formats apart from web sites and web services.
Figure 1 shows the Freepath site announcing the beta.
Figure 1: The Freepath site
Indezine has been promoting version 1 of Freepath as a free download since more than a year now, and we'll soon provide you with more coverage on Freepath 2. Figure 2 shows you the interface for Freepath 2 Beta.
Figure 2: Freepath 2 Beta Interface
Users can package and share Freepath playlists through the myFreepath community site -- all beta users get up to 100 MB of free storage space to enable a viral exchange of playlists and content. Figure 3 shows you the myFreepath site.
Figure 3: myFreepath: Homepage
Categories: freepath, online_presentations, playlists, powerpoint
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slideboom
SlideBoom is a web site where you can upload your PowerPoint presentations -- at the back-end, a PowerPoint to Flash converting engines makes Flash movies of all your PowerPoint slides. Each uploaded presentation is provided a page URL that you can share with others who want to see your presentation.
That was an easy introduction to SlideBoom. In a series of subsequent posts, we will look at several options that SlideBoom provides including how you can join SlideBoom, upload your presentations, share your uploaded presentations, etc. You can keep track of all these posts here...
Figure 1 shows you the SlideBoom homepage (click on it to see a larger preview) -- to get to this page, you need to visit the SlideBoom link in your web browser.
Figure 1: The SlideBoom homepageSlideBoom is from iSpring Solutions, Inc -- the same folks who create the iSpring range of PowerPoint to Flash conversion software. Read our review on iSpring Pro 3.5 here...
In my next post on SlideBoom, I'll show you how you can join as a member -- membership is free and allows you to upload your own PowerPoint presentations to the SlideBoom site.
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slideboom
Labels: facebook, flypaper, online_presentations, powerpoint, youtube
Flypaper announced the launch of Flypaper Pro. Adotas.com reports that "Flypaper Pro is a business solution that allows subscribers to track viewer stats, capture data, host content online and add design elements (i.e. charts/graphs). The service is available as a yearly subscription of $195 a year (with an introductory offer that’s valid through August 31)".
Indezine earlier looked at Flypaper -- Flypaper is a cool, new presentation creation program that lets you create Flash presentations that you can instantly upload to sites like YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook.
Categories: online_presentations, youtube
Labels: authorstream, online_presentations, powerpoint, youtube
The folks at authorSTREAM have created an easy process through which you can make YouTube movies from your PowerPoint presentations. Rather than explain the entire process, I decided to create a how-to video tutorial on this subject:
Categories: powerpoint, youtube
Labels: 280slides, keynote, online_presentations, powerpoint
Ross Boucher along with Tom Robinson and Francisco Tolmasky comprise the team at 280North, a company based in Cupertino, United States that creates the 280Slides online presentation program. In this interview, Ross discusses how 280Slides evolved, the interface, input and output formats supported, and the response to the program.
Read the interview here...
Categories: keynote, online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint
If you belong to the group of users who often used Microsoft Producer to create online content with their PowerPoint presentations, then you must have been not too happy to know that Producer no longer worked with PowerPoint 2007 content.
Now that issue is being addressed -- and Microsoft has announced a public beta of Microsoft Producer for Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007. Yes, that's a long name, and Ric Bretschneider, Senior Program Manager for PowerPoint at Microsoft tells you why he needs to use that long name -- and he also explains how you can join the beta and get a copy of this cool, free product.
Everything is explained on the PowerPoint Team Blog...
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint
I have been playing with 280 Slides today morning and it looks like a great web application that can create PowerPoint PPTX files online.
First things first: 280 Slides is an online presentation creator and player that looks a lot like Apple Keynote. The similarity is well explained: I found out on the Washington Post site that the creators of this application are ex-Apple employees.
I really like this application -- it loads quickly, works logically, and gives the feel of a real presentation program so that PowerPoint and Keynote users will be creating their presentations in no time. Click on Figure 1 below to see a larger view of how the interface looks like.
Figure 1: The 280 Slides interface
Once you click the New button to create a new presentation, you need to choose a theme for the new presentation as shown in Figure 2 below. Click the Figure below to see a larger view.
Figure 2: Choose a new theme
Thereafter you can add slides, change slide layouts, insert pictures and media (also from YouTube, Flickr, and other sites). The first time you save your presentation, you get to become a member so that you can come back again and find your presentations (see Figures 3 and 4).
Figure 3: Login
Figure 4: Register
There are several other features in 280 Slides -- and while 280 Slides is not a PowerPoint replacement application feature-by-feature, it lets you download your 280 Slides presentations as PowerPoint 2007-2008 presentations with amazing fidelity. Figure 5 shows you how a downloaded PPTX from 280 Slides looks in PowerPoint 2007:
Figure 5: Exported PPTX opened in PowerPoint 2007
280 Slides also offers direct export to SlideShare from within the application. Strangely though, I found no Help option in the 280 Slides interface. Everything said, this is a great start for an application that's right now in a public beta stage.
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: flypaper, online_presentations, youtube
Flypaper is a cool, new presentation creation program that lets you create Flash presentations that you can instantly upload to sites like YouTube, MySpace,a nd Facebook. In its present beta incarnation, it has some rough edges and any comparison with PowerPoint would be probably like comparing apples and oranges since Flypaper seems to provide a very different concept altogether.
Flypaper is a free application that runs on Windows XP and Windows Vista only (no Mac yet) -- it's a large download at 89 mb whereabouts, but it's fun to play with and may evolve into something very useful. The screenshot above shows the interface -- click on the screenshot to see a larger preview.
Flypaper does get into new terminology though: slide layouts/designs are called 'models'! Here's a quick one slide pres that I created in Flypaper, and then uploaded to Youtube.
Categories: flypaper, online_presentations, youtube
Labels: movies, online_presentations, powerpoint, youtube
Omnisio, a new startup allows you to mix and mash videos from several online video sites like YouTube, Google, and Blip.tv to create new videos. You can choose start and end points to trim the existing video clips, combine them in a sequence you want, and create a new online video clip that you can share.
These shared clips are entirely embeddable -- and you can have comments that actually hover over the video on these shared clips (see screenshot above). Many users find this distracting, so it's nice that you can turn them off.
More importantly Omnisio is about to introduce new features soon that will allow you to synchronize PowerPoint slides with video -- this will take Omnisio to the professional league.
Membership is free and very quick -- and you don't even need to be a member to view some sample clips. The clips are great -- and can allow you to get hours of fun.
Learn more at the Omnisio site...
Categories: movies, online_presentations, powerpoint, , youtube
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint
SlideRocket gets more exposure each day -- and the product gets better too. I have been working with this online presentation product for a long while now, and the implementation is awesome.
I do miss a few things -- surprisingly, I miss PowerPoint 2007's tabbed Ribbon interface since SlideRocket options do require many clicks. And I wish they built in some Flickr authorization so that I can access all my Flickr photos from my account. As of now, I can only access the public photos. And my minor rants may not be too fair, since this is still a beta product.
The screenshot below shows the SlideRocket interface -- click on the screenshot to view a larger picture.
SlideRocket is based on Adobe's Flex technology, and Josh Catone provides a great intro to the underlying architecture of SlideRocket on his ReadWriteWeb blog...
Josh Lowensohn provides another walkthrough on the Webware site...
If you want to see a sample presentation, here's a quick one-slide presentation that I made...
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint
Scrapblog is an awesome site that lets you create online digital scrapbooks -- and it works so much like PowerPoint! They have added a slew of new improvements:
Photo Cropping: The new photo cropping options now allow you to crop to cookie cutter shapes like circles, rectangles, and stars. There's also a freehand scissors tool that lets you cut edges any way you want. And an eraser option lets you erase areas of photos as required!
Photo Editing: Scrapblog now provides one-click effects -- these effects include 12 new built-in effects like black and white, sepia, antique, matte, vignette, a comic book effect, and even the ability to flip your photo. There are also advanced options that allow you to adjust the contrast, saturation, tint, or other fine grained settings.
New Themes: Scrapblog now also provides new themes, stickers, backgrounds and frames. 
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint, slideshare
Doing makeovers of slides is such a satisfying task – maybe that is because removing the ugly and replacing it with near perfection is a reward in itself. Over the years, I have understood that the approach required to do any actual makeover is never the same – in the same way as the fingerprints of two humans don’t match, the approaches required to do various makeovers are dissimilar.
Suggesting makeover approaches is a large part of my work – that’s why I find it amusing to hear new schools of thought in the presentation sphere that promise to be a solution to all slide problems. These beliefs range from the no-bullet approach for slides to the total denouncement of slideware. Then there are opinions about keeping things simple and clean – and of providing more visual content. And there’s another school of thought that looks at creating diagrams, charts, and other info-graphic content in a way that’s more effective as is the debate between linear and linked presentations. Each of these approaches is unique and very useful in their own way – and properly applied, each of them may make a difference. But in the same way that a physician will not prescribe a drug for common cold to a patient suffering from body pain, the makeover artist will first examine the slides and then suggest an approach that may use, discard, or combine these approaches.
Read more of this guest post I authored on the SlideShare blog...
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint, slideshare
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint, youtube
authorSTREAM, a site that lets you upload and share your PowerPoint presentations upped the ante today by offering a slew of new options:
Download original presentations: You can now download the original PowerPoint presentation (or other file) if the author of the content enables the relevant option (see figure below).
For your existing presentations uploaded to authorSTREAM, this option is turned off by default. You can however edit your presentation properties and check the option (see figure below).
Share on YouTube: You can also share your presentations on YouTube. This option is now available for presentations that include narration or rehearsed timings -- these presentations would automatically be available in a video format (MP4) that you can upload and share on YouTube.
Share on iPods: Again this option is only available for presentations that include narration or rehearsed timings.
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint, youtube
Labels: add-in, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash
Gabe Anderson (pictured to the left) takes care of support and community initiatives at Articulate, a provider of rich media products used for e-learning.
In this conversation, Gabe discusses Articulate Quizmaker, how you can create quizzes, and how Quizmaker integrates with Articulate's other products.
Geetesh: Tell us more about Articulate Quizmaker -- and how it makes it easy to create quizzes fast.
Gabe: Articulate Quizmaker 2.0 is a comprehensive yet easy-to-use quiz creator for making highly customized Flash-based quizzes, assessments and surveys without the need for difficult programming. It provides a form-based interface with one-click publishing to Flash so that anyone who can use PowerPoint can create attractive, Flash-based quizzes in no time -- no Flash development experience required. There are 21 different graded and survey question types, which can be published to a stand-alone quiz or survey for use in your own Learning Management System or Articulate Online -- with full tracking and reporting capabilities.
Geetesh: How does Articulate Quizmaker integrate with other Articulate programs.
Gabe: Quizmaker publishes seamlessly to Articulate Presenter so that you can embed your quizzes and surveys directly in your Presenter-powered courses. You can even choose to send the embedded quiz results directly to your own Learning Management System or Articulate Online. Publishing from Quizmaker to Articulate Online is simple - just plug in your account details once, then publish to your account in just one click.
You can see a demo of how easy it is to publish content from Quizmaker to Articulate Online in the tutorials section of our site. Look for the demo called Publishing from Quizmaker.
Categories: add-in, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash
Labels: google, online_presentations, powerpoint
After adding online presentation sharing 20 days ago, Google Presentations adds a quick new update in the form of vector shapes and PDF output.
AppScout reports that "Google Presentations is getting the ability to save documents as a PDF and PDF-based printing options. Users are also getting some basic drawing abilities and vector shapes, such as word bubbles and arrows.
The Wired Blog Network adds that "Google has released a new desktop uploader for Windows, making to much easier to move a large batch of files into Google Docs."
Categories: google, online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: google, online_presentations
Google Presentations, a component of Google Docs has added new features. The most significant new option is the ability to create embeddable web slideshows that can be put up on any page, much like a YouTube movie.
The web output uses scripting rather than Flash unlike YouTube -- it will be interesting to see how Google copes up with animations and transitions in its Presentations through this output option. Maybe that's something they will take care of in the future since they don't have animations and transitions available as of now in Google Presentations.
Here's a link to a sample online slideshow...
Related Stuff: Google Presentations gets embeddable slide shows | Google Docs Releases New Presentation Features
Categories: google, online_presentations
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint
The online presentation scene is getting more crowded -- the newest entrant in Vcasmo. Vcasmo is different from other online presentation sites because it lets you show both your presentation slides and a video clip at the same time.
You need to upload your presentation and video first, resequence the content in a basic timeline editor, and then publish it. For your presentation, you can upload PowerPoint files, Adobe PDFs, and picture file formats.
Publishing can take a while, but Vcasmo can send you an email, or ping you on IM when it's done!
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint 
You can now sign up for a beta version of SlideRocket, the new presentation program that runs on AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime).
Visit their for a product tour, and to sign up...
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint
Zoho Viewer is a handy way to upload documents and share them with others via the web. Rather than clogging your friends’ e-mail boxes with weighty attachments, you can upload them to Zoho Viewer and just send a link. Viewer supports Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint files as well as PDF, RTF, ODF and OpenOffice documents, which means even if your intended recipient doesn’t have a particular program installed, they’ll still be able to view it through Zoho Viewer.
More on the Wired Blog Network...
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: add-in, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash
FlashSpring Pro is a PowerPoint add-in which allows you to converts your PowerPoint presentations into Flash SWF movies with all the slide transitions, custom animations, audio and video clips, and inserted Flash SWF files intact.
Read the review here...
Categories: add-in, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint
"Hey, take a look at this presentation" suggested an e-mail from a friend. However, there was no attached PPS file but rather a simple URL. "Oh great," I thought... "Now I'll have to go and see where on that file is on a long web page" - grudgingly as usual.
I was wrong. The link pointed towards AuthorStream.com, a new site which aims to provide the ease of use and "viral-marketing" nature of Youtube, but this time to the world of presentation files.
More on the Inquirer site...
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: add-in, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash
authorPOINT Lite, a free PowerPoint to Flash Converter has been released by authorGEN, a Raleigh, NC based company that creates e-learning and presentation software. This presentation creation tool is a small download, and works on your desktop to create compact Flash files from your PowerPoints. The tool can also perform batch conversion of multiple .PPS and .PPT files.
authorPOINT Lite retains most PowerPoint effects including animations and sounds without any loss in presentation quality in the Flash (.SWF) output. Flash presentations have a number of advantages over PowerPoint format as Flash files are lighter, more secure, multiple browser and operating system compatible.
More on the authorGEN site...
Categories: add-in, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slideshare
I love using SlideShare because it's a one-click process to upload and share my PowerPoints. However, SlideShare did lack the audio streams that make YouTube and iFilm so popular. And so people want to create YouTube movies from their PowerPoints. Not any more -- since SlideShare has added a cool new feature called SlideCasting.
SlideCasting is cool not just because it adds an audio stream to SlideShare's online presentations but because it does this in such a well implemented process:
Check out this walkthrough by Jonathan Boutelle...
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slideshare
Labels: add-in, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash
SWiSHzone creates a well known range of Flash output programs, and when they released their PowerPoint add-in that could create Flash output from a presentation, I really wanted to take a look at the product. Their PowerPoint add-in product is called SWiSH Presenter.
Read the review here...
Categories: add-in, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash
Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint, youtube
AbsolutePPT has a great, new tutorial that shows you how you can create YouTube content with nothing other than PowerPoint and Windows Movie Maker.
The tutorial uses a step-by-step process -- and each step is accompanied by a screenshot.
Create PowerPoint YouTube movies now...
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint, youtube
Labels: add-in, impatica, online_presentations, powerpoint
Impatica for PowerPoint takes your PowerPoint presentations, converts them to the Impatica formats that can be as small as 95% of the original file sizes -- and retains most of the PowerPoint formatting. Version 4 of Impatica for PowerPoint adds support for PowerPoint 2007 and Windows Vista. In addition, it adds several other new features.
Read the full review...
Categories: add-in, impatica, online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: add-in, elearning, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash
Helius Inc. announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire PointeCast Corp., a leading global provider of rapid-communication and online training solutions. PointeCast's Publisher product allows users to enhance Microsoft PowerPoint presentations with real time quizzes, surveys, response tracking and other multimedia features and then instantly convert them into the Adobe Flash format for easy integration. PointeCast's robust learning management system (LMS) enables customers to administer and track e-learning and training courses.
More on DigitalSignageToday.com...
Categories: add-in, elearning, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash
Labels: articulate, elearning, interviews, online_presentations, powerpointGabe Anderson (pictured to the left) takes care of support and community initiatives at Articulate, a provider of rich media products used for e-learning.
In this conversation, Gabe discusses Articulate Online, and how this service integrates with Articulate's other products.
Geetesh: Tell us more about Articulate Online, and how it is helping people deliver content.
Gabe: Articulate Online allows you to effectively track e-learning activity without the usual cost and hassle. You can publish directly to your Articulate Online account with a single click from either Articulate Presenter or Articulate Quizmaker. All content is hosted on and delivered from the Articulate Online server, so you can easily get your content to your target users with just a link or via a personalized user portal.
Then you can run a number of detailed reports to see how your users are interacting with your content -- who's viewing your presentations and how your users are scoring on your quizzes and answering your survey questions.
And with plans starting at just $199/month, Articulate Online is easier to use and more affordable than complex and expensive corporate learning management systems that are difficult to use and have more features than you need.
You can learn more about Articulate Online here...
There's a 3-minute overview here...
Finally, there's an in-depth, 19-minute overview of Articulate Online here...
Geetesh: How does Articulate Online integrate with other Articulate offerings such as Presenter and Quizmaker.
Gabe: Articulate Online is the only fully integrated hosting, tracking, and reporting platform available that allows direct, one-click publishing from either Articulate Presenter or Quizmaker. You can even embed Articulate Engage interactions, 3rd-party Flash movies, Web Objects, and more directly in your Presenter content before you publish to Articulate Online.
There's no more worrying about FTP applications, LMS integration, or file management. Just click and publish to Articulate Online, and your content is ready to be shared publicly or with your private users.
A number of tutorials, including how to publish from Presenter and Quizmaker, are available here...
Categories: articulate, elearning, interviews, online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: blackberry, impatica, online_presentations, powerpoint
Impatica Inc., a pioneer in the viewing and projection of PowerPoint presentations using mobile handhelds, and DynoPlex, Inc. a leading developer of wireless document management solutions, announced today an innovative solution bundle comprising Impatica ShowMate and DynoPlex eFile and Online File Storage. PowerPoint presentations stored on the DynoPlex Online File Storage service are automatically impaticized or converted into Impatica's compact format and downloaded over-the-air to BlackBerry smartphones from Research In Motion. Once on the handheld, the PowerPoint presentation can be viewed in full fidelity on the BlackBerry handset or projected using Impatica ShowMate.
More on the Sys.Con site...
Categories: blackberry, impatica, online_presentations, powerpoint
Labels: articulate, online_presentations
Articulate announced Articulate Online, a new user-friendly hosted service that allows you to track how employees, customers and prospects interact with your e-learning courses, assessments and presentations.
This service also integrates seamlessly with Articulate's other offerings: Articulate Presenter and Articulate Engage, thus allowing easy publish and distribution options.
More info on the Articulate site...
Categories: articulate, online_presentations
Labels: conferencing, interviews, online_presentations, powerpoint 
Rajeev Arora is Vice President, Marketing & Strategy at Elluminate. Rajeev is responsible for establishing relationships with strategic partners and identifying new markets where Elluminate can excel.
Geetesh: Tell us more about yourself, Elluminate, and vRoom.
Rajeev: As the VP of Marketing and Strategy for Elluminate, I'm responsible for building relationships with our partners and finding new ways for Elluminate's products to break into new and different markets. Personally, I've worked in sales, marketing and product development for the software industry for more than 12 years.
Elluminate is an e-learning and web collaboration company that has a very strong presence in K-12 schools and higher education institutions, as well as corporations throughout the world. Our ultimate goal is rather ambitious. We want to use our enabling technology to transform teaching and learning, providing online access for everyone, especially those who would normally would be deprived, and facilitating communication, collaboration, and education on a global level.
Our flagship product Elluminate Live! is a web conferencing application used primarily to foster collaborative online learning in real time -- whether it's through online classes or corporate training. Elluminate Live! incorporates voice over the Internet with video, application and file sharing, file transfer, and more. What really makes the environment stand out from the crowd is its collaborative features like breakout rooms for small groups, interactive polling, social networking features and our ESP (Elluminate Sensory Perception) functionality for moderators. ESP allows a session leader to see when others may be lagging behind, and automatically adjusts the timing of the audio and visuals to allow them to catch up. Users love that our software can be used on any platform, including Linux, Mac, Windows, and Solaris, and that it works on really low bandwidths. For example, one of our users logged on to Elluminate Live! during a cycling trip, using his laptop and a low-bandwidth cell phone Internet card.
Elluminate created vRoom as a free, three-seat version of Elluminate Live! with all the same capabilities as the original software, except for the ability to record sessions. We have such faith that once Elluminate products are integrated into schools and companies, people will find that the possibilities are almost endless. I like to say that we are only limited by our imagination!
Geetesh: Tell us about typical and non-conventional usage scenarios for vRoom.
Rajeev: Many new customers have already shared how they're using their vRooms, including for virtual office hours, one-on-one tutoring, mentoring, and small group work. It's really easy to add vRoom to your email signature and hold impromptu online meetings at any time -- with students, teachers, customers, co-workers, and partners. You name it. IT folks use the application and desktop sharing to train co-workers on troubleshooting tech problems on their computers. They can even take remote control of a co-worker's desktop, and solve the problems themselves.
Some non-conventional uses have also surfaced since we've launched vRoom. A professional artist uses vRoom to host open-studio hours to demonstrate her digital portraiture painting. A teacher used vRoom to enable his high school students to view a live surgery and ask the surgeon questions, sort of a virtual field trip. Other innovative uses of vRoom include holding theater auditions, adding a remote participant to a conference panel, assessing reading and writing skills for K-12 students, reviewing course content in preparation for testing, and setting up a teaching cooperative for home-schooling moms.
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint, conferencing, interviews
Labels: online_presentations, photos, powerpoint
Scrapblog is a site where you can create scrapbook-like, online content that can be adapted to look like online presentations. As of now, the site is free -- and you can use visual content and videos from sites like Flickr, Webshots, YouTube, etc.
Take a look at Scrapblog here...
On Webware, Rafe Needleman adds that Scrapblog is an excellent online application. It's based on Adobe's Flex and uses a lot of the fancy user interface options available on that platform. Read more here...
Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint, photos
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