Hi Vesa,
We are mostly happy with how GoToWebinar works. We continue to use the VISITView software because, as you mention, it automatically grabs the realtime images put up on our RAMSDIS online server and Mike likes to and can draw on the imagery (and the drawing stays on the animating loops – until it is erased or you move to the next loop). We’ve had security type issues with the java aspects of the older VISITview software which makes it a challenge for everyone to run independently. I am hoping that we can soon upgrade the VISITview software to html5 (If you like the software, you can send a letter of support and I’ll attach that with our next funding request!) to alleviate these problems. The sound quality of GoToWebinar is very good and I like that the facilitator can easily mute/unmute participants. I wish it were easier for participants to chat with one another. Right now, the participants can only send in text in the question box and I have to forward the response.
I don’t prepare a detailed script and Mike mentioned in the overview after the session that he sits down 2 hours before the session, goes through the imagery and makes a list of what loops he wants to show. He does not prepare a detailed script. He improvises. I jump in where there are opportunities. When you have been looking at imagery regularly over a region for more than 12 years, you have picked up lots of “clues” as to what is going on and you can find all sorts of fun things to talk about in the imagery. For example, when Mike asked the question about how strong the winds are around the islands in the eastern Caribbean, he was picking up on “streaming” clouds downwind of the islands. If Kathy-Ann were in the session, she would have mentioned about the impact of those clouds for rain on downwind islands (sorry I didn’t recall that sooner). The sun is higher in the sky for us in the northern hemisphere and I was picking up on diffuse and direct sunglint patterns and what that meant for wind speed interpretation. When you get to know the participants and where they are from you can ask their interpretation.
Regards,
Bernie