 Convenient for presenters and participants  Presentations can be viewed from multiple locations  Interactive  User friendly  Less hesitancy to ask a question  New Extension users  Quick means for information dispersal (2007 spring freeze)

 Target Audience: Ag Agents and Advanced Grain Producers  Once per month (3 rd or 4 th 8:30 am CST)  April – October  Each session was limited to 1 hour  15 minutes on scheduled topic, 15 minutes on “hot topic” & 30 minutes for Q & A  Timely topics pertaining to grain production

 April 17 -Dr. Chad Lee - Corn Planting Considerations & Wheat Update  May 15 – Dr. Chad Lee & Dr. Doug Johnson – Irrigation Systems & Insects Affecting Grain Crops  June 19 - Dr. Paul Vincelli - Fungicide Application on Corn  July 17 – Dr. Don Hershman - Soybean Diseases, SCN and Fungicides on Soybeans  August 21 - Dr. Jim Martin - Herbicide Resistant Weeds and Management Strategies  October 16 - Dr. Edwin Ritchey - Manure Application for Grains

 Ag Agents from about 20 counties typically participate  Producers can attend sessions at local Extension Offices  Several producers also watch through Lync Attendee from their home, office or shop computers

 Good instructional YouTube Video, “ Join A Meeting Using Lync Attendee or Lync Web App”  a1M a1M  All capabilities for participants except ability to present or create a Lync meeting  Quick and easy to download with few problems  Minimal memory usage

 Agents wishing to initiate and organize Lync meetings can schedule meetings in couple of different ways  Microsoft Outlook calendar (requires Outlook Anywhere)  Helpful YouTube video: “How to Schedule a Typical Lync Meeting” NM

 You can also go to the following website:  Enter your exchange credentials  Select “Create New Meeting”  Enter subject, location, meeting message, meeting time and recipients  If you want to send something to ANR listserv, simply type in address:

 Getting producers comfortable with the technology  Internet infrastructure in various geographical regions  Scheduling times to download Lync Attendee and practicing after it is installed  Familiarizing specialists with the technology  Advertising the concept  Dates may fall on the first day dry enough to plant corn, beans, make herbicide apps, etc.

 Encourage presenters and participants to get on a few minutes before the meeting is scheduled to start  Stay on schedule  Use polling ability of Lync to do evaluations with online participants and hard copy evaluations for those attending in person  Practice with presenters prior to the meeting with all equipment hooked up  Allow plenty of time for questions

 100% of producers feel that Lync is an effective method of communication  Over 90% of respondents indicated that meeting on the Lync platform is as beneficial as traditional face-to-face meetings  Evaluations indicate that considerable knowledge about each topic has been gained as a result of this meeting series  Producers would like to learn more about the Microsoft Lync apps for iPhones and iPads  Presenters have reported improved knowledge of producer and county agent needs