Megaconferences and Spinoffs Dr Bob Dixon Chief Research Engineer OARNet and Ohio State University Internet2 Commons Site Coordinator Training March 31, 2005 Atlanta, Georgia

Megaconferences and Spinoffs  Megaconference VI - Dec 9,  Megaconference Jr. - May 6,  Keystone Conference - Oct 25-26,  Megaconference VII – Dec 1 or 8, 2005 Megaconference Jr. II – May 19, 2005 Keystone Conference II – Oct 3-4, 2005

The Megaconference is: World’s largest Internet video conference. EVERYONE is invited. H.323 Standard. A professional conference with no central location. The speakers and audiences are distributed throughout the world. Fully interactive. Worldwide network of Multipoint Control Units, cascaded together. A test of and a push for the state of the art. A large general video conferencing discussion list

Megaconference VI December 9, Hours, in 2 sessions because of global time 350 Organizations 3000 People 33 Countries 5 Continents

Some of the Presentations Hattie’s Story – American slave history Atikokan Culture – Northern Canada Natives Wireless Rural Ambulance Music Masters – Cleveland Institute of Music Searching for Anne Frank Ohio-Erie Canal Critters English as a Second Language – Chong Ming School, Taiwan

More Megaconference Parts Interoperability Demonstration Roll Calls, to give everyone a chance to say hello to the world. Regional hats. Fantastic Door Prizes. 64 total; VSX-7000 Grand Prize The Megacon café, where anyone can talk to anyone. Forbidden Prank Megachoir Grande Finale Sing-Along

Regional and Special Hats

Megaconference Jr.  May 6, 2004 (Mega Jr II May 19, 2005)  Uses the Megaconferences Format  For the K-12 Audience  All presentations by kids, to kids  120 Schools  29 States  11 Countries  4 Continents  12 Hours, moving westward around the world

Some of the Presentations  A field trip by Singapore students to rural Borneo.  Discussing summer camp, by deaf students in Maine.  Re-enacting the Oklahoma land rush, by students from Oklahoma.  Building Hurricane-Proof Houses, by students from Florida

Some of the Musical Events  A young violinist from the Cleveland Institute of Music.  Traditional native dances and singing by students in Alaska.  Maori singing and dancing by students in New Zealand.  Bongo drumming ensemble by students in Michigan.  Native Hawaiian songs by students in Hawaii.  “Waltzing Matilda” sung by students in Australia.

Michigan Drummers

Maine Campers

Australia Singers

Hawaii tired kids

Keystone Conference  Organized by Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC)  Audience is K-12 Teachers and Administrators  Uses Expanded Megaconference MCU Topology  Four simultaneous conferences  IP, ISDN, ATM video types, intermixed  USA and Canada  Universities and State K-12 Networks  Two days, 6 hours/day  Local audience in Indianapolis. Remote audience everywhere

Summary  Huge Unique Events  Challenging technical problems  Many people help in many roles  Months of planning  All volunteer effort  Very rewarding  Makes people aware of what is possible  Applies modern technology for public good  Makes the world a better place  “The more we get together, the better it will be”