AllianceCMS Online Meetup Information
Jesse Burns
What Is A Meetup?
Meetups are an excellent way to meet other great people and learn about interesting new things while having fun doing it!
A Meetup is a scheduled event that is hosted at a specific location. A Meetup usually focuses on a specific subject or interest. The purpose of a Meetup is to connect with other people that have similar interests.
Meetups often have presentations about various topics, allowing time for a Q&A session after the presentation. Either before or after a Meetup there is free time to socialize/network, share what we're working on, and share our experiences/passions with other people that have the same interests.
AllianceCMS Online Meetups
Most of the Meetups I've participated in have been local face-to-face Meetups. I believe we can have a good time and gain the same great benefits by participating in Online Meetups!
Online Meetups give us the benefit of joining in on the fun no matter where we are!
By using the proper platform we are able to Stream a Live feed of our Meetups in progress to both Google+ and our AllianceCMS YouTube Channel. As an added benefit, anyone that was unable to attend a Meetup, or those curious about what takes place at a Meetup, can view past Meetups at their leisure.
Where Can I Find An AllianceCMS Online Meetup?
We have decided to use Google Hangouts On Air to host our AllianceCMS Online Meetups: https://plus.google.com/u/0/hangouts/onair
We will be sure to announce all Meetups ahead of their scheduled date and provide any information needed to locate and connect to a Meetup.
Google Hangouts on Air has a lot of great features for this type of gathering. Three of the most important features include:
The ability to host groups of people
Screen sharing capability (Great for demonstrations or slides)
Hangouts on Air can record/stream the Online Meetup Live to both Google+ and the AllianceCMS YouTube Channel
Preparing Your Computer For Online Meetups
You will need to have a Google+ Profile to gain access to Google Hangouts on Air and participate in the Online Meetups.
A Google+ Profile is different from a Google/Gmail account.
First you will need to create a google account if you have not already done so.
Once you have a Google account navigate to google.com. You will see one of two links in the top right hand area of Google's site:
If you see a link which is your name prefixed with a plus sign (my link is +Jesse) then you have already created a Google+ profile
If you see the link '+Me' then you have not set up your Google+ Profile. Click the link labeled '+Me' and follow the instructions
Once you have set up your Google+ Profile there is one last thing to do: Install the Hangouts on Air browser plugin. All you need to do is start your own Hangout on Air and you will be prompted to install the browser plugin.
Once Hangouts on Air has loaded click the ‘Gear’ icon on the top of the window to enter the setup and make sure your mic and video camera is working properly.
Note: You do not need to have a working mic or video camera to join, view and listen to a live Meetup. To participate in a Meetup the minimum requirement is a working mic.