Outside the world of telecommunications, the word 'conference' has a different meaning. Rather than referring to a telephone conversation, or in recent times a video call, involving more than two participants, a conference in broader business parlance is an event, a largescale get-together, a gathering of the clans.
Despite the competitive instincts of business people, conferencing is an important part of life in enterprise. It gives people the chance to share ideas, hear about the latest trends in their industry, sector or area of special interest, listen to the movers and shakers give speeches, attend workshops. And, of course, it is an opportunity to network.
There is one drawback with the whole concept of conferencing. People have to gather in the same place. Those who get to attend a conference might not see this as a drawback, of course, viewing it as a welcome opportunity to spend time away from the office on company expenses. But there is the rub - travel, accommodation, tickets, catering, venue hire, staffing of these things all cost. Someone, somewhere has to pay.
Back to telecoms. Perhaps the only reasons a ‘conference call’ has come to mean a telephone conversation between perhaps a handful of people is that traditionally the technology required to connect larger numbers has not been there. Certainly the possibility of using live video to replicate some of the key aspects of a real conference - dozens if not hundreds of people watching and listening to a keynote speaker and taking part in interactive Q&A sessions - have seemed remote.
Until recently, that is.
Video conferencing technology has come a long way. Now people are recognising the potential to use it to run full-scale virtual conferences, using live streaming services to broadcast speakers to large audiences, and collaboration platforms to allow everyone to interact and feel fully involved. Delegates can meet, chat, discuss, share and learn, all without the hassle and expense of travelling. And because the organiser has no overheads, such as hiring a venue, such events can be run for free.
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Botscamp runs digital conferences on AI and robotics using the Eyeson video conferencing platform.[/caption]
About Botscamp
One of these people is Thomas Schulz. In December 2016, he held the first Botscamp event, a conference for anyone with a professional interest in robots, web bots and AI. There were 15 speakers, and 150 people took part.
As you have probably guessed, this was no ordinary conference. There was no venue, delegates were not sat in some auditorium listening to the speakers. They were at home, or at work, wherever in the world that happened to be, watching speakers via video link, and taking part on Slack.
Slack, and broader social media, is essential to how Botscamp events work. As well as the usual Twitter feed with announcements and news about forthcoming events, there is a custom built bot which ‘scouts’ potential participants and speakers for the conferences. After signing up at the Bottish website - the parent company for Botscamp conferences - delegates have access to the Bottish Slack community, where they can vote on what they want to see at the next event, as well as talk to other participants before, during and after the events.
Eyeson the prize
Social media and team collaboration platforms alone, however, are not enough to run a successful virtual conference. The key ingredient needed to replicate that experience of being at a large event is video. To provide the video link technology required to connect the growing numbers of participants at each of the four Botscamp events to take place since December 2016, Schulz and his team chose Eyeson.
The Eyeson mobile app[/caption]
