A Sneak Peek at the New STC Website …

Last week, STC hosted a webinar for community leaders to give them a sneak peek at the forthcoming new STC website (coming at the end of January). Due to the limitations of the webinar we couldn’t open it up to the full membership, but we recorded the webinar and are sharing that recording. You can watch the recorded webinar here. (Note: The website will ask you for a name, email address, and password. There is no password necessary.)

As STC CEO Kathryn Burton stated in her recent post on STC’s Notebook, even once released the website will be in a state of “perpetual beta.” We will rely on our members, leaders, and visitors throughout the life of the website to help us continue to improve your experience. Please enjoy this sneak peek at the website. If you have any questions about the site, please direct them to STC IT/Web Content Manager Chip Boyd.

0 Replies to “A Sneak Peek at the New STC Website …”

  1. Are there OS and browser requirements for viewing the webinar? I’ve tried it using Safari, Chrome and Firefox on Mac OS X 10.6.5, but I get a blank window once the page webinar popup loads.

    (Comments seen when viewing source seem to indicate that this system is IE only. Is that correct?)

  2. Same problem on Mac OS X 10.5.8. Safari 5.0.3 and Firefox 3.16.13 only show a blank window. Opera 11 crashed. I can participate in live calls with this Firefox, so viewing an archived version ought to work.

    @Will – Genesys does favor IE a lot. A moderator must use IE only and a PowerPoint presentation must be made in MS format, not OpenOffice, or things will get ugly. I speak from experience!

    1. That’s interesting, Karen. I’m having no trouble getting in this morning with Firefox 3.6.13. Possible they fixed something between your post and this morning?

  3. I can’t view this on my Windows 7 system either, even with IE. I get this message:

    Windows Media Player cannot play, burn, rip, or sync the file because a required audio codec is not installed on your computer. (c00d11c7)

    I tried installing the Add-on it wanted at first, but even after that I couldn’t view the Webinar. Same message.

    Tammy

  4. I have noticed this problem when attempting to view it (Mac user), and I’m going to work with Genesys support to see if theres a problem with this particular file. I know in the past, people have had trouble using non-IE browsers on non-Windows systems. I would host the downloadable .zip for the presentation, but that is an .exe and 100MB of files: again, not very OS X friendly.

    For the codec issue, tech support for Genesys says to go this site to download the correct version of codec: http://www.free-codecs.com/acelp_net_codec_download.htm.

    I can confirm that IE8 on XP and 7 work, however I understand how that could limit our audience significantly. Hopefully I’ll find a solution for us Mac users.

  5. Add me to the list that can’t view it. On a Mac. I was invited to the live session but couldn’t attend due to a meeting conflict. Very disappointed that I can’t see the recording.

    Meanwhile, might I suggest reconsidering the use of Genesys? We pay $99 per month for unlimited usage of Gotowebinar, which seems to be much more reliable and/or feature-rich. Acrobat Connect also could be a possibility…

    1. Sarah,

      I was actually just looking over the Adobe Connect page. I agree that Genesys has made a strong case for us to explore other options. I would appreciate any other suggestions as well. Thanks!

      1. Adobe Connect looks good. Additional issues with GoToMeeting. Of course, rather than posting a live recording (or additional), I re-suggest:

        * executive summary of topic, discussion highlights, and resolution/next steps
        * text extraction of comment feed from webinar
        * YouTube or other video of highlights from the webinar (or converstion of full webinar to this format – mobile-friendly)
        * SlideShare the presentation

        1. As a non-profit, we get GoToWebinar for $94 a YEAR by registering through TechSoup. Last year, our chapter paid the full $99 per month, because we considered it such a bargain. (The folks at GoToWebinar have told us we can get back pro-rated money for the yearly fee we already paid, but that is still in progress with the holiday delays.)

          The paperwork you need for your chapter (this doesn’t apply for SIGs, which don’t have EIN numbers as far as I am aware) is the _identical_ paperwork we submitted with just a couple of tweaks (EIN, your person to contact, and your chapter’s mailing address) that we submitted. Your chapter applies as a subgroup under STC, which is why you can reuse the paperwork we submitted.

          Of course, STC society can get the $94 price, too.

  6. We had a call with Genesys earlier, and they confirmed that with the exception of viewing live sessions, the platform is incompatible with Macs. This applies to both acting as moderator or watching archived sessions.

    We understand that this is a significant technical obstacle, and we’re working to find an alternative provider for web meetings as we update our overall tech infrastructure. At the moment, Genesys remains the most cost-effective solution available for the kind of conference call and web meeting volume we handle, and that savings helps keep us from passing on additional costs to members.

    That said, if anyone knows of good alternatives (I’m looking into Connect and some others currently), I’d be happy to evaluate them. New services are emerging all the time, and if we find one that meets our needs while staying within our budgetary constraints, we’re all for it.

  7. Would it be possible for someone to screenshot and share some of the key moments from the webinar? I spent some time talking with Mikah and the Project Phoenix team, and I’m really interested in seeing the results. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to a Windows machine right now—won’t until after the holidays.

  8. Genesys is now part of the Cisco-Intercall conglomerate. They also own Webex. My company (where Will also used to work) has used Webex reasonably successfully. I’ve used it on a Mac, but never for recordings, so I don’t know if it functions for that purpose. I also don’t know how costs might differ from Genesys, but since it’s the same company, it might be worth looking at.

  9. I made a reply to a reply earlier in this thread, but I want to repeat it. By registering through TechSoup, nonprofits can get GoToWebinar for $94 a year. This price is good for up to five years. See my earlier post for more information.

  10. Rick, thanks so much for that link, it’s greatly appreciated. I’m working to get a number of quotes for Genesys replacements so this will be a much smoother process in the future.

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