Have you ever wanted to attend one of the MSBO committee meetings, but just couldn’t justify the travel time for a two- or three-hour meeting? Do you wish you had the option to join the meeting without even leaving your desk? Well, we may have a solution for your dilemma.
Now more than ever we need to be creative in our delivery of service to MSBO members. Over the years we have used several delivery mediums to provide the latest information and workshops to you through webinars, eblasts, electronic mail and video. All of which have had inherit obstacles, but nonetheless were effective at the same time. We are now entering in the new world of technology for our Committee structure. We have used a Codec machine to deliver our committee meetings from time to time which has allowed you to join with other business managers at an ISD or other offsite locations to participate. Although this has been useful, we experienced connectivity issues many times.
Although not a perfect solution, we are trying another option for you to join in the committee meetings that won't require you to travel to Lansing or even to a regional location that would be “accepting our feed.” You may have participated in webinars in the past through Elluminate for various MIEM or MSBO certification classes. We will be incorporating this technology as part of our committee meetings and have just recently tested this delivery method with great success at our last School Finance, ISD and Food and Nutrition Services Committee meetings. The Technology Committee has been using it for some time now and has “worked the bugs out” so to speak. With minimal system requirements both voice and video are delivered to your desktop, laptop or possibly even PDA at your convenience. We are still testing the best mix of technology to ensure connectivity and clarity. We think this may be what we have been looking for as we try to expand the participation in our committees. Our plan is to add information to each agenda on how to “sign-up” to participate. MSBO Administrative Assistant Lillie Rapelje will be the contact for on-line committee participation. If you have questions on house to use Elluminate, contact Lillie at lrapelje@msbo.org or (517) 327-5920.
We know that the benefit of meeting with your colleagues in person is hard to match with this tool – yet this online option will allow you to participate in our “live” meetings. We are very excited about this opportunity to share yet another avenue for you to gain the best information in a timely manner for your district. As we move forward with upgrading of technology to provide an even better video and audio link we would appreciate your comments and any suggestions you may have that could make this a better experience for you and other members. We hope you join us soon, either in person or via the Internet and add the MSBO committee meetings to your calendar, no matter where you’re located. We still encourage you to attend in person, but this option will allow
for greater participation when travel is not possible or feasible.