As practitioners with colleagues around the world, telephone and travel costs can be high.

Some ways our core members have found to build strong working relationships over distance include:

• Subscribing to SKYPE, a free voice-over-internet-protocol service, enabling free or low cost communication world-wide.
• Setting up SKYPE video meetings to avoid some travel
• Using a screen sharing software program to share documents or to demonstrate some computer based action during a teleconference.  The Society recommends Glance.net as one of the simplest to use.
• Using web-based discussion groups
• Collaborative writing.

Skype

During the same period that the GO Society has been growing so has Voice Over Internet Protocol been growing in popularity.  Many GO practitioners have set up a free VOIP account with SKYPE and then added convenient features such as calls to land-lines in industrialized countries world-wide for 2.5 cents a minute.

URL:  http://www.skype.com

Skype video

Some are adding video cams to their portables or using the built in video cams in the newer models to have SKYPE Video teleconferences.  The society recently experimented with holding a 90-minute video teleconference between a group in Toronto and one in Cape Town.  All agreed they were surprised at the quality of the experience with the free video call.

Required materials at each end included:

• A computer with SKYPE downloaded
• A camcorder on a tripod connected by a 15 ft. firewire to the computer
• An external table mic
• External speakers

Sharing your computer screen

The society experimented with a number of free demonstrations for different screen sharing solutions.  The simplest and for us most effective one was Glance.net.  Priced about the same as the others - including those with many more features - this stripped down simple solution was the easiest for our board and editors to use.  Orientation was easy and set-up time was short.

Glance.net donated free use of their screen sharing software in return for the Society  recommending the service to its affiliates.  Click here for a short video about Glance.

Glance.net works well for us.  We hope it serves you well too.

Using web-based discussion forums

In the past we have experimented with Google Groupx.  We encountered a number of problems and barrier to easy use.  Members had multiple email accounts and often were frustrated with they tried to access the group with an email other than the one that was subscribed.

Now we are hosting discussion groups here on the web site - both for the public and for the Sponsor's Collaborative.  One username and password gains access to all web site features.

Collaborative writing

We have found Google Docs to be the most powerful and easest means to collaborate in writing word, excel, or powerpoint documents.