While technology has inspired and touched almost every life on the planet in some way, for those who have learned to harness its power, it can present tremendous education and revenue generation opportunities.

One of the most innovative roles that technology can play in individuals, committees/groups and businesses is providing cost effective community and collaboration efforts in rural regions. Online meeting rooms have proven effective for flexible learning opportunities for individuals across the country and across the world.

Ag Excellence Alliance in conjunction with the YP Alkaline Soils Group held an agricultural conference at Stansbury in South Australia. There were approximately 100 guests in attendance at the event and I had been asked to attend and broadcast 2 of the sessions live through the online meeting room.

One of the presenters had come from Perth and the other from Canberra. The original intention was to have the Perth presenter speaking from his office in Perth, but he was visiting the region on another business matter and hence presented in person.

Speakers John Passioura of CSIRO presented – ‘Realities of breeding for drought’ and Bill Crabtree of Crabtree Agricultural Consulting presented ‘GMOs and weed control (chemical options), agronomy and time of sowing with reference to application in dry/drought conditions.’

The presentations were given to the audience using PowerPoint presentations, projected onto a large screen and the speakers utilizing a PA system to project their voices throughout the audience. I was utilizing my wireless connection as there was not local internet access in the presentation hall, to record and play the presentation through an online meeting room.

I was also using a wireless microphone that was attached to the presenters and plugged into my laptop which facilitated the audio of the speakers into the online room, ultimately allowing the listeners to hear the live presentation from the hall. Portable speakers were being used which allowed the online meeting room participants to listen to the entire presentation and the questions from the audience.

One of the other benefits of using the online meeting room for this presentation was that it was also recorded, allowing anyone who was not able to attend the session live or to listen in the online meeting room live, to listen at their convenience.

Using this online meeting format allowed numerous listeners to capture valuable information without the cost of traveling to the live presentation.

This online meeting room format also allowed the information to disseminate through a larger audience, inspiring growth and learning for rural Australians.