Webcast Participation Guide

Participating via the web

Anyone can listen to a webcast by clicking on the streaming links mentioned in our ‘Listening Guide‘.  In order to participate in a webcast however, you will need to ’skype in’ to the webcast host’s skype ID (for now, that means skyping ‘worldbridges‘.  You can download Skype for free and find more information about this useful telephony program at http://skype.com/ 

Once you have skyped in to a webcast, here are some tips that will make it a smoother experience and improve audio quality.

•  Use a headset - If you do not use a headset, sounds from your speaker will feed back into your microphone and everyone participating in and listening to the webcast will hear an echo.

•  Do NOT listen to the webcast as you participate in it -  Click ‘pause’ or ’stop’ on the media player you are using to listen to the webcast as soon as you skype in to a webcast. There is a 30-60 second delay between the time sound is produced and the time it is heard by webcast listeners.  If you do not pause or stop the webcast stream, you will experience an audio time warp and if combined with ignoring the first tip, can result in complete audio chaos.

• Be aware of background noises - If there’s something noisy going on near you, everyone will hear it.  While there’s something charming about distant sounds heard through a window of children playing on the other side of planet, a fan blowing into your mic will make it sound like we’re webcasting a hurricane.  As much as possible, position yourself in a quiet place while skyping into a webcast.  If you need to quickly discuss dinner plans with your spouse or feel a sneezing fit coming on, consider temporarily turning off your mic.

• Be prepared to join the conversation ‘mid-flow’ - We will see you in our Skype conference as soon as you join, but may not interupt to current conversation to say ‘Hello, welcome to the you’ right away. As soon as there is a pause, we will announce your presence and bring you into the discussion.

Participating via a teleconference

It is also possible to participate in our webcasts by phoning in to a teleconference. To do so, you can call 1-402-756-9000 access code: 537267#.  This is a U.S. based number and long distance or international calling charges will apply. If the teleconference is in 'presenter mode', you will automatically be muted and others in the conference will not be able to hear you speak. If the teleconference is in Q & A mode, you will be able to un-mute yourself by pushing '6'.  In order to maintain audio quality please mute yourself again when not speaking.