UNITED STATES Google has been making waves the past couple of months with the development of Project Glass and, very importantly for the meetings industry, its integration with Google+ Events and Google+ Hangouts.
Google+ Hangouts provides a free video conferencing medium for up to 10 people. It has the ability to take any event to an audience anywhere on the globe at a click of a button – with its live streaming function.
Live broadcasts can be streamed publicly on a Google+ profile, YouTube channel and other personal websites. After the event is done, Google+ Hangouts will automatically upload a recording of the event on the planner's YouTube channel – so it's easy to share and discuss post-event. Celebrities like football star David Beckham and master chef Jamie Oliver have already jumped on the Hangouts bandwagon, hosting fan meets and intelligent discussions online.
Video conferencing with Hangouts features collaborative use of Google Docs for discussions, a share screen function for more interactivity and for team members who are unable to join directly, international call connections are available via the +telephone link. Calls to the US and Canada are free while international calling rates are relatively low.
Google+ Events is the company's premier event organiser catered not just to event planners but each and every attendee – both in pre-event and post-event stages. A page is created for the particular event and this acts as a central platform for all participants, sharing photos, obtaining information has never been made easier.
Have a look at some of the short clips below to quickly get up to speed with the latest members of the Google application family:
Randall Sim
