GigaOM » Collaboration

Sales presentation app CrunchConnect adds sharing features

Charles Hamilton — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 11:00:12 +0000

CrunchConnect, a web-based sales presentation and web conferencing platform that I wrote about a couple of months ago, has now added several new features which provide managers with systems for sharing presentations among workgroups, and tracking the effectiveness of presentations.

The new features allow for the creation of “companies,” based on email domain names, which give users the ability to share presentations and meeting recordings with individuals and groups with the company for evaluation and training purposes. Meeting recordings include both notes taken during the meeting and audio; these recording are synchronized with the presentation during playback. Video recordings are planned for a future version.

The app also now provides administrators with more sophisticated tools to review, analyze and manage how presentations are used. There is also a completely new system to search and filter content by customer or employee, with more filters are being developed in response to the feedback of beta users. These new features will allow organizations to evaluate in detail how effective presentations — and even specific slides — are. They can also be used to set up A/B testing to compare presentations.

CrunchConnect is currently in private beta, but invitations are available to WebWorkerDaily readers here. The service is free for now; after the beta period has ended, users will be able to choose from free and paid plans.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

Add Interactive Features to Presentations With SlideRocket

Charles Hamilton — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 15:00:00 +0000

The web-based presentation application SlideRocket has enhanced its tools for interactivity and collaboration. Users can now incorporate interactive elements into their presentations, in addition to traditional graphics. For example, a presentation might include a plugin showing a real-time Twitter stream. In addition, one can include polls directly into presentations, as well as a commenting system, so that viewers can post questions directly on slides. One can also include audio narration.

Users within an organization can have access to shared folders and libraries that they can use to put together presentations that are customized to a specific audience while retaining the organization’s graphic look and content. So, for example, if a salesperson uses a particular slide containing statistics and that data changes, it can be updated in one place; all presentations using that slide will be updated accordingly. Similarly, if a company changes its logo or graphic design, presentations can be automatically changed to reflect the new look.

SlideRocket was one of the first services to be integrated with Google Apps; users can incorporate documents and spreadsheets directly into presentations. Existing presentations can be imported from PowerPoint and Google Presentation.

The interface for putting together presentations is surprisingly simple and intuitive. Without leaving SlideRocket, one can search for images through Flickr, or through its own library of stock images.

Presentations can be made public, embedded into web pages, or can be shared with specific colleagues or clients. SlideRocket offers detailed analytics that allow tracking of who looked at what. And yes, presentations can also be printed or turned into PDFs; of course, interactivity will be lost.

At present, SlideRocket presentations continue to be Flash-based. However, the developer is preparing an HTML5 version that will be available on platforms, like the iPad, that don’t support Flash.

You can see a sample presentation or a video. Pricing plans include a free “lite” version with limited features, a “pro” version for $24 per user per month, and an “enterprise” version that is priced per user. A 14-day trial is available. Google Apps admins can make the trial or full version available to their users through the Google Apps Marketplace.

Do you use SlideRocket? What do you think?

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub. req.):

Presentation Tip: The 200 Slide Solution

Simon Mackie — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:00:41 +0000

Presentations are all so “samey” — a few slides, four or five bullets per slide, some stock imagery, maybe some effects if you’re feeling fancy. How about trying something different? Marketing guru Seth Godin proposes shaking up the status quo with his “200 slide solution.” Next time you have a 40-minute presentation to make, try using two hundred slides, each containing just one word or image. That’s a slide every 12 seconds.

Godin goes on to state that he doesn’t mean to stipulate that you should use exactly 200 slides — you could use 50, 100 or even none. The idea is to try to shake up the tired old presentation techniques that you’ve been using. Trying something radical will give your talk impact, keep your audience interested and make your presentation memorable.

I think Godin’s suggestion is a little reminiscent of the format of O’Reilly’s Ignite events, which is another place to draw presentation inspiration from. Ignite talks are shorter than most typical presentations, lasting exactly six minutes 40 seconds. Each speaker has 20 slides, with each slide being shown for exactly 20 seconds (a little longer than Godin’s 12 seconds, but not by much). The short amount of time allowed and the auto-advancing slides ensure that the speaker sticks to the point and keeps things interesting.

If you’re curious as to what kind of slides Ignite speakers use, many of them share their slide decks on Slideshare — here are some from Ignite Phoenix, for example. There’s also some useful Ignite presentation tips here. Of course, it may not be practical to limit your next presentation to a little under seven minutes, but keeping your talk as short as you possibly can is a very good idea; just because you’ve been allotted 40 minutes doesn’t mean that you need to use it all.

What approaches have you tried to shake up the presentation status quo?

Ignite Montreal photo courtesy Flickr user acroll, licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.0

Related GigaOM Pro content (sub. req.): Enabling the Web Work Revolution

Zoho Show Update Adds Slide Transitions and Publishing Enhancements

Will Kelly — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:00:58 +0000

Zoho recently launched an update to Zoho Show, its online presentations tool and Microsoft PowerPoint competitor. This new update ups the game against SlideRocket, Google Docs, Acrobat.com Presentations (part of Acrobat.com, covered here), and the soon-to-launch Microsoft PowerPoint Web App by adding thirty slide transitions, and improved import and export of PowerPoint presentations (including support for its slide transitions).

There are also new advanced options on Zoho Show’s “Publish” menu for sizing embedded presentations, which should prove welcome if you are wanting to integrate Zoho Show presentations on your blog or web site.

Zoho has also improved support for Google Chrome. Previously, if you were a Chrome user you could only view Zoho Show presentations, but now you can have full access to all of its features.

Zoho and its web office applications may not get the headlines like Google Apps does, but its attention to usability and features like those in this update make them a player to watch in the web office market.

Have you tried out the newly-updated Zoho Show?

Related GigaOM Pro content (sub. req): Enabling the Web Work Revolution

Black Tonic: Present Your Slides Live Online

Imran Ali — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Wolverine, Portland-based design consultancy firm, today launched Black Tonic, a web-based app that helps presenters deliver a presentation to their viewers — live and in real time.

There’s no shortage of web-based applications for authoring and publishing presentations (Google Docs, Slideshare) or screen-sharing (Yuuguu) in real time, but Wolverine has chosen to orient its Black Tonic app around a handful of basic principles that differentiate it from existing services:

Instant “experience sharing,” synchronizing browsers for all those watching a presentation.
Placing control in the hands of the presenter alone.
Stripping back the interface to give prominence to the slides’ content, rather than the app itself.

After signing up, presenters’ accounts are provisioned with a custom subdomain, and they can begin to upload their slides as a series of GIF, JPEG or PNG images. Once uploaded, presenters can invite viewers to their presentation simply by issuing them with the unique URL automatically generated by the application; for example, http://webworkerdaily.blacktonic.com/izu2ar9.

The synchronized presentation sessions — powered by the company’s innovative XS technology — work great and require minimal explanation to viewers; they just click and watch. However, despite my fondness for simplicity in application and service design, the stripped-back, minimalist features of Black Tonic’s suggest a great, albeit unfinished service.

Critically, Black Tonic is missing a mechanism to directly import Keynote or Powerpoint slides, or even batch upload slide images; this raises the barrier to entry for new users. Though the XS-powered synchronization works very well, presentations need an additional medium to provide context — such as a conference call or real-time chat. Providing built-in features to set up, for example, a Skype conference call, though reducing simplicity, would provide value to users and even a route to future revenues.

Less crucially, it’s unclear if the generated URLs are permalinks. If so, should a downloadable collection of slides be available alongside privacy controls? And why not also shorten those URLs by default for further flexibility — http://bt.nc/zu2ar9, for example.

Black Tonic shows great promise and it’s worth experimenting with. I suspect that the creators — David Price and Phillipe Blanc — will be adding features rapidly as they learn how users are responding, so do register and give your feedback!

Tried Back Tonic? Let us know what you think of it below.

Related GigaOM Pro Research:

“Report: The Real-Time Enterprise“

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

Meet a Presenter's Nightmare (or Friend): The Backchannel

Meryl K Evans — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:00:49 +0000

In his new book, “The Backchannel: How Audiences Are Using Twitter and Social Media and Changing Presentations Forever,” Cliff Atkinson provides an example of the effect that a Twitter-enabled backchannel (an online conversation between audience members) can have on a presentation. At last year’s South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Tex., Pam Slim led a panel discussion titled, “From Blog to Book Deal.” The panel consisted of Hugh MacLeod, Guy Kawasaki, Stephanie Klein and Kate Lee. Kawasaki turned to the topic of getting book deals without having to write a proposal. Lee started to respond that not everyone has that opportunity when Kawasaki interrupted. Moderator Pam Slim studied the tone and body language of the panelists and determined that Kawasaki didn’t overstep his bounds.

But audience member Whitney Hess saw it differently. “She felt that Guy was being chummy with the other male panelist, and now he was aggressively taking over a female panelist who was not challenging him on it,” writes Atkinson. Hess tweeted that Kawasaki started taking over the panel when he told Lee to let him finish talking. Demonstrating the power of the backchannel, Kawasaki was monitoring Twitter from his laptop and saw Hess’ comment. “I want to know who Whitney Hess is, because she just said I’m being a total dick. What is this?” he asked.

Atkinson defines the backchannel as follows:

A backchannel is a line of communication created by people in an audience to connect with others inside or outside of the room, with or without the knowledge of the speaker at the front of the room. Usually facilitated by Internet technologies, it is spontaneous, self-directed, and limited in time to the duration of a live event.

The backchannel can either be a good or bad thing, depending on how the presenter and the audience use it. Presenters can use the backchannel to extend a presentation and engage the audience inside and outside of the room. The backchannel can also destroy a presentation when the audience posts negative feedback online for the world to see, or changes the mood in the room entirely.

Atkinson’s book covers in details the risks and rewards of the backchannel, explaining the different types of backchannel that can affect a presentation. These help the presenter understand what they are getting into when they join or discover a backchannel. He demonstrates how to prepare for a backchannel, and how to integrate Twitter-friendly ideas into a presentation, such as creating a hybrid of presentation and conversation, taking “Twitter breaks” and involving the audience through Twitter and the Internet.

He also shares a variety of real-world examples and how the speakers handled them. Atkinson tells Chris Brogan‘s story of having to deal with an unruly backchannel from the presentation prior to his. Brogan changed his introduction to post the backchannel on the screen. He opened with a few lines of rap and managed to loosen up the audience with laughter.

“The Backchannel” targets presenters more than audience members, although audience members can also benefit from the book’s insights. The next time you make a presentation or join a panel, you can either be prepared for the backchannel or let it take over. If you want to be prepared, “The Backchannel” gives you the guidance you need.

What is your experience with the backchannel?

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

Track PowerPoint Changes With Workshare Compare for PowerPoint

Meryl K Evans — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:00:40 +0000

One of my favorite and most often-used features in Microsoft Word is Track Changes. For the uninitiated, Track Changes lets the document creator see what changes an editor makes to an original document. Unfortunately, while PowerPoint has a Review tab, it is limited to adding comments — it has no Track Changes feature. So reviewers have to get creative in referencing the original content and then making note of suggested changes using comments.

Workshare Compare for PowerPoint gives you the ability to compare two PowerPoint files and see the differences between them. While it doesn’t track changes while you edit the PowerPoint file, like Word does, it does give you the ability to see the changes that have been made between versions of a presentation.

You can select which version of the slide (either original or modified) you wish to keep right inside Workshare, much like Word’s accept/reject feature. The interface clearly shows which is which, and outlines the changes in the detailed summary at the bottom. The easy-to-use interface takes no effort to figure out, so you can get right to work. I made a quick screencast to show you how it works:

The biggest drawback to Workshare is the cost of a license. (A 14-day free trial is available.) One license of Workshare Compare for PowerPoint retails for ~~$199~~$145 per license per user for one year. If you don’t renew the license, the software stops working. (Note: There are two editions of Workshare Compare, one of which is for PowerPoint and the other for comparing PDF and Word documents.)

Personally, I don’t edit PowerPoint presentations enough to justify this cost on an annual basis, and I believe that many people will agree with me. Those who edit and share PowerPoint presentations on a regular basis and frequent presenters will benefit most from the application, but the subscription-based fee may be a barrier.

Have you tried Workshare Compare for PowerPoint? Do you think it is worth the cost?

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

Epson P6000: Not Just For Photographers?

Nancy Nally — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:00:19 +0000

If you are a serious photographer, one of the things you live (or work) most in fear of is of losing a whole session of shots before you are able to properly back them up. This can happen in many ways: equipment loss, memory card failure, accidental erasure, or theft. But as with everything digital, there’s a gadget that can help solve that problem — if you are willing to pay the price.

That gadget is the Epson P6000, and even if you aren’t a photographer, it comes with some features that may be of use to you if you need to carry media with you or do presentations on the fly. Technically referred to as a “Multimedia Storage Viewer”, the P6000 is essentially an 80GB portable hard drive with a 4” LCD screen, SD and CF card readers, and a built-in interface for managing and viewing files. Part of that interface allows the playback of slideshows for presentations (which are created on the device with the photo and music files stored on it) or of audio and videos. There is a built-in speaker or a headphone jack for listening to the audio. An optional cable can also be purchased to allow the device to connect to a TV for playback. Street price for the Epson P6000 is $569.

If you’re a photographer or if — like me — your work sometimes requires photography, such as at trade shows, there is no doubt that the P6000 is a fabulous tool for backing up your photos while you shoot. The interface is intuitive and file copying is quick. Two caveats: the device is not as lightweight as you might think — at around 1lb in weight it’s about the equivalent of carrying a second DSLR camera body. Second, I found it can make security people doing bag checks suspicious because they aren’t used to seeing it and don’t know what it is, so be prepared to explain it if you are going to carry it.

The P6000‘s slideshow function seems mostly designed to be used as a portfolio presentation device for the professional photographers that are the device’s primary market. Slideshows are limited in their customization options. A slideshow can only be created from the entire contents of a single folder. You then can select music from your library, set the display time for each slide, and choose a transition. The music, display time and transition style are constant throughout the entire slideshow. This style is perfect for showing off a photo portfolio, but perhaps less than optimal for other presentations.

If you’d like to create a less basic presentation, you need to create a video file on your computer (i.e. from Powerpoint) and then transfer it to the P6000. The device can play MPEG4 and Motion JPEG files.

Unless you are a photographer who needs high-end data back-up, do you really need the P6000? Is it worth the $569? The P6000 is definitely a solid device for photographers but its portable presentation functions are very basic and can be duplicated in other more cost-efficient ways if that is all the functionality that you really need. For example, the iPhone’s screen is only slightly smaller than the P6000 for playing videos on. It has apps for creating presentations on the fly with plenty of customization options, and it can be plugged in to a TV. But the iPhone is a multi-function device. I think I’d declare the iPhone the winner over the P6000 as a portable presentation device.

If you are a photographer, the P6000 is a must-have. For portable presentations, however, I’d chalk this up as another category where the iPhone is king.

Do you have a need to carry a presentation in your pocket? How do you do it?

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

Hold Better, Less Stressful Meetings with the Web

Doriano "Paisano" Carta — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:00:02 +0000

We all know how painful it is to coordinate a meeting involving more than a couple of people. Everyone has to check their calendar of events to find a date and time that will work for everyone’s schedule. The more people involved with the meeting, the more difficult it all becomes. If the meeting involves ordering food for everyone, then the plot only thickens. Here are some free tools and services that can help tremendously with coordinating and even conducting meetings, as well as getting everyone fed.

First, Lock ‘Em In

Tungle makes scheduling a convenient time and place so much easier by sharing your available times to anyone via the web. Microsoft Outlook users within the same organization don’t need it, but it comes in handy for those outside of the corporate firewall. Tungle’s interface is great, and there’s also a Tungle.me widget that you can embed on your web site to give people quick access to your calendar and events.

A Picture (Map) is Worth a Thousand Words (Directions)

Giving directions to attendees is another pain for meetings. Everyone knows and loves online mapping services like Google Maps, so it makes sense to provide a map of the meeting location along with customizable directions that each attendee can adjust depending on their starting location. Your best best is to embed the map on your web site, and share the link in your meeting invitation.

The Next Best Thing

If your meeting involves people who can’t make it to your office, then there are boatloads of presentation services available today that will allow you to conduct your meeting online. Present.io delivers a quick and easy way to share your presentations via the web. You can also share large files for distributing handouts and even use a conference call feature to talk over the web. For more about Present.io, check out our previous coverage.

Feeding Their Faces

CrazyMenu makes the process of ordering food for your group much easier. It allows you to create a group instantly and find establishments that deliver in your area. It then lets you share menu items with each attendee so they can make their own selections. Using this type of solution reduces many headaches for whoever is responsible for handling event catering.

Final Thoughts

These were just a few examples of the tools out there that can assist you when it comes to organizing a meeting or presentation, whether it’s in‐house, on‐location, involves employees only or includes people from outside your organization. There are many other web apps that can add value to the experience and make your life easier. Take the time to look around and which ones suit your needs best. You’ll end up saving yourself a lot of unnecessary stress.

Which web apps do you find invaluable when it comes to preparing for a meeting?

Image by flickr user ramson

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

SlideRocket Opens Services Directory

Scott Blitstein — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:00:01 +0000

We’ve been considerably impressed with SlideRocket in our coverage over the last year. Allowing you to create knockout presentations with integrated asset management and analytics, it’s a no-brainer solution for your presentation needs.

One of the most interesting features they announced in their last major release was the SlideRocket marketplace, a solution that lets you purchase content for your presentation from within the application. This past week they opened this up even more, with the addition of the SlideRocket Services Directory.

The Services Directory lets users connect with certified providers who can offer creative expertise in areas like design, copy writing, photography and more, all from right within the application. The collaboration functionality already built in to SlideRocket makes the process easy.

I’m a big fan of this trend to introduce and facilitate the connection between user and provider. It’s a win-win, offering customized presentation services to users and an additional outlet for web workers to offer our wares.

As it is a relatively new service, now might could be a great time for creative agencies and freelancers to align themselves with SlideRocket and establish yourself as an expert early on. The fact that it is a powerful platform and a joy to work with make it an even more compelling opportunity.

SlideRocket has also added two new content providers to the Marketplace. The addition of Andertoons and PresentationPro add to the offerings already available from Fotolia and Mimeo.

If you’re a service provider interested in a listing in the Services Directory, more information can be gained by emailing marketplace@sliderocket.com. Listings are free but premium placement advertising and opportunity are in the pipeline.

Are you using SlideRocket? Are your services a fit for its Services Directory?

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.