Come and (Google) Hangout Today, at 3:00 PM!

September 23, 2011

So here’s a little experiment I want to try: anyone up for hanging out via Google Hangout, later on today? Say around 3:00 PM, CST? I’ll come back and update this page with all the necessary links and whatnot.

// OK! If you want to kill some time… SWING ON BY!!
//
// Edit: Ok, test is over. Thanks to everyone who showed up, however briefly. That was fun!

In my attempt to Use Google Plus more, I figured I’d give the video/multimedia portion another whirl. I tried the Hangout thing ages ago, when it first became available. I linked up with Russ and we spent a few minutes typing and sharing videos. A pretty fun experience, and similar to conferencing with iChat.

I think so far the biggest number of folks I’ve conferenced with has been three at once. With Google’s Hangout, I’d like to see how many folks I could gather in one spot, at one time. I’m pretty sure I can do such a thing, if I make it public.

It’s always intimidating to me, whenever I try something like this via my blog. It’s similar to me posting up a question, hoping to get comments and always feels like a gamble. Will people show up/respond? Or is it going to be a big bunch of emptiness, similar to throwing a party and having absolutely no one arrive?

I’m pretty sure I can get a few folks from work to participate, so at least it’ll be a small group (I hope). I figure 3PM (CST) will be a decent time, somewhat towards the end of the day on a Friday.

Note: You may need to download Google Voice and Video for the video chat thing to work. If you don’t have it already, no worries – it should prompt you, when you actually try to view the Hangout.

The only other catch? I’m on vacation today, and hanging out in my apartment. The DSL here has gotten wonky (again) in the past day or two, and it’s been fritzing in and out on me. A quick reset of the router seems to resolve the issue, but hopefully it won’t cause any problems later today. God, I’d hate to have to call AT&T and have them pretend to fix my DLS all over again.

Still, it should be a fun time… particularly if we can get a decent sized group. I’ll post reminders on Facebook and Twitter (and Google Plus), prior to the event. If you’re around later this afternoon and want to give this thing a whirl, it’d be great to have you.

It should probably go without saying that for this Internet-based chat session, pants are going to be considered a requirement. And let’s keep all those webcams north of the equator, people.