Dimdim myScreen 6 is here!

We just upgraded all existing accounts to the new Dimdim 6 and will roll this out officially on Tuesday at 8 am ET (so keep it quiet until then)

There are tons of new features including 4-way video chat, secure document sharing, polls, mashups and dozens of other improvements we'll tell you more about next week. 

One of the coolest enhancements is the new myScreen plug-in: you can now share your entire desktop, a region of your screen or just a single application!  We've redesigned the UI for both hosts and attendees to make screen sharing even easier.

I think the best way to celebrate the new myScreen is with this video I just finished last night.  Enjoy!

Tweet your webinar

If you're offering free webinars, you may find getting people to sign up is the biggest challenge.  I recently shared some free services for promoting your webinar, but it's important to also share your events with your followers and network.  Sharing your webinar is easy using the Dimdim registration widget.

Every scheduled event in Dimdim automatically has a registration widget created.  You can use the sharing buttons at the top of the widget to let everyone know about it through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other services.  Click the button at the top of your widget for the service you want.

For example if you click Twitter, it will automatically take you to the Twitter web site with a tweet ready to go.

You'll probably want to customize the message to say a little more about your event, but the link will take people directly to your widget to sign up.  If you're posting to Twitter, using keywords and hashtags your attendees might be searching for will give you better exposure.  Twitter offers some hashtag advice including:

• only use hashtags on tweets relevant to the topic
• don't over-tag a single tweet

So it's easy enough to tweet your registration link -- it's up to you what you do with it.

If you have any great approaches you use for getting more attendees to register for your webinars, let me know in the comments below, via Twitter, or on our Facebook page.

Thanks!

-k
Kevin Micalizzi, Community Manager
Dimdim Web Conferencing
e: kevin@dimdim.com
twitter: @dimdim
facebook: dimdim.com/facebook

Upgrading Helps You "Get Yours"

We know you love our free product and that many of you are looking for a good reason to upgrade to our paid offerings (yeah, we know our Free product is so good, why would anyone pay, right?)  Well, in addition to secure meetings, more video feeds, larger rooms and customization (to name a few) now you get an Amazon gift card pre-loaded with 20% of your Dimdim purchase price.  Finally, some cash back to get what you want this summer.  But you have to act fast to "get yours"

Here are the deets:

Buy Dimdim between now and June 30, 2010 and get an Amazon gift card back with 20% of your initial purchase price! For instance, if you buy an annual subscription to Dimdim Pro 100 with the Webinar option for $900 and enter code "getyours" in the coupon box*, we'll email you an Amazon gift certificate for $180!  It's that easy!  So act fast - buy Dimdim today online and use your gift certificate to get what you want!  Or call us at 1-617-418-1092 and a Dimdim team member will be delighted to help.

Get Yours Promo ends on June 30, 2010 - so act fast!

*Offer is available to new monthly or annual subscriptions and upgrades but only via this special coupon offer.  You must enter coupon code "getyours" in checkout to qualify.  We'll send your Amazon gift certificate within 10-14 days to the same email address you used to register Dimdim.

Because of this special money back offer, no refunds are permitted.

Note: When you enter the coupon code or click the link in the email we sent, you'll see a funny discount.    

 

Are your presentation slides hurting your webinar?

 You host a webinar.  Attendance is great.  Your speaker is excellent.  Maybe chat interaction is great.  But you still feel something didn't quite click...maybe it's your slide deck?

I've noticed recently the old PowerPoint 6x6x6 (or 7x7x7) rules still in use...No more than six bullets per slide, no more than six words per line, etc.  Even if you follow those rules, you're still creating a presentation destined to put all but your most avid followers to sleep (or at least encourage them to multitask during your webinar.) 

I'm a huge fan of using images with little or no text.  If you're talking to the slides there's no need to repeat the text there.  Find some good photos to make it more engaging. (I typically find my best images by doing a search for creative commons images on Flickr.)

There's plenty of great advice out there.  Brain Rules for Presenters on SlideShare is one example of excellent, pratical advice:

 

-k
Kevin Micalizzi, Community Manager
Dimdim Web Conferencing
e: kevin@dimdim.com
twitter: @dimdim
facebook: dimdim.com/facebook

Retweet To Give: Help the American Cancer Society (#dimdimgives)

The nominations are in and the American Cancer Society (@americancancer) was the clear choice for our Retweet To Give charity.  Now for the fun part, raising $2,500 together.

Here's how it works.  Every time someone takes one of the actions below, I get to add more money to our donation. 

Tweet or Retweet the message below (each tweet = $0.10 donated by Dimdim):

This tweet=$0.10 for @americancancer. Plz retweet to raise more. http://bit.ly/dimdimgives #dimdimgives

Try Dimdim & Raise Money

Have everyone you know use our special Dimdim sign up link.  Whether they're signing up for Dimdim Free web conferencing, starting a free 30-day trial of Dimdim Pro or Dimdim Webinar, or purchasing an account, using the link means more money donated.  

• Sign Up for Dimdim Free = $0.10 donated by Dimdim
  
• Sign Up for Dimdim Pro or Dimdim Webinar Trial = $1 donated by Dimdim
• Buy Dimdim Pro Monthly = $15 donated by Dimdim
• Buy Dimdim Webinar Monthly = $25 donated by Dimdim
• Buy Dimdim Pro Annual = $60 donated by Dimdim
• Buy Dimdim Webinar Annual = $120 donated by Dimdim

Or you can give them this link:

http://bit.ly/dimdimcaresaboutcancer

That's it! We just need to get people to tweet/retweet or sign up using the special Dimdim sign up link.  Every time someone does, I get to donate more money to the American Cancer Society (@americancancer.)

Thanks!

-k
Kevin Micalizzi, Community Manager
Dimdim Web Conferencing
twitter: @dimdim

p.s. I know it's exciting to raise money for a good cause, but I won't be able to count scripted/automated tweets.  It's best if you tweet and just get your friends to retweet.

---

Money Raising Tweets!

 

Make Easy Money with Dimdim

We just added a new benefit to Dimdim Pro and Dimdim Webinar accounts: free money!

That's right - now simply refer friends and colleagues to try or buy Dimdim and you can earn big money. Like up to $120 per referral!  And there is no limit to the amount of cash you can earn!  And just like everything else about Dimdim we made it super easy. 

Just watch this video for all the details and start earning cash today!

What's more, we automatically put $25 into all Dimdim Pro and Dimdim Webinar accounts and have sent these paying customers an email today detailing their own special referral code with a built-in coupon to promote Dimdim Webinar and help their friends save big. Check your email and spam filter for a message from Dimdim Web Conferencing to get all the details and act fast because that coupon code expires on Dec 15th.

Dimdim Recording Demystified

One the best kept secrets of Dimdim is that recording is available for free for all users, without anything installed on your computer (we do all the magic in our Synchrolive Cloud) and send you a URL to your recording and an embed code.  Often people ask us how to get the best video recording possible with Dimdim.  Here are the secret ingredients:

1. Get Dimdim Pro or Dimdim Webinar.  These products include a mode where you can resize the video up to 4 times larger.  Once you do, the Dimdim video looks like this to your attendees:

 

2. Now if you are not sharing any other resource, just click the record button and we'll record a much higher resolution video file.  After about 5 seconds of the following video you will be able to easily see the difference between normal and hirez video recording:

Finally, here is a Dimdim Knowledgebase article on all the different Dimdim recording modes.  Enjoy!

Using free HR webinars to reach new customers

I recently had a chance to speak with Erik Bartz, Marketing Manager at Pivotal HR Solutions.  To better reach potential customers, Erik started a program offering free webinars.   Like many companies they use Dimdim to provide sales demos, but Erik wanted to do more to develop better relationships with their prospective customers.

Once a month they host a webinar on relevant HR topics.  (They even offer a full list of topics with descriptions on their site.) While some companies we work with use this type of webinar to move into new markets, for Erik it's about better reaching customers in the Toronto area. 

Many companies are looking to move their events online like Erik has done, so I asked how he manages the sessions and what he recommends.  For each of their webinars, Erik acts as host and moderator.  He uploads the presentations, manages the microphones for the consultants presenting, and monitors the public (text) chat.  He even puts a placeholder slide at the front of the slide deck for the attendees that join the meeting before the presentation begins and to remind himself to hit the 'Record' button.

Each consultant presents on their topic for about 15-20 minutes before they take questions from attendees.  Erik’s found that having another person control the slides and use the laser pointer to highlight key items frees up their consultants to focus on the topic.

When someone registers for these sessions, they get a confirmation email, then starting 3 days before the event they get daily reminders, with the final reminder going 1 hour before event.  Erik has found this helps to promote good attendance. 

When Erik was looking for a platform to help him make this happen, he started with Dimdim Free.  Once he was comfortable Dimdim suited their needs, he purchased a Dimdim Pro account primarily for the ability to add their own logo to the meeting room.  He also set up a redirect to a satisfaction survey when attendees exit the webinar.

Attendance to their webinars continues to grow.  If you're in the Toronto area and are looking for HR solutions, check out their HR Resource Centre.

Thanks,

-k
Kevin Micalizzi, Dimdim Community Manager
e: kevin@dimdim.com / Twitter: @dimdim

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