This is my first official offering of technical information using web based
conferencing. The idea is to supplement my technical web pages so that you
may interact with live humans, other participants and me. The first
attempt was made just after Christmas and it showed that the technology was
useful, but very expensive. Now I am trying a less expensive format, that
while it offers less, it seems to be enough to do the job that we need. I
tested it out with a "participant" and it did the job perfectly.
What is a web seminar?
It is similar to the old fashioned seminar where a person, or persons,
presents some information to some number of participants. After, or during
the presentation, questions can be asked and answered. Visual aids or
graphics are commonly used to assist in the presentation.
The web seminar is about the same. Each participant is "invited" to
attend a seminar by email. That allows one to log into the group as a
participant. The participant will see my desktop. I (the presenter)
will open up a prepared Power Point presentation on the subject. I will go
through and explain the various slides and take questions etc. I am able
to "hand off" the control to any participant. That means that you will be
able to move the cursor around to "point" to something of interest and ask or
comment.
What is the next seminar about?
The next one will be a step up from the early testing stage and not yet at
the finished product. I think it best to limit it to 4 participants while
I am learning. The technology limits us to 10 participants. I am
concerned that I need to slowly approach that perfect number.
The subject will be the same, /2, /5 and /6 BMW motorcycle wheel bearing
maintenance and preload. I am in the third version of the presentation and
it is far better than the first one. It will continue to get better.
When is/was this seminar?
It was 22 January, 2005. See the feedback from boxerworks.com below.
Author: Douglas Wire (---.sport.rr.com)
Date: 01-22-05 15:04
I just got through participating in one of Duane Ausherman's web seminars on
wheel bearing preload/care and feeding etc. It worked very well and the
format was quite impressive. He was able to show us slides of different
aspects of the adjustment procedure and verbally talk us through the
presentation. We were able to ask questions via either voice (telephone)
or chat box on the web. There was a minor audio audibility problem that I
believed to be just a telephone company snafu; but that was the only negative.
I feel confident it will be resolved for future sessions.
I have never had either wheel off of my bikes yet, so I was seeing and
hearing this material really for the first time. I had consulted Duane's
site on the matter, but after hearing it described and expanded on personally by
Duane, I left feeling completely confident I could easily take the steps needed
to remove, rebuild, and replace the bearing "stacks" and properly preload them
in both the front and the rear of my /5's.
Duane did not limit himself to just the /5 or /6 he expanded on the early
models up to the /7 I believe. He gave specific reference to each model as
they differed... everyone in the conference was covered and questions were
answered both during and after the presentation.
Duane proved the feasibility of this technology to me and I left feeling
quite satisfied. I would like to encourage others out there to get
involved. I think there is probably something there for most everyone.
Besides, Duane has been providing his excellent web page for all of us to use
for some time now. That is and I hope always will be available day and
night. What you won't find there is Duane himself giving a lecture,
talking you through the procedure and answering questions in real time.
I couldn't have been happier. Thanks Duane you are on the right track.
And all of you airhead riders out there considering participating I would highly
recommend it.
Doug
I sat in on this seminar today and can say I am quite impressed, both
with the method as a long distance communications enhancement, and
with the quality of the information provided.
With the one exception of a small audio glitch, the seminar went
flawlessly, Duane was able to thoroughly cover the subject matter in
about one hour which included question and answer sessions.
There were one or two things that were brought up during the
presentation that were discussed and settled in a matter of a minute
or two. If these same things had been brought up in an email
discussion, they would have been discussed for days and days and
never brought to a satisfactory conclusion.
I wholeheartedly recommend these sessions for anyone who wants really
learn a procedure. You just can't get this quality of information out
of a book, or off a web bulletin board.
Lonnie
How much does this cost me?
Your cost will be in three parts.
1. Since this is new to both of us, my introductory charge is $20 for
one hour. You will make a Paypal payment to me of $20 and pay for your
telephone call. My Paypal account name is w6rec and I must have the
payment by that morning or I won't have time to set you up in the conference.
2. Maybe you have free cell phone calls on the weekend, great. If
not, then it will just show up on your telephone bill. If your local
company charges more than 3 cents per minute, then consider using a prepaid
phone card. You can get them off of the Internet for 3 cents per minute,
or less. You can even call Europe for that price. Go to
http://www.prepaidcall.com for info.
I usually use the smart card.
3. Your feedback and suggestions for my future seminars. Specific
suggestions for improving the material of this subject. General
suggestions for other BMW topics.
What do I need on my end?
At a minimum, you will need to be able to talk on the phone while watching
your computer screen. A hands free phone is best, but you can hold the
phone with one hand and operate your mouse with the other hand. The slower
dial up will work, but you will be behind the rest in seeing the screen update.
We will wait for you if needed. I have not tried this yet with dial up, so
I will learn too. Broadband is far better.
You will need your list of questions available ahead of time. You can
also ask questions by "chat" while another topic is being discussed.
I am interested and want to attend, what do I do.
1. Email me and ask if the seminar is full yet. It is first come,
first serve. It may be full as you read this. When it is full, I
will post it on the /2, /5 and boxerworks lists.
2. Then submit your Paypal payment of $20 to w6rec.
3. Read my page on wheel bearings and make out your list of questions
and concerns. Be fair to others time by keeping them on subject. If
we happen to have extra time, which I highly doubt, I will take general
questions. You will get your hours worth of time and I hope expertise too.
4. If you have particular questions, ask them ahead of time by email so
that I can add a photo to the slide show so as to save time. I probably
already have a photo of the issue, but it may be buried in my computer. I
don't want to waste the time of other participants with my trying to find it.
If you have the photo, send it to me well ahead of time so that we can discuss
it if needed before the presentation. I am willing and able to include it
in the slide show if it is well related to the issue of wheel bearings.
This page will be edited often as I learn what I am doing.
In time, I will offer more seminars on more subjects. I will list them
here. This page is not linked from anywhere. You must bookmark it or
put it into your favorites. If this works out as I hope, then it will
eventually be linked from my BMW motorcycle index page.
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