Streaming Video of Section Meetings Now Available
After two months of testing, I’m delighted to announce that KCBA will now be routinely streaming over the web all section meetings that offer CLE presentations. This enhanced membership benefit is available for no additional charge for those KCBA members who join a KCBA section.
With 15 practice areas to choose from, KCBA members can join one or more sections at an annual cost of $25 per section. Most sections offer a monthly, one-hour CLE program with an outside speaker. Traditionally, the sessions are in-person meetings at the bar office where members can interact with the speaker and network with colleagues before and after the meeting. Section meetings are a valuable opportunity to stay abreast of new topics and find new approaches to your challenging cases.
Section meetings have always been a popular and low-cost way to obtain CLE credits. But for those members outside the downtown area, or even for those members downtown but with a tight schedule, attending section meetings in person can be a challenge. Our new streaming option brings these meetings directly to your office (or the beach or any other location you choose!).
Before each meeting, section members receive a notice of the upcoming date and topic. Included are special instructions for logging onto a page on our website where a video stream of the meeting appears. Meeting materials are available on the webpage, including any presentation materials.
The camera location is fixed and focused on the front of the meeting room. Audio is also streamed, so you’ll need to have speakers on your computer. You’ll be able to hear the speaker clearly, though questions from the audience won’t always be audible. We are working with presenters to remind them to repeat the questions.
Remote participants are able to type questions for the speaker into a special box on their screens, which in turn are instantly relayed to the meeting moderator, who passes them to the speaker. CLE credit is available for remote participants; further instructions are on the meeting webpage.
A caveat: no technology is perfect. This isn’t video conferencing with two-way interactive audio/video connections. Streaming video can unexpectedly freeze or the sound might cut out. Generally, these glitches last for a matter of seconds and simple tech fixes (e.g., re-launching your browser) will quickly solve such problems. But I think that as the bar gets more experience with streaming meetings, we’ll see most of these technological “hiccups” become very infrequent. And you can’t beat the cost.
I invite you to test drive our new streaming system in the months ahead — even if you’re not a section member. We will make streams available at no cost to all KCBA members until Labor Day. Look for notices of section meetings and speakers in the “What’s New” portion of the KCBA website and mark your calendar to participate. Note that many sections do not have meetings in the summer, so there will be limited choices, but we expect enough to give you an opportunity to try out the technology.
If you find this new member benefit helpful, I invite you to sign up for one or more sections when you receive your annual dues notice this summer. At only $25 per section, it’s a very cost-effective way to get many hours of CLE programs without having to leave your office.
Andrew Prazuch is executive director of the King County Bar Association. He can be reached by email (andrewp@kcba.org) or phone (206-267-7100 ext. 7061).
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