Event Recap: AnyMeeting WebRTC Hackathon Spurs Innovation

Our Hackathon on January 26th was a terrific success, thanks to the support of Chapman University, the Ralph W. Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics, Chapman’s eVillage, and our two sponsors Influxis and TokBox.

The event drew teams of developers, entrepreneurs, product managers and designers who joined forces with members of the AnyMeeting product group to spend a day developing projects using WebRTC, which is short for “Web Real Time Communications”.

“Innovation is a critical component of everything we do at AnyMeeting and this event was a great opportunity to engage with the local community and connect with partners and technologists driven to evolve the current state of communications online,” Costin Tuculescu, AnyMeeting, founder and CEO said. “There was a really high level of excitement about being able to create video and audio applications so easily, and everyone was chomping at the bits to put together the next AnyMeeting or Google Hangouts. Interestingly enough though, the teams did quickly realize that while certain things like one-to-one video chat is now very easy, multi-way video conferencing and recording still remains a challenge.

The event opened with presentations from Costin, Chapman, Influxis and TokBox. We’ve captured them on video and will be sharing them on the AnyMeeting YouTube channel. Some highlights are embedded below:

The Hack session ended with presentations from the teams. The top projects were:

• An HTML5 WebSockets based signaling platform to synchronize any number of meeting attendees
• An online security system that feeds multiple security cameras into a central location, and allows recording
• A “Google Hangouts” like video chat platform

The consensus from the teams was that while this technology is very exciting, it’s still in its infancy. A number of the teams found that documentation from just a few weeks ago had already become outdated on the current version of Chrome, and other docs warned that certain features would be changing, so be prepared for that.

Regardless, as the major browser manufacturers continue to make progress on this spec, the industry will certainly keep up with this wave of disruption and AnyMeeting will be holding future Hackathons to ensure that our community keeps up with the innovation.

Stay tuned!

zipLogix Launches zipConsult, the Web Conferencing Solution Powered by AnyMeeting

FRASER, Mich., Jan. 16, 2013 — zipLogix, creator of zipForm®, the real estate industry’s leading contract software, released today a new web conferencing service powered by AnyMeeting, a leader in small business web conferencing. As part of the partnership, AnyMeeting will provide zipForm users a co-branded web conferencing tool integrated with zipForm 6 Professional.

“The zipConsult product expands the feature set of zipForm and enables our users to easily meet online, review documents and close more deals,” Walt McDonald, Chairman of the Board, zipLogix said. “AnyMeeting is the ideal solution to power this service with their strong focus and commitment to the needs of small business.”

Existing users of zipForm 6 Professional have instant access to features including, video conferencing, built-in conferencing calling, screen sharing, video sharing, and support for up to 200 participants. The ad-supported version of the software is available at no additional cost or users can upgrade to ad-free for an additional low monthly fee.

“We are very excited to be empowering real estate professionals across North America to meet online, share and collaborate,” said Costin Tuculescu, President and CEO of AnyMeeting. “Brokers and Agents represent an important segment of the small business market, which is our focus at AnyMeeting.”

AnyMeeting caters specifically to small businesses and independent professionals, providing a full-featured solution to address the complete range of small business needs. It offers 6-way video conferencing, conference calling, built-in VoIP, screen sharing, presentation sharing and recording, as well as additional features uniquely important to small businesses, such as persistent personalized meeting URLs, social media integration, personal profile pages and webinar ticketing.

With zipConsult powered by AnyMeeting, zipLogix is providing a powerful, yet easy to use web conferencing product for more than 600,000 real estate professionals. Read the full release here.

AnyMeeting WebRTC Hackathon Event Details

Click here to Register for the Hackathon

For those of you who have registered, here are the event details:

9:00 AM, Saturday, January 26th,
Chapman University’s Von Neumann Hall,
545 West Palm Avenue, Orange, CA 92865. Map. 
(Parking will be provided at Chapman free of charge. Bring your ticket to receive a validation.)

We are honored to have the event hosted by Chapman University’s Schmid College of Science and Technology, in partnership with the Ralph W. Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics, and Chapman’s eVillage. In addition, UC Irvine’s Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences and California State Fullerton’s College of Engineering and Computer Science are also promoting the event.

Our sponsors include, Influxis, a live streaming and real-time application hosting provider, and TokBox, an online video communications provider that
announced support for WebRTC back in August of 2012.

We are looking forward to seeing each of you at the event. To help you get oriented here are some answers to common questions:

Who can attend?

The event is free and open to software engineers, designers, product managers, marketers and entrepreneurs interested in coming together and working on building a new project, product or service involving WebRTC. Note: If you are inviting others, please ensure that they register soon as space is limited and only those registered participants will be admitted.

Can I bring code I prepared in advance?

Yes, if you want to get started early, you can bring in up to 1,000 lines of code prepared in advance. You can also leverage other existing projects from GitHub, Google Code, or other repositories. However, the judging will be based on the work that you originally create specifically for this project.

To start learning, check out this excellent overview!

Do I have to participate on a team?

No, you do not have to work with a team. You can bring a team, work alone, or ask us to identify others who have registered who might want to work with you on a team. We encourage engineers to peer up with marketing folks and designers to have the best chance in creating a top notch project!

What equipment or supplies do I need to bring?

Bring your laptop and power cables and any other accessories designed to make your work area comfortable and efficient. Food, beverages and WiFi will be provided along with desks and work areas.

How will my project be judged?

Judges will review all projects and select the top project based on the following criteria:

• Most viable product or service
• Technically challenging
• Completeness of product
• Creativity and originality
• Audience favorite

Who are the Judges?

• Chris Buckstein – Director, eVillage, Chapman University
• Jerry Chabolla – CTO, Influxis
• Dr. Michael Fahy – Associate Dean, Chapman University
• Jonathan Mumm – Developer Advocate, TokBox
• Costin Tuculescu – CEO, AnyMeeting

What is the Agenda for the day?

• 9:00 AM – Registration
• 9:30 AM – Intro & Welcome from Costin, AnyMeeting CEO
• 9:35 AM – Chapman Welcome & Overview of Dept
• 9:45 AM – Influxis – Welcome and Brief Overview
• 9:55 AM – TokBox – Brief Overview and Further Insight into Web RTC
• 10:05 AM – AnyMeeting – Why WebRTC? – Costin, AnyMeeting CEO
• 10:15 AM – Start Hacking!
• 12:00 PM – Pizza Arrives
• 4:00 PM – Donuts Arrive
• 7:00 PM – Dinner type food Arrives – Cheeseburgers??
• 8:00 PM – Project Presentations
• 9:00 PM – Winners Chosen
• Mixer and Drinks after the Hackathon will be at “The District Lounge”  – Map

What’s next?

• Help us understand your skills and experience (click here to complete a brief form)
• Join the Hackathon Facebook Group to connect with other Hackers and share your thoughts and experiences and potentially network to form a team
• Invite your friends!

See you there!

AnyMeeting

What Not to Wear to a Video Conference

With today’s web and video conferencing services, it’s so easy to roll out of bed and take a conference call. But that means it’s even easier to forget to ensure we are presentable before hitting that “share my webcam” button.

Chanie Kirschner at the Mother Nature Network recently wrote a good set of reminders that include these common sense but nevertheless important tips for how best to handle your video conference calls:

• Never wear anything that gives the illusion that you’re naked
• Don’t videoconference in pajamas — at least the upper half of them
• Before you videoconference, check your head
• Don’t offend your audience
• Mind the background visuals and noise

Read the full post here.