32 Sites, 450+ Participants and 7 Breakout Sessions

The Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC) was created in August of 2005 to ensure that every young child in Michigan arrives at the kindergarten door healthy, ready to succeed in school, and with parents who are committed to educational achievement.

In December, after acquiring a “LifeSize” High-Definition videoconference system and receiving training from the St. Clair County RESA, ECIC was anxious to start holding some of its meetings using this new technology.

Mike Maison, Media/Technology Coordinator for the St. Clair County RESA, who provided the training described the ECIC team this way:
“They were not intimidated by the technology at all. During the training everyone in the room was busy taking notes. They were not afraid to ask questions about using the equipment or about protocol and etiquette. They sent their announcements to me prior to a videoconference for review just to make sure everything is covered. As a result, they are very comfortable in a videoconference They are the most progressive people with whom we have had the pleasure of working.”

The First Time Out
On January 8, 2009, ECIC jumped into videoconferencing in a big way. This first videoconference meeting included thirteen (13) locations around Michigan and one (1) in Wisconsin. Although they experienced some technical difficultly, ECIC’s Mike Foley and Shannon Horvath kept communication open with Mike and were able to correct the issues which ensured a successful meeting.

Next Steps
Shortly thereafter, they began making plans for their next meeting.
They planned to use a traditional on-site meeting format:

• Presentation to the large group
• Break out into smaller groups for discussion
• Reconvene in large group to share feedback and closure

The Big Day
Large Group Presentation
On February 5, 2009, at 12:30 pm, 450+ participants at 32 locations listened to a presenter who was on-site in Lansing. She then entertained questions which were emailed to the presentation site from all locations.

Break out Sessions
Next, all the locations were disconnected and reconnected in seven (7) predetermined groups for discussions which used the materials sent earlier.

Feedback
About 50 minutes later, these seven (7) groups were disconnected and all 32 individual locations were reconnected. Group facilitators shared discussion results with all 450 participants. ECIC then summarized the accomplishments of the meeting and thanked everyone for their willingness to try this new (to them) technology.

Results
This event was a first videoconference for most of the 450+ participants. Feedback from them was overwhelmingly positive. In fact, the consensus was they would like to do this on a more regular basis.

Here are a few comments from them:
"I was so impressed with the technical quality of today's ECIC video conference that I have to shoot you a note of thanks. Thanks!
Really impressive."
- Brian Mecosta-Osceola ISD

“..Just reflecting on yesterday….32 sites, 450+ participants and 7 breakout sessions—better than well done!!! Everyone here was impressed.“
- Andy/GISD

"I just wanted to thank you for putting together such a wonderful videoconference yesterday. Everything went very smoothly for having so many sites connected. Thanks again for allowing me to test a couple days prior to the event to ensure a successful event."
- Shale Campos Media Support Livingston Educational Service Agency

Note: The same meeting held the year before in one location had only 40 participants!

Though many of his colleagues from around Michigan thought he was crazy, Mike Maison relished the challenge. In their defense, his colleagues were willing to provide backup, if needed. As it turned out, issues were minimal and easily addressed. Backup wasn’t necessary.

Thank You.
CILC thanks Mike Maison for sharing his success. It is another example of how videoconferencing technology is an effective, economical means to connect people for a multitude of reasons and allowing them to achieve at least as good as on-site results.

Contact Information
Mike Maison
St. Clair County RESA
Education Technology
Media/Technology Coordinator
810-455-4148

Shannon Horvath
Executive Assistant, ECIC

ECIC: Early childhood Investment Corporation
221 North Pine Street
Lansing, MI 48933
517-371-9000 x 217
www.ecic4kids.org