google hangouts on air - new feature summary

Google Hangouts On Air New feature summary:Events and YouTube Live.

Presented by Mark Vang ~ MarkVang.com

The first step: Do you want a Hangout On Air, or will a “video call” suffice?● If you don’t want a video record, and only want participants to see the live video you should

consider a “video call” or “Hangout Party” instead.● If you want a live stream and a YouTube video you need a HOA (Hangouts OnAir).

Three components of a successful Hangout On Air (HOA):1. Schedule the event.2. Promote the event.3. Launch the event.

Schedule the event:● Is this going to be a public HOA or a private “members only” HOA.

○ A YouTube Live account is needed to schedule a private HOA.● If the event is public include the public circle the first time you publish the event.

○ An event that initially invited circles, can not be changed to a public event.● To maximize your live audience size, create the event (at least) 35 days before the “live” date so

you have time to promote the event and people have time to RSVP.

There are two methods for scheduling a hangout event:● Use the simple HOA scheduling form.

○ Start a Hangout On Air○ Fill in the event details. (title, description)○ Select “Later” and enter the date/time and duration.○ Under “Audience” be sure to include Public and also any circles or people you want to

invite.○ After you publish the event, it will appear under “Live Events” on the YouTube Channel that

created the event.■ If your YouTube account has not been verified you will get an error:

● Create a Google Event this form allows a custom banner graphic.○ Create Event

■ This form isn’t just for HOA’s, it can be used for scheduling any type of event.There are additional fields available under advanced settings.

■ Do not select “Hangouts” (under advanced options).■ Add your custom banner.

● If you don’t have a custom banner, would the simple event form would havesufficed?

■ Fill in the event details. (title, description)■ Set the date/time and select an end time.

● An end time is not required, but helps guests viewers know much timethey should allocate for the event.

■ The “Location” is for an address not a URL.

"I want to learn how to run onair hangouts as a host."Event link video and comments.

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https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MarkVang_loves_Google/about

https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MarkVang/about

https://plus.google.com/u/0/hangouts/onair

https://plus.google.com/u/0/events

https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/cmcn76lt691hp15dgo3u1uoa7q4



■ “To:” Include Public and any circles or persons you wish to invite directly.■ Click “Invite” to publish the event and send the invitations.■ Visit the YouTube channel and schedule the video.

● Grab the URL from the video and use the Advanced Settings to insert theURL in the form.

● Or, you can insert a placeholder video that describes the event.○ Don’t forget to swap the URL with the live URL before the HOA

starts.○ If you don’t use a placeholder video, the countdown timer will be

displayed when people click on the video in the event form.

Your upcoming events will be displayed on your page or profile.

Promoting your event:● When you publish a

public event it isvisible in the streamand listed on theprofile or page thatcreated the event.

● If you created theevent using abusiness page, youcan share the eventwith your personalprofile too.

● If it is a communityevent, ask communitymembers to helppromote the event bysharing it and invitingothers that they feelmight be interested.

● You can share thepost that isautomatically createdor you can click theshare button on the


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event form.● Only Google+ members can comment on the event form and RSVP but if you create a public event,

anyone can watch the video so Tweet/share the link to the event form on other networks to bring inmore viewers.

○ Note: At this time there is a glitch on LinkedIn and which creates a 404 error from anyGoogle+ link shared to a group or as a status update.

● You can visit the YouTube channel hosting the event and grab the direct link (URL) to the video fromthere.

○ If people visit the link before the event starts, they see a countdown timer.● Use TweetDeck or other scheduling software to promote the event links just before they go live. On

Twitter, share the direct URL to the video so folks can watch on their mobile device.

Launch the event:● Give yourself plenty of time and make allowances for things going wrong.● Invite guests in early enough so that they have time to test their equipment and set up their “lower

third”. [video]● Create a Google Document that has information about how you run events. Include information on

how you send invitations and what your expectations are for your guests.

Typical problems and mistakes:

● Setting up Events○ Events “Plan a Hangout” [link]

■ This does not create a “hangout on air” event. (HOA)■ This creates a “video call” (private hangout) with a form that people can people can

RSVP to and comment on.■ There will be no YouTube recording of this hangout.

○ Hangouts “Video calls” [link]■ This does not create a “hangout on air” event. (HOA)■ This will immediately launch a “video call” (private hangout).■ If you invite a community, the invitation is shared as a post.■ There will be no YouTube recording of this hangout.

○ Failing to include Public in the original event invitation for a public event.

■● Notifications and problems getting people into your hangout.

○ Make sure your guests know where the invitation is coming from.■ Your business page, or your personal profile.■ If they don’t know where to look, they may miss the invitation.

○ Don’t assume that a “Mr. Jingles” notification will be generated.■ There are different factors such as settings and circles that may prevent “Mr.

Jingles” notifications or an email from going out to your guests.○ People routinely confuse the event start notification generated by their RSVP for an

invitation to join (participate) in the event.■ The event start reminder will take them to the event form.

○ Mobile apps and devices may not work properly with hangouts.■ If your guest plans to join via mobile, make sure their device can support hangouts.


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http://goo.gl/wY8gIO


https://plus.google.com/u/0/hangouts/active




You might want to launch a test hangout so they can see how their app behaves,and delivers the notification.

● Bandwith & CPU load issues due to running applications.○ Reboot your computer before hosting a hangout.○ Disable any software that might use the internet during your HOA and create bandwith

issues. (Dropbox, email client, Skype, etc.)○ Think of other devices in your home that might “leech” bandwith. (Game consoles, etc.)

Turn them off.○ Some bandwith issues are external and are out of your control. If you are scheduling your

hangouts during peak load times for your local ISP, you may run into issues with video andaudio quality during your hangout or in the video created on YouTube.

● Proper lighting is important.○ Poor lighting makes your webcam work harder and may result in degraded performance for

video and audio.■ Make sure your face is well lit.■ If you have a window behind you, close the blinds.■ Don’t have any lights on in the background (stand lamps).

● The Blue Box Blues○ The small images of your guests across the bottom of the video is known as the “filmstrip”.

■ If you click on a person’s picture in the filmstrip, a blue box surrounds them thatlocks their video source as the primary source.

■ If you don’t have anyone “blue boxed” the video source will switch to any activemicrophone. If someone coughs, the video switches to them, and back to theperson talking.

■ Best practice is for your guests to mute themselves when they aren’t speaking. Ashost you can mute them, but they may not realize they have been muted when theytry to speak.

■ Don’t forget to turn off the blue box when you want to have a general discussion.● Leaving the blue box on a single person is a common rookie mistake.

● Private Hangouts OnAir○ YouTube Live is required to set up a private HOA.

■ Your YouTube account must be verified and in good standing.○ The hangout must be scheduled and launched from YouTube.

■ Do not use the simple hangout event scheduling form. [link]● That event form will create a public YouTube video.

○ An event form is not needed unless you want people to RSVP and comment.■ Remember to set the event form permissions to the same private circle that you

use for the HOA (YouTube video) viewing permissions.○ You can adjust the Privacy settings on YouTube after the video uploads to add or remove

people from the viewing permissions.■ I have not tested adding/removing persons from a circle with permissions.

● YouTube Live advanced event setup.○ If you want to use the Google Events form with banner graphic create a scheduled HOA

from YouTube Live.○ You don’t have to have YouTube Live to continue to create hangout events using the

advanced form, but it makes it easier to get the YouTube URL you need.● Interacting with the audience during a live HOA Comment Tracker and the Q&A app.


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https://plus.google.com/u/0/hangouts/onair





○ Q&A app■ If you used the simple event scheduling form you can turn on the Q&A app before

the event.○ Comment Tracker

■ Allows multiple sources to be brought into discussion, and those comments canbe displayed onscreen during the hangout.

○ If you have used an event form, you can interact with comments directly on the form.

Question: Is this all that there is to know about Hangouts and Hangouts OnAir?Answer: Not by a long shot. My advice… participate, practice and plan. You never know what glitchmay pop up during your hangout...

...so be BE PREPARED!

Additional resources:● Google Hangouts The beginner's guide. [presentation]● HOA HEAVEN! Hangout Events made easy and private hangouts with YouTube Live● Community Mini "I want to learn how to run onair hangouts as a host. [video]● The "lower third" how to set up an overlay for your onair hangout. [video]● Creating a custom thumbnail graphic for your YouTube videos using GoogleDrive. [video]● Circle this dude... ⬇ ⬇ ⬇ ⬇ ⬇ ⬇ ⬇ ⬇ ⬇

Click the pic.


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google hangouts on air - new feature summary

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