Online Meetings And The Next Wave Of Innovation!

The League of Functional Therapists (LOFT) is an international organization. Communicating with diverse people over vast distances is one of our key business needs. A phone is an essential tool, the internet and email have been remarkable enablers... and now online meeting has the potential to be a revolution.

As part of our business software we have a subscription to GoToMeeting. This Citrix product allows up to 16 people to be on a conference call (as a phone call or as Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP)) and all looking at the same screen. Any attendee's screen can be viewed and or, with your permission, completely controlled. Is this functionality worth less than $50/month? It is to me.

I have met with people all over. I have used this in my work to avoid a long walk, kept all my tools and materials on hand, solved a problem in 2-5 minutes and gone on to do other things. With a software developer we designed together as he taught me what he was doing. With family we have met and planned together and shared photos.

Oh, by the way, the distance is not required... we could do this in the same room too, a few laptops in a conference room and an old fashioned meeting turns into generating work. These capabilities are incredible.

Why then does it seem so routine to people I introduce it to? I have them go to a site (JoinGoToMeeting.com) and put in a meeting number. The program downloads a little file to let it run on your system and the person is asked to put in their name and email address. Then, suddenly, we are meeting together. Instead of talking or planning and sending someone off to do it and report back later, we are able to finish the project in real time together. Just because it's easy doesn't mean it's routine. Can you imagine the possibilities?

If you're an Occupational Therapist and you want know more about our organization we want to talk with you. We can set up a meeting anywhere in the world. So far the farthest East is London, England and farthest West is Queensland, Australia. We want people to understand our mission and objectives and sometimes it takes a guided tour.

So far we have met with supporters and detractors. It is incredible to problem solve together with supporters and it is remarkably inciteful to get feedback from detractors. There is so much that we can learn together.

Set up a meeting with us, learn about the League of Functional Therapists and get to try out GoToMeeting. Contact me at EdKaine@FunctionalTherapist.org.

I'm looking forward to meeting with you.

Yours,


Ed Kaine, OTR/L, RFT
President of the League of Functional Therapists

"Functional Therapy... the Next Generation of Occupational Therapy."