Virtual Chalk Talk using Tablet

---+ VirtualChalkTalk

---++ October 7, 2008, Virtual Chalk Talk Oregon/Israel

Meeting2008October7WithIsraeliArchitects
was the first meeting that I tried to run seriously as a "virtual chalk talk"
(apart from earlier attempts scattered over the years).

When I realized that I was about to start serious microarchitecture discussions with Israeli architects,
over the phone,
rather than trying to prepare PowerPoint or Visio diagrams for every possible question - experience has shown that architects always ask to visualize the microarchitecture via a diagram that is missing, and/or want to "mark up" any existing diagrams - I decided to try enabling a whiteboard discussion over long distance.

Chalk talk / whiteboard discussions worked very well for the pre-strawman review meetings - with all particpants in a conference room with a whitebaord.
The main shortcoming is that, at my present worksite in Oregon, we do not have a way of recording what is on the whiteboard.

(See [[#Equipment]]:) To enable a virtual chalk talk, I (Main.AndyGlew) went and bought a drawing tablet: specifically, an AIPTEK "My Note Premium" Digital Notepad / Tablet. 150$ - unclear if my employer will reimburse Andy.
This device is reasonably functional as a tablet when tethered via USB. (It may also be used untethered, to record handwritten notes when disconnected - but that is not relevant to the "virtual chalk talk" usage model.)

The day before I did a dry run, conversing on the phone with a coworker, using Netmeeting and Microsoft Paint to explore issues.

In the actual meeting with the Israelis I used Netmeeting's whiteboard facility. At the end of every page I hit "Save As", and typed in a filename (1.NMW, 2.NMW, ...).

---++ Equipment

To enable a virtual chalk talk, I (Main.AndyGlew) went and bought a drawing tablet: specifically, an AIPTEK "My Note Premium" Digital Notepad / Tablet. 150$ - unclear if my employer will reimburse Andy.
This device is reasonably functional as a tablet when tethered via USB. (It may also be used untethered, to record handwritten notes when disconnected - but that is not relevant to the "virtual chalk talk" usage model.)

Motivation: I wanted to be able to draw and write easily on the shared electronic whiteboard. I find drawing freehand and, especially, writing with a mouse painful.

I have tried conducting such VirtualChalkTalk meetings while drawing in programs such as PowerPoint, Word, and Visio. However, I find such accurate drawing tools unconducive to the flow of a meeting - one is apt to spend too much time getting the drawing right. Freehand drawing in a paint or whiteboard program seems to work best.

I have occasionally conducted VirtualChalkTalks using NetMeeting's whiteboard, drawing freehand using a mouse, but using the text entry tool to type words. Experience is mixed: the words are more legible since typeset in proper fonts, but switching tools interrupts the flow of the meeting.

Overall, I find drawing and writing using a pen on the electronic whiteboard better than using a mouse and keyboard.

Over the years, I have used several devices that allowed a pen or chalk to be used:
* I have used several different drawing tablets, WACOM and non-WACOM
* one learning: it is possible to get a tablet too small for accurate drawing
* I am most fond of using a Tablet PC
* I am on my 4th tablet PC. Convertible tablet PCs with keyboards attached are best.
* Unfortunately, IT, in their infinite wisdom, (a) refuses to give me a "non-standard" TabletPC. They support TabletPCs, but only for executives.
I'm just an engineer, who likes to draw. (b) IT has made it difficult to connect a personally owned TabletPC, or indeed any PC, to the company net.
* I have also tried used Mimio (http://www.mimio.com) and eBeam (http://www.e-beam.com)
* while I like the idea, I have not had very successful experience

My main learning: although a drawing tablet is better than nothing, I infinitely prefer a TabletPC that allows you to draw directly on the image - where the tablet navigation surface is the display. I find decoupling my hand with the pen from my eye, looking at the drawing on the screen, quite disconcerting. It gives me a headache.

I am beginning to think favorably of WACOM's Cintiq device (http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/) - basically a display that you can draw on, which couples to a PC.
When I first encountered Cintiq I wondered "Why in the world spend 1-2K$ for a display you can write on, when you can get a TabletPC for around the same price?"
Now I am beginning to understand - apart from the larger size enabled by the Cintiq not being portable,
being a device that can plug into any PC,
rather than a TabletPC that must be networked, has advantages.
* If I had the $$$, I might well consider getting a Cintiq for work. But that's probably dreaming in vain.

---++ File Formats

After the meeting, converting from the *.NMW file format to something others could read was a bit of a hassle: I ended up opening all of the *.NMW files (which was a bit of a pain because Netmeeting did not remember default directories), printing each page to PDF, and then I used Adobe to concatenate all of these single page PDFs into a single PDF - as is attached here.

After the meeting was over I realized that I should have hit "insert page", and thus created a whiteboard with multiple pages. I should also have just hit "Print" to the PDF printer (I have Adobe Acrobat installed). If I had done this I could have avoided a lot of hassle related to converting multiple files. This should probably be my current BKM.

BKM for running a virtual whiteboard
* Netmeeting whiteboard
* Insert multiple pages
* Print to PDF (assuming you have Acrobat installed)

I am not 100% sure that this is the best way to run a virtual whiteboard. But it works, and is good enough.
* TBD: try using Live Meeting
* TBD: try using other applications - such as paint
* TBD: try to find a way to save a whiteboard as a bitmap,

Conclusion: this provided a usable virtual chalktalk, with the ability to preserve what was written.

---++ Audience / Participant Reactions

Audience reaction to this "virtual chalktalk": positive.
* I wrote: 'When I asked, at the end, what the audience felt, SR's reaction was "it was okay".'
* SR later replied: "I think it was more then OK, it was actually convenient and natural. I prefer this way then the ordinary slides, when the slides are for backup as you used them."

I may collect further information and feedback and BKMs for this sort of long distance meeting at VirtualChalkTalk, augmenting the original attempt at Meeting2008October7WithIsraeliArchitects