GOTOMEETING

by Todd Brown

Division Director, Park Operations

Fairfax County Park Authority

VRPS Northern Service Area 2016 Chair

Oh great.  Another meeting.  I have to get all my stuff together, find a county vehicle, and look up the directions to the place the meeting is this time.  Let me check my calendar one last time to make sure the meeting is at 10 and not 9:30.  

Wait ... what?  The meeting is at my desk?  I don’t have to leave my office?  How can this be (over-exaggerating for affect)?

VRPS Central Office helped the Northern Service Area Board setup a virtual "GoToMeeting" on October 12 and it was great!

Now if this sounds like at commercial for GoToMeeting, well it kind of is, but it is more of a thank you to VRPS for supporting us once again in our efforts in improving communication among different agencies over different counties.  Virtual meetings don't replace the great face-to-face interaction you get in the traditional meeting atmosphere.  However, you also don’t see the frustrated faces when traffic delays prompt start and, maybe more importantly, end times.

A few more benefits of our electronic meeting was that we didn’t need to worry about forgetting a needed document, as we simply had to search our desk or computers.  Now, that efficiency or lack thereof is based on one’s personal filing system or non-system.  The best thing was that during our meeting we found ourselves repeating “we need to ask VRPS for that information” or “we need to find out from VRPS when that is due”.  At the end of our meeting, Nancy Turnage from the VRPS office popped back up on our screen and asked if she could answer any questions.  Now, I am not saying I was as excited to see her as a kid is to see Santa Claus, but it sure was very timely and helpful.

The meeting concluded in under an hour and clear assignments were handed out, notes taken, and decisions made, one of which is that the Northern Service Area will make GoToMeeting available for our upcoming NSA meetings.

Please make sure you give it a try on October 26th at 10am.  Even if you have never attend an NSA meeting before, please join us at our year-ending-and-next-year-planning meeting.  Of course, we would love to see your smiling faces at the Stacy Sherwood Center in Fairfax on October 26th at 10am as well!

And, consider making a day of it by attending "Training to Evaluate:  Improve your Evaluation Skills" at the same location, 1-3:30pm, .2 CEUs eligible.

NSA Bi-Monthly Meeting 
Wed, Oct 26, 2016 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone. 
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/533956093 

You can also dial in using your phone. 
United States +1 (571) 317-3122 

Access Code: 533-956-093 


First GoToMeeting? Try a test session:   http://help.citrix.com/getready