Television workshops.

Television Workshops

Why don't members attend educational workshops? Although Vermont is a small state, too little time and too much travel is the most frequent refrain from those who don't show at ours.

A small-association solution to this problem is workshop by television. Last summer the Vermont Assembly of Home Health Agencies, Montpelier, used the Vermont Interactive Television system twice. VIT is a state-subsidized teleconference system operated by the state technical college, with studios in five of the state's six regions. Attendees at each site can see and talk to any of the four other sites.

The biggest plus is that a television conference can reach far more people than a one-site workshop. When we used four of the five sites, no one had to drive more than 45 minutes. We mailed a simple announcement and drew 30-35 attendees from our membership of 17 agencies and neighboring non-members; each site had 3-18 people.

With VIT, half-day workshops are really only a half day, so more managers and supervisory staff than usual can take time to attend. We're targeting a new program to hands-on staff who almost never can attend workshops because of the time and cost to their agencies.

This format is also great for a program that requires a series of workshops. It's reasonable to ask someone to drive a half hour four or five times, but not if the drive is much longer than that.

For our sessions, one contact at VIT arranged the technical end. I called to ask each site to supply doughnuts and coffee and someone to receive hand-outs that we mailed. Attending volunteers passed them out.

Television workshops shouldn't last more than about 3 hours or minds begin to wander. We ran 2 1/2 hours without a break because television studio time costs whether the camera is on or not.

Neither of our speakers had worked with television before, and both went for a dry run with staff at the studio on their own time. Teaching live in one location and on screen in others, your speaker should remember to talk to the camera; hold relatively still; take care not to cough into the mike or rustle papers; and try not to be self-conscious or overdramatic.

If the workshop includes audience participation, arrange the chairs so that everybody can be seen by the camera; classroom-style rows don't work well. At VIT, each site had two or three cameras operated remotely by a technician. When someone asked a question, the camera found him or her and every site saw and heard the same thing. It's up to the speaker to coordinate with the technician and handle interaction among the sites.

Two or more tips: I found out the hard way that each site should be handicapped accessible. And since you won't be there to collect evaluations, include a self-addressed stamped envelope with each handout.

Three hours of television time at five sites, plus a videotape of the workshop, cost $110; we charged attendees about $45. The association loans the tape out to members, but you could charge for rental or sell copies.

Member feedback was mixed. Some were intimidated by the setting and the camera; some thought it was great. Everyone agreed the workshop saved travel time.

I suspect that in other states systems similar to VIT are available through the state university, hospitals, or the adult education network. Even if the cost is higher, television workshops may pay you back with higher attendance.

Peter Cobb is director of the Vermont Assembly of Home Health Agencies, Montpelier.