HypnoSummit: Insights and Aftermath

[Scott Sandland, C.Ht.]

So after a day of sitting completely still, I decided to share with all of you just how well I think HypnoSummit 2.0 is going. I say going, rather than went, because we have had 204 different computers visit the site since Monday morning. People are actively enjoying the library and vendor booths. I see people have purchased products, joined mailing lists, grabbed free downloads, and watched many hours of content in the last few days. This just further proves the thesis I’m about to share:

HypnoSummit 2.0 was a phenomenal success.


LET ME START WITH THANK YOU’S:

I can say with all honesty and humility that things went better and more smoothly than I had anticipated. This was our second event this year, in fact it was our second HypnoSummit within 6 months, and the improvements were great. A lot of credit goes to a team of people you all will never meet for helping Melissa and I pull a project of this scale together. We asked Expos2 to redesign and repurpose their platform’s architecture for us and they came through with flying colors.

We also need to thank all the great speakers who supported this event. The HypnoSummit is still in its infancy, and those of you who invested your time and effort into sharing your insights in a new format are helping us reach new audiences who are asking for more education. This is emotionally rewarding and highly encouraging to Melissa and me.

Thanks also goes to all of you who viewed the 60 presentations on a wide variety of hypnosis topics. A sincere thank you goes out to everyone involved for doing the things that made this event so much fun.


STATISTICS:

For the second time in a row, we hit traffic numbers that were simply unbelievable. We had around 300 people from 14 countries online at one point or another. And it wasn’t just that people showed up, it was that they got engaged. The tech team we worked with said these were the most consistent and high numbers their servers have ever seen.

Let me share with you a diagram that says it all. Below is a chart of our server throughput, meaning the amount of data we were transmitting. As you can see, once the doors opened people showed up and just kept watching lectures. This isn’t just people signed on, this is how much content is being sent out. Notice that for two full days things didn’t drop off, not even at night!

Over 90% of our lectures worked and were on time. Of the ones that didn’t, one was totally my fault. The others were tech troubles with the presenters’ computers or internet connection. We’ve learned from these experiences and are coming up with a solution to prevent them from happening again. We thank those presenters for their patience and commitment to helping get the information out to you.

At the first Summit 10% of our presentations were live. This time 30% were live and we are working on continuing to raise that number in the future.

Once again, I personally took every call that came into the help line. We had about a 70% reduction on tech support calls since our last event and a significantly higher solution rate. The number one tech problem reported was: I’ve lost my password. The second most common had to do with videos freezing. We diagnosed this and concluded that it had to do with user connection speeds, almost always attributed to wireless router settings. While our servers weren’t the problem, we are working on some way of helping people adjust their router settings preemptively to avoid this next time.

Unfortunately, 5 people had unresolvable compatibility issues and will receive a refund. Considering no new software was required and the event worked on Windows, Mac, and Linux based machines in 14 different countries, I consider this a very impressive success rate. We know we aren't perfect yet and that we have plenty to work on, but we are extremely satisfied with the improvements and the direction we are headed. To those of you who had frustrating wireless internet connections or trouble accessing the site, know that we are working to make this information even more accessible.

The only real hiccups we had were when I tried to delay the restart of the media server until a break on Sunday (against the advice of the tech lead manning the server) and when we were attacked by hackers trying to pirate our data. With the exception of those two events, everything went smoothly. The total downtime from those events combined was under 10 minutes.


FOLLOW UP:

While the lectures are still in the library for the next three weeks (along with the vendor booths remaining open for sales) we are already in the process of getting the videos up on www.HypnoSummitStore.com for individual purchase. If you want to purchase a lecture to own and keep, you can do so here. The first HypnoSummit lectures are currently up on the site and we are hoping to update the rest in the next couple of weeks.

As for CEU’s, we will be emailing you a certificate of attendance in PDF format to send to the certifying organization of your choice. Expect these in the next two to three weeks.


HYPNOSUMMIT 2010:

We have already signed contracts to put on more events, and have big plans for upgrades and changes we want to the system. One of the biggest goals for us is to integrate a fast forward/rewind feature in the pre-recorded video section. Many people, including me, have requested that and we hear you loud and clear.

And while we are listening, WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK. Tell us what you liked, what you hated, what you loved using, and what you ignored. Tell us what we need to add and improve to make the HypnoSummit even more valuable. I will be putting together a survey as soon as time permits, but for now feel free to leave your responses here. We are looking forward to hearing what you think about the HypnoSummit.

I’m really excited about some of the upgrades we have already started building, as well as some of the speakers we already have signed up to present at our next event.


Thank you all for making this event so much fun and such a great success. We are committed to making the HypnoSummit even better than ever and helping reach more people looking to gain better hypnosis education.

Talk to you all soon,
Scott Sandland

[Kerry]

My number one issue is one you are already addressing...fastforward/rewind buttons...that would make all of it so much more usable.

I REALLY enjoyed the presentations which were LIVE via webcam with the speaker. These presentations were much better than the pre-recorded videos.

In an offline summit you get a chance to meet the presenter, network and such...when the presenters were live this weekend we could still meet them, ask questions, get immediate responses, network...but with the pre-recorded videos that wasn't the case. I am grateful to all the presenters who took the time to present live.

I am also grateful to the presenters who were present in the chat rooms for their own presentation (pre-recorded ones). That way we could still ask questions about the video as it played, network and such.

I TRULY appreciate that you, Scott were taking care of technical issues. You personally helped me (hypnokerry) via webcam and I thought that was fantastic. Nice job.

One thing that I thought was completely UNDERUSED by the vendors were their booths. The software you use offers so many things in the way of marketing for the vendors. I was disappointed to go to a booth and find no contest, no downloads, nothing to purchase, etc. Might I suggest that you and your people at HypnoSummit put together information for your vendors stressing to them the importance of filling up their booths, suggestions for what to put there, etc. What a missed opportunity for many of them.

Your summit had LOTS of information...lots of different topics lectured on...as I play catch up on videos in the library I am still feeling "hypnosis overload"...which is a good thing because it means you had a lot of information to overload me on.

I'm looking forward to the next Summit. Thanks to everyone involved who obviously put so much effort into pulling this off. It is much appreciated.

[Patti Conklin]

I really enjoyed the whole process. Thank you so much Scott and Melissa for making this such an enjoyable event. Much love to both of you, Patti Conklin

[Brian David Phillips]

I too would like to have fast forward and rewind buttons and/or the ability to jump through the timeline of a video in the library. There were a couple that I had to stop watching for whatever reason and it was tedious to have to sit through it all again to get to the last ten minutes I missed upon second viewing.

Kerry has a very good point about live interaction. While I fully understand the advantage of pre-recorded presentations (I did two for the first Hypnosummit), please remind folks to actually show up for their own presentations. In my sessions, last time, I was there live during the initial airing in order to provide feedback to questions or just to interact. The pre-recorded sessions seemed far less interactive this time around . . . at least for the few I saw (although, honestly, I was looking for live presentations for the most part, figuring I can watch pre-recorded ones in the library on my own time so there is that - since the schedule was built to favor the other side of the planet from where I live I made due - THAT is not a complaint, just a reality and I think most of us on this side of the planet were fine with the adjusting to the schedule).

It was obvious that it was mostly the live presentations that had problems but some of that was user error (you gave us reminders to watch the tutorial and to test our systems but it seemed some didn't quite get the hang of it and that step about selecting your presentation time was crucial for others). :-)

I would like to see that presenters when they log in do so with a name instead of getting a generic GUEST ID so that it would be possible to tell which guest is whom. Sometimes you would have three or four people with the same Guest ID which made it problematic as to knowing who was there (most would put their name or the like in parenthesis when discussing so we worked around it but it is just something nice).

Over all it has been and obviously still is a great event. The technical improvements were obvious and wonderful.

All the best,
Brian
http://www.briandavidphillips.com

[Kevin Cole]

Looks like all of my *dislike* thoughts have been shared so I'll start out with what I did like (which I usually try and do anyway) and then reiterate that which has been said previously by others of what I would like to see different.

* I loved the camaraderie and the *live feel* of the event, once I got the hang of the different rooms etc.

* I do agree with Kerry that the booths were underused but I like them (my fault and now that I have a much better idea of how they work, I will be sure to capitalize further in the future on them.)

* I very much enjoyed the varied topics and even the similar topics were valuable to get different takes/ideas.

* I really enjoyed the *p.a./voice over* at the end kind of wrapping things up as a team. Felt pretty cool...

And really the only improvements to be made that I would reiterate are...

* Yes, the fast forward/rewind button

* Fixing the *Guest ID* to having the persons actual name

* Of course the glitches etc.

* I'd like to see larger screens, perhaps an additional volume button, and a larger typing area.


Really though, considering this is only the second round of something that has never been attempted and is completely revolutionary, once again I say GREAT JOB!

Hope you & Melissa have taken a little time off...


Kevin Cole
www.nlptrainingquest.com

[Hugh Cole]

I Think all my issues have been well covered. I did have some "freeze" issues, but when I upgraded to the latest flash player, they disappeared. I was on a wireless "N" connection and had no problems after that. I will second, third, or fourth the request for fast forward and rewind buttons, For some reason I wasn't always showing up on the chat room list, but I was Hugh Cole when I posted so that was fine. I appreciated the lecturers that either went live or prepared a special presentation for the event. While it is great to see a pretaped seminar someone did a few years ago and the information is still vital, I would rather see it live and inperson without the extraneous heads in the video. All in all it was a fantastic experience.... worth much more than the mere pittance it cost. I am looking forward to Hypnosummit 3

Hugh Cole
The Pretty Goodest Hypnotist on the Planet.

[Sharon Altman]

Hi Scott

The HypnoSummit was terrific...informative and fun. I was very appreciative of your on the spot technical support, and impressed with the assistance from attendees via chat!

As far as room for improvement, fast forward/rewind, larger viewing screens and volumne enhancement. I would also include a way to lower the volume in the Expo Hall/booths. I went looking for the referred material during Jenny's talk by opening another screen but couldn't continue to listen to her because of the "crowd" soundtrack in the expo hall - I gave up in favor of her talk.
Also, on the prerecorded events - when adding a way to fastforward, if it's possible, it would be nice to give people a way to sync up the event, so that we're all watching at the same point. I really enjoyed the rolling commentary from attendees, most of which enhanced the material,
Overall it was a rewarding event, and I'm looking forward to the next one.
Cheers!!

[Susan Sawyer]

Scott

First, I would like to say that your Dental Hypnosis presentation was GREAT! It should be the standard by which the other speakers should be complying. Succinct, professional and full of great info that I could use. You will go far in this business :)

By comparison, hearing about who cuts the speaker's hair or showing how messy their office was, was a real turn off and waste of my time, causing me to leave the room and look elsewhere...so were speakers who came to the table with little info to offer as they counted on the viewers to "drive" their presentation. In the future, I hope that you will consider a more stringent screening process to pick speakers, so that people can consider the summit a truly valuable training tool. I don't mean to sound harsh, but you asked for the feedback....

Unlike several of the other commenters, I was OK with the pre-recorded presentations that were created with the summit event in mind. They were well-planned, well thought-out and offered lots of info. Especially if that presenter was live in the chat room, so questions could be answered. From my perspective, I was there to learn as much as possible, not so much to socialize.

Most of the other issues have been covered by others...fast-forwarding/rewind, etc. So I would like to end by saying that I much appreciated all that it took, to put this summit on. It has put me in touch with people and topics that I enjoyed hearing about. Oh yeah, and I loved finding "HypnoThoughts.com" too!

Thanks again for all the work!

[Carlos Santillan]

Due to schedule conflicts I was unable to attend most of the live talks.
I've been trying to view the prerecorded ones but it has been pretty frustrating, not being able to forward means that I will not finish a couple of the videos that where in progress

Also the Play/Pause seems to be not be consistently displayed, The play would does not always turn into a pause when the video is playing (so for a while I thought my only options where play and stop (and stop restarts the video)

[Donna Rodolph]

Scott,

Beautiful! Love hypnosummit. Great presenters and great information.

There were some presenters who weren't afraid to share some good techniques and why they use them. Not only did I walk away with the feeling I could learn more from them, but I will now seek more information from them (via books they sell or what-have-you). Then there were some presenters who were just trying to hock their wares - which is a total turn off.
I highly recommend the first way of business. If I walk away thinking they did something for me...my money starts flying out of my pocket towards their bank account. It just happens. ~grin.

I loved the Q & A room.... as well as the chat features in specific rooms. It was awesome connecting with old friends and again with those people I met at Redondo beach ~ good times, good times~ and great, too...connecting and making new friends.

Life just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it? Thanks to all involved!
~D.

[Kent Fullarton]

I am still hoping that "Body Contouring Process" is going to be uploaded. My weight loss clients are sometimes concerned about shape more than size. The viewing controls have been addressed forty times already. There probably should be a tutorial on how to set up lighting, in front not to the side or behind. Switch to room mike when answering questions and a good directional mike for presenting. Rehearse the camera, light, and mike before airing. The basic stuff that nobody thinks about until afterwards.
You done good. Great value for our limited resources.

[Jackie Foskett]

Scott and Melissa,
Thank you so much for making this HypnoSummit happen. It was my first summit and I was impressed. I spent most of Saturday listening to either pre-recorded or live seminars. I, received lots of valuable information and feel re-energized about this great profession we are all part of. There's always something to learn, in my opinion and I have gotten quite a few "gems" out of this. I will continue visiting the library over the next few weeks, so there is more I am looking forward to.

Most of the "what could have been betters" have been said, but I will reiterate on the fast forward/reverse on the pre-recorded lectures. That was one slight frustration for me, when I had to disengage from it and then to come back and not be able to move ahead where I wanted. And, having those screens bigger would also be nice. I used headphones to get a much better volume, which otherwise on some was too low.

I so appreciated your help early on Saturday morning when nothing was on the screen. To actually get you live on the phone was to me an act of complete commitment to this Summit. And I thank you for that. I also appreciate how your responded so quickly to my emails as well.

Of course some presenters were better than others, but isn't that how it always is in conferences? I, for one, simply appreciate everyone's effort in sharing what they wanted to share. And we had the choice to leave what didn't resonate with us. There were/are so many lectures that one could certainly find what suited them.

Again, thank you, Scott, Melissa and tech staff for all you did and are still doing for this Summit. I look forward to future ones.

In gratitude,
Jackie Foskett

[Scott Sandland, C.Ht.]

Hi Kent-

I've got good news and bad news.

The good news is that Keith Clark's body countering process is up in the library and ready to be viewed, in fact, it's been there since Sunday afternoon.

The bad news is that for some reason the file Keith gave us has about 5 minutes of 'dead' footage at the beginning of just staring at his book.

Since there is no fast forward button (I promise we are working on it) all I can recommend is that you start his video and then go check your emails while you are waiting for those first 5 minutes to go away.

Hope that helps,
Scott

Kent Fullarton said:

I am still hoping that "Body Contouring Process" is going to be uploaded. My weight loss clients are sometimes concerned about shape more than size. The viewing controls have been addressed forty times already. There probably should be a tutorial on how to set up lighting, in front not to the side or behind. Switch to room mike when answering questions and a good directional mike for presenting. Rehearse the camera, light, and mike before airing. The basic stuff that nobody thinks about until afterwards.
You done good. Great value for our limited resources.