Google Wave: A Dizzy Business Meeting

Recently, we had our first BitRebels business meeting on Google Wave. Although, I am not sure how much “business” was being conducted with the dizziness of all included. As much of a tech-junkie group we all are, it was more like we all passed the peace-pipe around and wandered into a closed-door meeting of great minds and stumbling feet.

Google Wave is something that certainly takes some getting used to. There were 5 of us (maybe 6) having different conversations all over the page. At one point I said “where did everyone go?”. After thinking the other members left, I realized I was the lone-ranger talking to myself while the other Rebels were chatting away down below.

Hey, did you know you can drag and drop images into the wave? Yeah, Rob and I gave that a shot… easy. But, plop in a picture of the kids and you can instantly sidetrack any good progress going on in a wave meeting. The meeting came to an end after a quick game of “hide-and-seek” by letting Clement and Misty try and find me typing in random spots around the Wave. This is what business meetings should be like, right?

I’ll sum up this first business meeting with a “that was fun” – because it was. Maybe all business meetings are not quite as entertaining as those at Bit Rebel, Co. but then again we do things a “bit” differently. Google Wave is an online tool with a great ability to do something that other social applications lack – improve conversation. With a little practice, Wave is a great tool to conduct a face-to-face (or icon-to-icon) online meeting. Is Google Wave the next Twitter or Facebook? Nope. But it’s at least worth a conversation.