What is the difference between an Open Discussion Room and a Lecture Room? In an Open Discussion Room, anyone is able to mute and unmute all and switch who is the Presenter. In a Lecture Room, only the Conference Creator and Community Organizer(s) and Presenter(s) can mute and unmute all and switch who is the Presenter.

We recommend the Lecture Room if you are giving any sort of presentation, so participants won’t accidentally mute the Presenter mid-presentation.

How large can my Conference Image be? Conference images can be up to 10MB, and BigMarker supports most image types including PDFs, JPGs, & PNGs

How do I add other Presenters to my Conference? On Page 2 of the Conference Creation, you can select which Community Presenters you would like to add to your Conference.

The Community Organizer can add Community members to this Presenter list within the Community by going to Manage>Community Settings>Members>Change.

Conference Room Requirements To use the BigMarker Conference Room, you must have a computer with a microphone and the latest version of Flash ( http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ ), and an Internet Connection that meets our minimum requirements (a download speed of 0.7 Mbps and an upload speed of 0.2 Mpbs). Use our Speed Test ( http://www.bigmarker.com/help/speed_test ) to confirm that your connection meets the minimum requirements.

My audio isn’t working. What can I do?

Does your computer have a microphone? Our system requires that you have a microphone to join the audio portion of a Conference.

Is your computer on mute, is your volume turned up, and are your speakers plugged in correctly?

If you can hear, but others can’t hear you, check if you are muted. In the Listeners Panel, if the speaker next to your name has a red slash through it you are muted. Click the speaker to unmute yourself.

Exit the Conference Room and then re-enter. When you come back in, click Allow in the pop up dialogue asking for permission to access your audio.

Click on the Headset Icon so it looks like it’s pressed down. If it already looks pressed down, click it once to toggle it off, and click it again to toggle it back on.

Once you’ve clicked the Headset Icon, there should be a pop-up dialogue for you to test your audio.

Please click the Join Audio icon.

In the Listeners Panel, can you see a flashing speaker icon when you talk? If so, the computer is registering your audio. If not, right click anywhere on the background of the Conference Room and choose Settings. Click the microphone icon to check your microphone settings.

Try changing web browsers and/or confirm that your web browser is up-to-date. If you are using Safari try Google Chrome or Firefox, if you are using Firefox try Internet Explorer, etc.

If you are continuing to have trouble, please leave the room and email Team BigMarker at support@bigmarker.com for further assistance. Presenters will be unable to help to troubleshoot as they do not work for BigMarker and have committed to giving a presentation to the rest of the participants.

My video isn’t working. What can I do?

Confirm that your computer has a webcam.

Click the webcam icon . A webcam window will appear with a preview of your video. As long as there is a yellow Video Preview at the bottom of your webcam window, your video will only be visible to yourself. Press the Play button to publish your video and share it with the rest of the room. Once your video has been published, it will appear in the Video Dock.

Exit the Conference Room and then re-enter. When you come back in, click Allow in the pop up dialogue asking for permission to access your camera and microphone.

Try changing web browsers and/or confirm that your web browser is up-to-date. If you are using Safari try Google Chrome or Firefox, if you are using Firefox try Internet Explorer, etc.

Confirm that another program is not already using the webcam, like Skype or Google Video Chat.

Right click anywhere on the background of the Conference Room and choose Settings. Click the webcam icon to check your webcam settings.

Restart your computer and re-enter the Conference Room.

If you are continuing to have trouble, please email Team BigMarker at support@bigmarker.com for further assistance.

Important: For all audio and video problems: If your audio is not working, please exit and then re-enter the Conference Room. When a dialogue box appears requesting access to your Camera and Microphone:

you must choose Allow.

How do I start my audio? Click on the headset icon to turn on your audio. A dialogue box will appear:

Click the Join Audio icon to join the audio portion of the Conference.

How do I know if my microphone is working? If you see the speaker with sound icon next to your name in the Listeners Panel, it means the computer is registering your audio and other users are able to hear you. If you do not see the speaker with sound icon , make sure you have started your audio by clicking on the headset icon . Also, confirm that your computer’s microphone is working correctly and that you are not muted (see below).

How do I mute and unmute myself? In the Listeners Panel, the speaker icon next to your name indicates your mute status: a speaker with a red slash for muted and a speake for unmuted. You can mute and unmute yourself by clicking the speaker next to your name, or clicking the mute button or talk button at the bottom of the Listeners Panel.

As a courtesy to your fellow Markers, you should mute yourself if you are broadcasting any background noise. This will ensure that everyone can hear the Presenter clearly.

When presenting a Conference, can I mute everyone in the Conference at once? To mute or unmute everyone click the Mute All or Unmute All at the bottom of the Listeners Panel.

If you would like to exclude some of the participants from being muted or unmuted, then first click the lock icon next to the name of those participants to lock or unlock their speaking status. After you have locked their speaking status, they will no longer be affected by mute or unmute all.

What does the lock do on the Listeners Panel? You can use the lock to exclude certain participants when you mute or unmute all participants.

If you would like to exclude some of the participants from Mute All or Unmute All , then first click the lock icon next to the name of those participants to lock or unlock their speaking status. After you have locked their speaking status, they will no longer be affected by mute or unmute all.

Why is my audio/video choppy? This is often due to a weak or inconsistent Internet connection. To test that your connection is capable of streaming audio and video smoothly try our speed test here . If your connection meets our minimum requirements and you are still having problems, please let us know at support@bigmarker.com.

How do I start my webcam? First, click on the webcam icon in the top left hand corner of the screen. A webcam window will appear with a preview of your video that is only visible to you.

Press the Play button to publish your video and share it with the rest of the room. Once your video is published, your webcam window will move to the Video Dock in the bottom right hand corner of the room.

What is the Video Dock? The Video Dock is in the bottom right hand corner of the Conference Room. When anyone shares his or her webcam, the webcam window will automatically appear in the Video Dock. If you’d like to make a webcam window larger, you can either expand the Video Dock or move the webcam window out of the Video Dock and expand it the window itself. You can expand either by dragging on the bottom right hand corner of the window.

How many webcams can be open in the Conference Room? You can have up to 10 people sharing their webcams in the Conference Room.

Can I change how the Conference Room looks? Every aspect of the BigMarker Conference Room can be manipulated. You can resize every Panel independently of the others, and minimize any Panels you are not using. However, keep in mind that each individual participant controls how the Conference Room looks to them, so resizing something on your screen will not affect what the other participants see on their screens.

As a presenter, if I resize the Presentation Panel, will that resize the Presentation Panel for my attendees? No, each individual participant controls how each panel of the Conference Room looks to them, so resizing something on your screen will not affect what the other participants see on their screens.

Why is there background noise or sound feedback? Background noise or feedback is caused by a participant’s microphone. Muting the participant broadcasting the disruptive noise will solve the feedback issue.

How do I record my Conference? Select Record Conference when you first set up your Conference, on Page 3 of the Conference Creation process. Your Conference will begin recording when the first person enters the Conference Room and shares their audio, video, and presentation.

Although the recording only captures the presentation, audio, and chat box, the Presenter must be sharing his or her webcam in order to successfully record the Conference.

Where can I view my recorded Conference? Your Conference will be available for playback on the Recording tab of your Conference page. Please allow 24 hours for your recorded Conference to be added.

On the day of my Conference, when can the Presenter enter the room? Community Organizers and Presenters are able to enter the Conference Room 30 minutes before the start of the Conference.

On the day of my Conference, when can the attendees enter the room? Conference attendees are able to enter the Conference Room 15 minutes before the start of the Conference.

Can I do a practice Conference? Absolutely! We encourage you to do a practice Conference to familiarize yourself with the Conference Room before your first Conference. We also recommend inviting some friends so you get a feel for what it’s like to be in the Conference Room with other people.

Can attendees call into a Conference/ can attendees join the audio of a Conference via phone? Yes. To enable dial-in for a Conference check the dial-in box in “Other Options,” page three of the conference set-up. If your Conference has already been created just go to the Conference page and click the Manage button and edit “Other Options.” Dial-in costs $5.00 per Conference and allows up to 20 people to join audio via phone. This option is only available in North America.

How do I share my desktop? To share your desktop, you need to have Java installed. Before you attempt to share your desktop in the Conference Room, please test if your computer has Java installed using the following link: http://java.com/en/download/testjava.jsp

If you do not have Java installed, you can download Java here: http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp

How do I use the Interactive Whiteboard? The Interactive Whiteboard allows you to mark and annotate presentations or documents you have uploaded. If you are the Presenter, you can upload a document by clicking the Upload icon . Once a document is uploaded, you can click on the Whiteboard icon in the lower right corner of the Presentation Panel to open the drawing toolbar. Use the toolbar to adjust the color and thickness of your drawing tool.

Why does my uploaded presentation look distorted? See below.

What type of documents can I upload to the Whiteboard? You can upload PowerPoint presentations up to 100 slides, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PDF files, and image files up to 10 MB. When you upload a file, our system converts the file to a PDF, so sometimes PowerPoint and Word Document formatting can be lost during the conversion. Because of this, we recommend using PDFs since they do not need to be converted and therefore will always retain their formatting.

Additionally, the Presentation Panel currently does not allow for motion graphics of any kind, so PowerPoint presentations will lose their animations and video and audio clips cannot be uploaded at this time.

If your PDF exceeds the 10 MB limit, we recommend using any number of freeware programs to shrink your file size, such as the Free PDF Compressor found on CNET.

How many people can I have in my Conference room? The BigMarker Conference Room can hold 50 participants. If you are planning on hosting more than 50 participants, we offer the option to upgrade to a server that can host up to 100 participants. Please contact Team BigMarker at support@bigmarker.com to request this larger server.

We also recommend having no more than 10 people share their webcam at the same time. Having more than 10 people share their webcam will bog down the Conference Room’s performance.

What is a Community? A Community is a place for you to connect with people who share your passions and interests. In a public Community, anyone can become a member, while a private Community can be invitation only or require applicants to fill out an application or pay dues to join.

A Community offers both unlimited web conferencing and project management tools to help you and your Community connect and collaborate.

What is a Personal Community? Everyone on BigMarker has a personal Community. Your personal Community is automatically created for you when you join BigMarker, and you can make it public or private. If you choose to have a public personal Community, anyone can join your Community to connect and collaborate with you.

How do I create a Community? Click Create in the top navigation bar, and choose New Community from the drop down menu.

How many members can I have in a Community? A BigMarker Community can have an unlimited number of members. There is only a cap on the number of participants that can be in the Community Conference Room (50 participants).

How do I make a private Community public or a public Community private? When creating your Conference, you choose whether your Community will be public or private on the second page of the creation process.

To change whether an existing Community is public or private, within your Community click Manage>Community Settings>Edit Membership>Who Can Join.

What is the difference between a Community Organizer or a Community Presenter? A Community Organizer can modify Community settings, assign other Organizers and Presenters, and create and edit Conferences. A Community Presenter can only create and edit Conferences.

How do I add other Organizers or Presenters to my Conference? The Community Organizer can make Community members Organizers or Presenters. Enter your Community, and select Manage>Community Settings>Edit Members>Change.

How do I edit my Community’s Settings? Enter the Community. Scroll over Manage and select Community Settings. You must be the Community Organizer to edit a Community’s settings.

How do I edit my Community Membership and Profile? Enter the Community. Select Manage>My Membership>Edit my community profile. Click Submit to publish any changes you’ve made.

How do I edit my email notifications for an individual Community? Enter the Community. Select Manage>My Membership>Edit my community notification settings. Click Submit to save any changes you’ve made.

How do I leave a Community? Enter the Community. Select Manage>My Membership>Leave Community>Submit.

How do I find out what Communities I am in? For a full list of your Communities, select Communities from the drop down menu under the logo in the upper navigation bar. Click on the Community name to enter that Community.

You can also see a list of your Communities in My BigMarker.

What is the difference between a Community Bulletin and a Conference Bulletin? The Community Bulletin is on the Home page of your Community and can be used to share Community updates or questions with the entire Community.

There is a different Conference Bulletin for each individual Conference. You can access the Conference Bulletin under the Bulletin tab on the Conference page. Participants can use the Conference Bulletin to ask questions, while Presenters can use the Conference Bulletin for pre-Conference instructions or to keep in touch with participants after the Conference has ended.

How do I send Kudos? Enter the Community. Scroll over Kudos in the left navigation or the Kudos Corner and select Send Kudos! Select which member to send Kudos to and type a thank you message into the text box. Select how many Kudos you’d like to send and click Send Kudos.

How do I see my received Kudos? Enter the Community. Scroll over Kudos in the left navigation or the Kudos Corner and select Kudos Scoreboard. Then scroll over the image of who sent the Kudos to view the personalized message.

You can also view and comment on the Kudos you’ve received in the Send Kudos! section.

How do I upload and download Files in my Community? Enter the Community. Select Files in the left navigation.

To upload a file, select Browse or Upload File>Select the file>Choose who it’s Visible to>Add a file description in the text box>Upload.

To upload a new version, select Upload new version. A pop up will display. Select Browse or Upload File>Select a file>Add comments in the text box>Upload.

To delete an individual file, select View All Versions. Select Delete next to the specific file version you would like to delete, or, to delete the file and all of its versions, select Delete file and all versions.

How do I upload and download Files for my Conference? Go to the Conference page and click on the Files Tab below the general Conference information.

To upload a file, select Browse or Upload File>Select the file>Choose who it’s Visible to>Add a file description in the text box>Upload.

To upload a new version, select Upload new version. A pop up will display. Select Browse or Upload File>Select a file>Add comments in the text box>Upload.

To delete an individual file, select View All Versions. Select Delete next to the specific file version you would like to delete, or, to delete the file and all of its versions, select Delete file and all versions.

How do I assign Tasks? Enter the Community. Select Tasks>Create New Task.

Next to Assigned to, select Add Member to assign the task to a specific Community member.

Once the task is created, you can view or edit the task by clicking on its title. From here, anyone can edit the task or add notes.

How do I add events to the Community Calendar? The Community Calendar shows upcoming Conferences and Tasks, so to add something to the Calendar, simply create a new Conference or Task.

How do I send Newsletters? Only Community Organizers can send newsletters. To send a newsletter, enter the Community. Select Manage>Community Settings>Edit Community Newsletters>Create Newsletter. The Title of your newsletter will be the subject line of your email.

If you select “No, I still need to make changes later,” you can edit, preview, and send the newsletter from Edit Community Newsletters at a later time.

How much does a BigMarker web Conference cost? On BigMarker, starting a public Community or hosting a public Conference is completely free. Beginning March 1, 2012, there will be a monthly fee for private Communities.

I want to sell tickets to my Conference. How much does BigMarker charge for each transaction? We charge a 7% transaction cost for each ticket sold (minimum $0.25).

When I sell tickets for my Conference, how do payments get processed? When you sell tickets to your conference, BigMarker will process all credit card transactions for you and deposit all the money into the hosting Community’s Treasury. The funds can be transferred by a Community Organizer into a PayPal account.

I want to charge dues to my Community members. How do Community dues work? You can only charge dues in a Private Community. To begin charging dues, the Community Organizer should go to the Manage area of the Community and select Edit in the Membership box. This will take you to the Membership Management page where you can edit dues. BigMarker charges a 7% transaction fee (minimum $0.25) to all dues collected by the Community Organizer. 

Dues are deposited into the Community Treasury and can be transferred by a Community Organizer into a PayPal account.

How do I transfer money from BigMarker to PayPal? You can transfer money from a Community’s Treasury to a PayPal account by visiting the  Account page.

When can I transfer my BigMarker funds to PayPal? Your funds will be available for withdrawal 30 days after a Ticketed Conference is held or dues are collected. This grace period is to ensure the quality of the Community or Conference.

How do I edit my BigMarker Account? Select your picture in the top right hand corner of the screen. Then select Account settings.

How do I edit my email notifications for my BigMarker Account? Select your picture in the top right hand corner of the screen. Then select Email settings.

How do I close my BigMarker account? To close your BigMarker account, click here.

How do I edit my personal Profile? Select your picture in the top right hand corner of the screen. Then select My Profile.
My Profile>Edit My Profile.