We participated last year and it was pretty informal. Some of the sites had scheduled tours in the work place and could be very specific about when children would be coming through their nodes. Other sites had more of an open house.
Basically, the coordinators at the participating sites indicated the approximate times they'd be online. Most coordinators agreed that they to try to be present (at least at certain times) to talk to any children at the other end points. Sometimes there would children at more than one participating site and sometimes there would only be coordinators. It appeared to me that most of the children were pleased enough to just see themselves on the video and have an opportunity to chat briefly with others. The schedules were so diverse and the children's ages varied so much, it was hard to do much more. I think the important thing is to decide 1) what venue will be used and 2) who wants to participate. Those nodes wanting to participate can indicate which hours for their time zone that they intend to have a presence in the chosen venue. Some one could monitor the postings, collect the individual times, and publish the composite times to the AG list the day before so everyone would have an idea when and when not to expect others being present. I don't mind offering our venue under government institutions on the institutional venue server and I don't mind collecting the time postings as well....providing those interested will be willing to indicate in advance when they'd be online and stick to their schedules. Craig Locatis US National Library of Medicine
