Latest news about the Virtual International Day of the Midwife

We had our latest Virtual International Day of the Midwife committee at the end of March. The VIDM 2012 has progressed extremely well this year and we are well ahead of ourselves in terms of planning and preparation. This is driven, partly, because I am on holiday at the end of April so I want everything up and ready before I go away. But I also think we're becoming more experienced with what we need to do, plus using the wiki allows us to re-use resources that we developed the year before.

1. Welcome to AnnetteWe're delighted to welcome Annette Dalsgaard Vilain to the team. Annette is a Danish midwife and e-learning consultant who has joined the committee as a master facilitator, with a considerable knowledge and expertise with using Adobe Connect.

2. Adobe Connect
We had an extensive play with Adobe Connect, which is the web conference program we'll be using. I have to admit I was apprehensive about using it because I had a less than stellar experience with it last year. But this room is working really well so I am confident it will manage the VIDM effectively.

3. Speakers
The program is now fully confirmed. Speakers have been hooked up with facilitators. Now the focus is on making sure speakers can access the technology and get their presentations ready to upload into the Adobe Connect room.

4. Master facilitators
We're just short of one master facilitator who will help keep an eye on things with a global perspective, and support the facilitators and speakers. Update: Very happy to welcome Jacob Theilgaard Mannaz to the team who is our last master facilitator. Jacob is supporting us from Denmark because of his interest in networked learning.

5. Facilitators

Have three more slots to find facilitators for. Update: All the sessions now have facilitators. All speakers and facilitators have been introduced, and are starting to work through the technology issues. 

6. Advertising

I would like to have everything set up so we can start advertising the VIDM 2012 on Thursday 5th April, so that people can look at everything over Easter if they wish. Update: This was achieved on time.

• An Animoto video has been made and is ready to go.
• The poster is in the throes of being developed. This will be attached to the wiki for people to download, and in a form that can also be emailed. Update: poster is now avaiable on the VIDm wiki: http://internationaldayofthemidwife.wikispaces.com/Poster 
• Lorraine and Sarah B reported a drop in the Facebook reach, but we decided that was because we hadn't posted much over the last week. This illustrates the importance of continual engagement on Facebook. Update: Reach has increased significantly over Easter, from just over 2,000 people to about 8,000 - this is due to daily posting and networking.

7. Practice sessionsNeed to be arranged, with separate practice sessions for master facilitators. Update: Some practice sessions have been arranged, with more to come in the week of the 5th May.

8. Feedback survey 
Just about to go Otago Polytechnic ethics committee - we need ethics consent so we can write up our evaluation as a research paper. Update: sent to Otago Polytechnic ethics committee on the 4th April. Went through a rigorous discussion first with the Kaitohutohu team who came up with a few great ideas in relation to Maori involvement and consultation.