Hold a Virtual Family Reunion or a Company Meeting with Google Hangouts

Yesterday's company meeting reminded me of how fun Google Hangouts can be. With each of our Legacy Family Tree employees armed with a web camera, Internet connection, and free Google+ account, we were able to meet together even though we were spread across 9 cities and 2 countries.

Google Hangouts are fun, and they are pretty easy to use. First, you need a Google+ Account. You'll also need a webcam. I use the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910.

Then, over at http://plus.google.com, click on the Start a Hangout button and invite your friends to join you.

Our family recently held our first-ever Virtual Family Reunion at Christmas time using Google Hangouts. There were 7 families online from 5 different cities. With 20+ grandchildren online at the same time, you can imagine it was a little hard hearing everyone, so we took turns by having all families click on the mute button, except for the one whose turn it was to talk. Each family then talked about their latest happenings and sang a Christmas song. Sure was special to be able to share my holiday with my parents and five siblings, even though we couldn't physically all be in the same place. The great thing is that I recorded our hangout and will have it to replay.

Our recent webinar speaker, DearMYRTLE, has been making use of Google Hangouts for her weekly shows. She will be broadcasting live from the Family History Library next week. Read more about it here. Or watch the recording of Dan Lynch's A Closer Look at Google+ webinar here.

So if you are reading this article, or you have participated in one of our Legacy Family Tree webinars, you have enough tech experience to take it to the next level. Have fun!