How is OnAIR different from other virtual delivery platforms?

OnAIR was developed specifically for delivering a conference-like experience to the participants. It did not start as a video chat or virtual meeting application that has been expanded into uses for which it was not intended. Because OnAIR was created for a special purpose, the way in which it is used differs considerably from the perhaps more familiar ways virtual meeting applications such as Zoom, GoToMeeting, Teams, and others are used. OnAIR provides features and capabilities that do not exist in many common virtual meeting platforms.

Along with all of the power of OnAIR come requirements for presenters to prepare and practice — as well as the need for them to become familiar with and comfortable using a new paradigm for working within the platform.

But the experience for presenters in OnAIR is based on a tried-and-true process that has been in successful use for more than 70 years in a business we're all familiar with — television!

For presenters, OnAIR is just like television...really!

If you have ever been a guest on a television program, the OnAIR experience for presenters will be very familiar to you. For those who have not been on TV, here's a brief overview of what typically happens for a guest.

• The guest arrives at the studio.

• The guest is taken into the Green Room.

  A Green Room is a quiet area in which the guest can relax, perhaps have a soft drink and a snack, and chat with the studio staff about what to expect when the guest is actually on stage.

• When the time comes for the guest to appear in the program, the guest is taken backstage in preparation for their grand entrance!
• After an introduction by the show's host, the guest walks onto the stage and the program continues.

As you proceed through the next few pages of this website, please keep in mind these four phases of the television guest experience. We'll be referring to them as you learn more about OnAIR.