This is going to sound like I’m selling something, but I promise, I have no financial affiliation with Sliderocket. The service has just made my life so mush easier that i feel like I owe it to them to give them a plug…
I met Mitch Grasso last year at an Adobe event in San Francisco. I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview of his brainchild, SlideRocket. Now, just 2 years after Mitch and Mike founded Sliderocket, the tool is so useful, I don’t know how we have done without it.
For those of you who are not familiar with the online service. Sliderocket allows you to create Keynote quality presentations using just your browser. The integrated content management system keeps all of your assets organized – you can upload imagery, video (in flv format), and even your flash content. The tool has all the things you would expect from a professional preso tool: themes, master slides, an intuitive & sexy interface, charts & graphs and much more…
But these features are not what make Sliderocket stand above (and I mean WAY above) the rest. Instead of having to use Webex (or some other screen sharing tool) to show your presentation over the web, Sliderocket utilizes a shared, real time content delivery model. Basically, when the “host” of a presentation starts, they send a link to their audience. The audience then gets the deck through the flash player – just as crisp and clear as when you made it. When the host changes a slide, the host application just sends a little message to the Sliderocket servers when then broadcasts to the audience’s deck, forcing their presentation to follow along. Movies, transitions, graphics al keep their original integrity, just as you intended look and behave. You can also provide a link to your hosted preso that let people control it autonomously.
They offer an “offline” player as well – so you can present your slides without needing an internet connection. I personally would rather use Keynote for “boardroom” type of presentations. Mostly because I know Keynote really well and I don’t need to upload my content to a server (in other words, its faster). But for shared presentations over the web – Sliderocket really lives up to their promise to “redefine what presentations can do for you”
Pricing starts at “free” and gets as expensive as $20/month(wich includes the hosted/shared solutions) – if you compare that cost to Webex, its a steal!
A note to Adobe Ventures – why have you not picked this company up? In my humble opinion, it is at least as useful as Buzzword, is complimentary to your Acobat.com offerings, and is a great showcase of what your platform can do…
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