Seminar Room licensing FAQ

Adobe Connect Seminar Room License FAQ

Note: In Adobe Connect 9.1, Adobe introduced a change to further enforce compliance with licensing Terms of Service. This change requires that all seminars are scheduled in advance.  Read the FAQ below to understand how this change could impact your current Seminar Room usage and how to prepare for this change.

What is the Seminar Room license model?

• License Terms: A Seminar Room license provides the use an Adobe Connect room with a size that is set based on the number of seminar room seats purchased on that license.  Only one meeting in a Seminar Room can take place on that license at any given time. And, a designated Seminar Host must be present in the room. A Seminar Host is an individual you have employed or hired to administer the Seminar Room on your behalf. Also, the individual has been set up as a user and Seminar Host on your account.
  • Explanation:  Customers who buy seminar room licenses are paying for large rooms capable of hosting large online meetings. These meetings have a minimum capacity of 200 connections all the way up to 1500. Each seminar room is like an auditorium in a physical building and is treated separately from other meeting rooms. Seminar rooms are typically combined with another licensing model like Named Host. They are only used when large meetings are required. Only one meeting can take place on a Seminar Room License at any given time. Customers can designate any number of users in their organization as Seminar Room Named Hosts to manage their seminar rooms. There can be any number of Seminar Rooms created on one Seminar License. However, only one Seminar Room can be used at a time on that License.

Can I run two seminars concurrently on a single Seminar Room license?

No, only one seminar can happen at a time on a single license. (Two or more seminars cannot be run at the same time on a single license.)

How can I run more than one seminar concurrently on my Adobe Connect account?

If it's necessary to run two or more seminars at one time, it's necessary to have two or more separate seminar room licenses. (You need one license for each seminar that runs simultaneously.) If you do not have sufficient seminar room licenses, contact your Adobe Connect sales rep or reseller to purchase more.

If only one seminar can occur at any given time on a single Seminar Room license, how can I prepare for upcoming seminars while another seminar is running?

• In addition to the single seminar that is enabled to run up to licensed capacity, you can run up to five additional preparation sessions simultaneously. Each can have up to five participants, on a single Seminar Room license. That way, hosts and presenters can prepare a room, rehearse a seminar with presenters, or export content like notes or chat, while an actual seminar is running. 

• These five “preparation” sessions can be run at the same time as a seminar. There is no scheduling requirement for these sessions. They can be run on an ad-hoc basis for purposes of preparation. 

Does anyone who hosts a seminar in a Seminar Room have to buy their own Seminar Room license?

• No, anyone in the organization can host seminars on a Seminar Room license. It is not tied to a single named individual (it is not a Named Host license). The license can be shared across the entire organization. Therefore, it can be cost effective, and easier to manage for administrators who don’t need to assign a specific named user to a specific license.

What are the actual terms around hosting in the Terms of Service and EULA?

You can review the Terms of Service and EULA here. 

What is the maximum number of attendees within a Seminar Room? 

Seminar room capacity can be purchased for up to 1500 attendees.  The licenses limits the number of attendees. For example. if you license a 500 seat seminar room, up to 500 attendees can join. Likewise, if you license a 1500 seat seminar room, up to 1500 attendees can join.

If your license capacity is more than 600, you are prompted to select the Expected Number of Participants. Then, you choose a Regular Seminar Session Up to 600 attendees, and a Large Seminar Session  > 600 Attendees.  If you plan to have >600 attendees, select the Large option to ensure that the room is optimized for use with large audiences.  This step is not required if using the Events Module to schedule your seminars.

Am I required to schedule my seminars?

• Yes.  In Adobe Connect 9.1, all seminars are scheduled in advance.  In Adobe Connect 9.0, all seminars exceeding 600 attendees are scheduled. With Adobe Connect 9.1, scheduling is required for all meetings on a Seminar Room, regardless of size. 

• The only exception is with preparation sessions, which can be run on an ad-hoc basis for the purposes of seminar preparation.  There is no scheduling requirement for preparation sessions.  Up to five preparation sessions can be run simultaneously, with up to five participants in each, on a single Seminar Room license.  Your seminar rooms run in stand-by mode when they are run outside the scheduled time allowing you to run preparation sessions.

How do I schedule meetings on my Seminar Room license?

·       If you currently use the Adobe Connect Event Module to schedule your Seminars, no further action is required. If you do not use the Event Module, watch this video tutorial to see a walkthrough of how to schedule your seminars BEFORE your upgrade.  Be sure to schedule all your Seminar Rooms in advance of your upgrade to 9.1 to ensure your Seminar Rooms function at capacity during your events. Contact your account administrator for timing (see below for more information).

·       With 9.1, Adobe introduces the concept of Seminar Sessions. After you upgrade, you will use this mechanism to schedule all your seminars if you are not already using the Event Module to schedule your seminars. Watch this video to learn how to schedule Seminar Sessions AFTER your upgrade to 9.1.

How can I ensure that the seminar I want to run is not overlapping (running concurrently) with another seminar on the license?

In Adobe Connect 9, a calendaring mechanism was added to Adobe Connect Central.  When a seminar is scheduled on a Seminar Room license, the Adobe Connect seminar calendar reflects that time as reserved for that license.

Can I reuse my seminar room to run multiple sessions?

Adobe Connect 9.1 adds the ability to schedule multiple/recurring seminars (seminar sessions) in advance, using the same seminar room/URL.  For example, if you have a seminar that you want to repeat on a monthly basis, and you plan to use the same meeting environment/content/URL, you can schedule those recurring seminars in advance. And, you can use the same room environment for each. So, you can quickly repeat your seminars, without any additional preparation to the room/content/environment.

How do I schedule recurring seminars?

Each seminar session is scheduled separately. However, in Adobe Connect 9.1 you can use the Duplicate Seminar Session and selecting the appropriate time to schedule them quickly. 

Watch this video tutorial to see a walkthrough of how to schedule your seminars.

How far in advance is it necessary to schedule my seminars?

For large seminar rooms (1000, 1500) seminars must be scheduled at least 45 minutes in advance of the seminar.

What happens if my participants arrive early to my session?

Your early participants can join your scheduled sessions up to 30 minutes before the scheduled start time. Your seminar room goes out of the stand-by mode 30 minutes before the scheduled start time.

Can I schedule back to back sessions on my seminar license?

Make sure that there is a 30-minute interval between your seminar sessions. Doing so ensures that your overrunning seminar sessions can get a minimum over runtime and your seminar sessions can accommodate early participants.

What happens if my session runs over the scheduled time?

• Seminars can extend for up to an hour past the scheduled time as long as no other overlapping seminars are scheduled within that license. Your seminar room auto-extends in 30-minute intervals if your session overruns.
• If your seminar room cannot be extended because of an upcoming scheduled session on your seminar license, you get a 10-minute overrun window to close your session. Adobe Connect meeting notifies the hosts of this 10-minute window when the session cannot be automatically extended.

What happens if I forget to schedule my seminar session in advance?

If you forget to schedule your seminar session, your seminar room runs in the stand-by mode. Stand-by mode allows creating an instant one-hour session without going to Adobe Connect Central. Make sure that there are no other overlapping seminar sessions during that time.

Why is my seminar room in the stand-by mode?

All seminar rooms are in stand-by mode outside their scheduled time. Seminar rooms go out of the stand-by mode 30 minutes before the start of the scheduled sessions. Stand-by mode also allows you to schedule an instant session for 60 minutes if there are no other overlapping seminars in your license.

Is there a limit to the number of users that can join my instant session?

Yes, instant sessions are limited to 600 users.

If I have scheduled seminars on my Adobe Connect 9.0 license, are they impacted when my account is migrated to Adobe Connect 9.1?

Adobe Connect 9.0 allows you to set a start time and duration for your seminar rooms. When your account is migrated to Adobe Connect 9.1, a session corresponding to the start time and duration setting of your seminar room is created on your seminar room. So all the seminars pre-scheduled on your Adobe Connect account aren't impacted. Adobe Connect 9 also allows you to run less than 600 participant seminars any time without the need to pre-schedule them. It's not possible with Adobe Connect 9.1, as all the seminar sessions are pre-scheduled.

When will Adobe upgrade my account to Adobe Connect 9.1?

Adobe Connect 9.1 is scheduled to begin rolling out in August 2013.  Adobe plans to communicate to its hosted customers at least 30 days in advance of their account migration.  If you are on a hosted account, contact your account administrator, who will receive communication regarding migration timing.  Alternatively you can use your account URL on this page to determine your upgrade date. On-premise and managed services customers can migrate at any time (when ready) following Adobe Connect 9.1 availability.

What can I do to ensure that the upgrade doesn't affect my upcoming sessions?

Schedule your planned session in advance by updating the start time and duration of the seminar room on which you are planning to run your upcoming sessions. The upgrade process creates new seminar sessions based on the timing information entered for any existing seminars.

If you are planning to run multiple sessions on the same seminar room, schedule them after the upgrade.

See this tutorial on ConnectUsers.com for additional information on seminar scheduling: http://www.connectusers.com/tutorials/2013/07/seminar_scheduling_changes/