We were intrigued by Eli Duke's recent comment about Campfire at Signal vs. Noise: "Get this. I’m living (and working) in Antarctica right now, and I’ve been using Campfire to chat with my friends and family back home. I set up a time and people just show up and come and go and we have a great time with it."
So we decided to follow up with Eli to 1) learn some more about how he uses Campfire to stay in touch and 2) find out what on earth he's doing at the bottom of the world.
What are you doing in Antarctica?
I'm washing dishes for the National Science Foundation at McMurdo Station on Ross Island. I'm at the bottom of the barrel (and the world) and loving it! I'll be here for about 5 months (Oct - Feb) for the entire Antarctic Summer.
How do you use Campfire to chat with friends/family?
I set up an "Antarctica" chat room, turned Guest Access "on", and then sent the chat room URL to all my friends and family along with my chatting schedule (in 4 different time zones). For instance:
McMurdo Station, Antarctica -> Tuesday, 7am - 10am
West Coast, USA -> Monday, 10am - 1pm
East Coast, USA -> Monday, 1pm - 4pm
Granada, Spain -> Monday, 7pm - 10pm
Half my family and friends live on the West Coast, the other half live in the Midwest, and my sister is studying in Spain right now. It was so cool to be able to have a single meeting place for all of us. At one point 3 separate continents were represented in one chat room: I had just woken up, my friend in Indianapolis was eating lunch, and my sister in Spain was getting ready for bed.
What's better about Campfire than other options (IM, etc.)?
First and foremost, it is completely idiot proof and SO easy to use. I can't stress that enough. When people (mainly my parents) clicked on the URL for the chat room, all they had to do was type in their name and click "Sign In". That's it! They didn't have to download anything, they didn't have to learn how to use new software, they just typed in their name, clicked one button, and they were ready to chat.
Secondly, Guest Access! As long as that is "on", the chat room is there and it's always open. Each week when I sign in I see that lots of people have stopped by even when they knew I wouldn't be there just to leave me a message. Also, people frequently stay in the chat room after I leave and continue chatting without me.
Any tips or tricks for other Campfire customers?
I get a lot of repeat questions: what's it like down there? is it cold? have you seen any penguins? I uploaded a few basics pictures that answer some of those questions, and the links to those pictures stay in side bar at all times. So, whenever I get a repeat question, I just click and drag the link over to the text box and click enter. The picture pops up inline and it doesn't have to be uploaded again. Super duper simple.
Anything else?
At first I was using the free plan, but quickly realized (during the first chatting session) that I wanted (and needed) to allow more that 4 chatters at once. I jumped over to the Account page, upgraded, and went right back to chatting without a single break in the rhythm. And it's great knowing that when this adventure is over it's going to be just as easy to downgrade when I don't need it anymore.
Check out Eli's Antarctica pictures at Flickr. And if you've got a similar communication need, take Campfire for a spin.
Do you use a 37signals product in an interesting or noteworthy way? Let us know.
