Today's Deep-Dive: OpenSlides

Welcome to the deep dive. So glad you could join us today as we kick off another

exploration.

And before we really get started, a big thank you to our supporter, Safe Server.

They handle

the crucial hosting for software, like the one we're discussing today, and they're

fantastic

at helping organizations with their digital transformation. You can check out

everything

they offer at www.safeserver.de.

Okay, so let me ask you this. Have you ever been in a meeting, maybe for work or a

club,

something like that, and it just feels chaotic? You know, papers everywhere, nobody

sure what

motion we're on. Votes take forever to count. Everyone's kind of lost track of who's

speaking

or even what the agenda point is. It happens, right? Super inefficient, drains your

energy.

Well, you're definitely not alone feeling that way. Today, we're taking a really

close

look at a solution designed to fix exactly that. Open slides. They call it the

digital

motion and assembly system. Sounds a bit formal, maybe. But honestly, the core idea

is making

these complex meeting tasks really quite simple, easy to grasp, even if you're

totally new

to this sort of thing. That's spot on. Our goal here is really to unpack how open

slides

does more than just tidy up those traditional meetings. It actually transforms them

into

these dynamic digital interactive experiences. We want to show how it makes even

complicated

assembly stuff feel accessible, feel easy to understand for anyone. Doesn't matter

if

you're a pro at procedure or just trying to get a local group organized. And just

so you

know, everything we're discussing comes straight from the open slides website and

their GitHub

repository. So, reliable sources. Okay, great. So let's really get into it. What is

open

slides? Fundamentally, if you boil it down, it's basically a free web based

software.

It's built specifically to manage and project everything you need for a meeting.

Your agenda,

formal motions, elections, you name it. Yeah. For pretty much any kind of assembly

or gathering.

Think of it like, I guess, a shortcut to having really organized digital meetings

much smoother.

And a key thing, something that really helps its adoption is how accessible it is.

Picture

this. Every single user, doesn't matter where they are, they access all their

committees,

all their meetings through one central web address, one URL.

Okay. So no complex logins or different apps. Exactly. It makes it incredibly easy

to use,

especially for people who aren't, you know, super techie, no installation needed.

Just

click the link. That single access point is huge for getting everyone involved

easily.

Yeah. That single URL idea definitely sounds beginner friendly. And you mentioned

intuitive

design. So it's taking all that complexity, the paper, the emails, the separate

voting

gadgets and pulling it all together. Precisely. It streamlines everything all from

one source, as they say. It's designed to let people focus on the actual discussion,

not struggle with the tools. Makes sense. Reduces that mental clutter.

So how does it actually pull this off, especially for maybe bigger organizations

with complex

structures? It starts with committee management. The software

lets you map out your whole organization structure, however it's set up. You can

create as many

committees and meetings as you need. No limits there.

And critically, you get really fine grain control over permissions. Who can forward

motions, who can see what documents, that kind of thing.

Right. Security and proper procedure are key. Definitely. And it also archives all

your

past meetings automatically, which is invaluable, you know, for looking back at

decisions or

just keeping that institutional memory. Yeah, I can see that. Okay, so that handles

the structure. What about the agenda itself? That's often where things get messy in

real

time. Absolutely.

And OpenSlides makes the agenda really dynamic. Forget those printed sheets that

are instantly

out of date. Here you can add items, change them, even just drag and drop to reorder

things

on the fly. Oh, wow. So if something urgent comes up.

Exactly. The chair can adjust the flow right then and there. It automatically

handles the

numbering and links items to like speaker lists and timings.

Ah, smart. Less manual work. Way less. And a neat touch. You can add hidden

items to the agenda, like maybe scheduled breaks or internal notes for the

organizers.

They don't show up for everyone, but they help manage the schedule behind the

scenes.

Keeps the main agenda clean. That is clever. Okay, so agenda sorted. What

about managing who gets to speak? That can be tricky. Yeah, the list of speakers

feature

handles that really well. It cracks who wants to spook in what order, and it

manages speaking

time very precisely. Down to the second, actually, with a visible countdown timer.

Oh, nice. Keeps things moving and fair. Totally. Prevents anyone from dominating

the

conversation. And for events that are projected or streamed, it can automatically

generate

those lower third graphics, you know, the speaker's name and title at the bottom of

the screen. Oh yeah, like on the news. That looks professional. It really does. Adds

a

layer of polish and clarity, especially for remote viewers. Okay, now this next

part sounds

really powerful. Motions and elections. You said this is core. Definitely. This is

where

open slides can make a huge difference. So first, just getting proposals or motions

into

the system is easy. You enter them, add amendments, give them categories, numbers,

keeps everything

tracked. Right. Standard procedure, but digitized. Exactly. But the real power is

the electronic

voting. It handles votes on motions, proper elections, even quick polls. And you

can control

who votes. Yep. You can specify exactly which user groups are eligible, maybe only

board

members or delegates from certain regions. Total flexibility. And anonymous voting

is

possible too. Absolutely. You choose nominal where you see who voted how or non-nominal,

which is anonymous, depending on the rules in the meeting and the speed. Ballots

are

processed instantly. Results pop up right away. Think about how much time that

saves

compared to getting paper slips. Yeah. Hours sometimes. Yeah. No kidding. That

keeps the

momentum going. Okay. Connecting that to bigger events. The projector system and

live conference

features sound important. They really tie it all together, especially for larger

assemblies

or hybrid virtual settings. It's built for multiple screens with really good

projector

controls that are easy to use from the web interface. You can project slides, even

edit

them in real time if needed. And the video integration. That's a huge plus. It

integrates

live video streams directly so participants can watch the proceedings right inside

Open

Slides. All in one place. Exactly. And for fully virtual events, participants can

even

make their speaking contributions via video conference through Open Slides. It

really

becomes this all in one platform. No need to juggle Zoom, voting tools, documents.

It's

all integrated. That sounds much less confusing for participants. Yeah. Speaking of

keeping

things simple, tell me about this autopilot feature. Right, the autopilot. It's a

really

neat concept. It basically acts as a guide for everyone in the meeting. It always

shows

clearly what's happening right now. Which agenda item, which motion is up for

debate,

who's speaking next. Ah, like a status display. Pretty much. It also shows what

vote might

be in progress. And what's currently being shown on the main screen or projector

just

simplifies things immensely, especially if you're not used to formal meetings. Keeps

everyone on the same page. Reduces that, wait, what are we talking about? That

feeling. Yeah,

I can see that being really helpful. And underpinning all this must be some solid

participant management,

right? Controlling who can do what. Absolutely crucial. It has sophisticated rights

management

built in. You define exactly what different user groups can see or do. Maybe only

certain

people can view sensitive files or only registered delegates can vote. Makes sense.

Security

and control. Exactly. And beyond that, just managing the list of delegates,

tracking attendance,

it makes that admin side much more straightforward, which is vital for bigger

meetings where you

need to confirm quorums and voting rights properly. Takes away a lot of that manual

headache. Okay, so it sounds incredibly capable. But does it fit all types of

meetings? What

if my group mostly meets in person? That's a great question. And the answer is yes,

absolutely.

It's versatility is a major strength. It's designed for all formats, traditional in-person

meetings, hybrid ones, and fully virtual ones. For those face-to-face meetings, it

streamlines

things digitally. Real-time updates, digital decision capture, enhances the

physical meeting,

doesn't replace it. And hybrid, that's often the tricky one. Right. Trying to keep

remote

and in-person folks on the same level. OpenSlides is built for that. It allows

truly interactive

participation for everyone, wherever they are. Voting, speaking lists, agenda

access,

it works the same whether you're in the room or at home. That's key for making sure

remote

participants feel included, not like second-class citizens. A genuinely unified

experience.

And then for fully virtual events, the integrated livestream makes it that all-in-one

solution

we mentioned. You avoid juggling different platforms. Speaker lists, video,

streaming,

it's all coupled together intelligently within OpenSlides. Makes for a much

smoother, more

professional virtual event. Less tech stress for everyone.

Okay, this all sounds fantastic, but is it expensive? How does the open source

aspect

work? Good point. OpenSlides is free Libre open source

software floss. It's under the MIT license, which is very permissive. Basically,

the software

code itself is free to use, modify, distribute. You find it all in GitHub. It

actually has

a decent community following. Their last check was around 557 stars, 164 forks,

which is

pretty healthy. So anyone can download and run it themselves. They can, yes. But it's

important to know the OpenSlides team doesn't offer free technical support if you

go the

self-installation route. You're kind of on your own there unless you have the

technical

skills. Ah, okay. So what's the alternative if you don't want to manage the tech

side?

That's where their services come in. They offer a software as a service or sauce

option.

You basically just book it and it's ready to go. Hassle free. Exactly. It's usually

available quickly. Comes with all the features, automatic updates, backups are

handled, performance

is optimized. It's the easy route if you just want to use the software without

worrying

about servers and setup. Removes that whole IT burden. And what if an organization

needs

more, like training or specific help? They offer professional support services too

on

a paid basis. Things like training sessions, workshops, even on-site support for

really

big or critical events. Plus, technical support, phone support, and even custom

development

if you need unique features or integrations. So options for everyone. From small

groups

using the free code to large organizations needing full service. Pretty much, yeah.

It's

a flexible model. Okay, so who's actually using this in the real world? Does it

have

a track record? Oh, definitely. The user base is really diverse and quite

impressive. You've

got global NGOs like Amnesty International using it. Major German political parties,

the FTP, the SPD, big trade unions like DGB and Ver.di, even student groups like

the European

Students Union. Wow, that's a wide range from politics to nonprofits to unions.

Right. It

shows it's robust and adaptable enough for very different and often very demanding

organizations.

Yeah. And you mentioned German organizations specifically. It's apparently known as

the

most widespread motion and conference tool in Germany, which knowing Germany's

focus

on efficiency and proper process says a lot about its reliability. Good point. It's

clearly

proven itself in the demanding environment. So wrapping things up then, what's a

big takeaway

for our listeners? I think it's that OpenSlides is this really powerful yet

surprisingly user

friendly tool to managing meetings digitally. It doesn't matter if it's a small

committee

or a huge assembly. It brings efficiency, transparency, and makes participation

easier.

It just smooths out so many rough edges. And maybe a final thought to leave people

with.

Wonder how tools like this could do more than just make your meetings run smoother?

How

could they genuinely foster more participation? More transparency in your own

organization

or community? Imagine making democratic processes not just efficient, but truly

accessible and

clear for everyone involved. Kind of empowering, isn't it?

That's a great point. Definitely food for thought. If you're curious and want to

see

it for yourself, definitely head over to the OpenSlides website. They have demos

and much

more information could be the answer you've been looking for.

And one last time, a huge thank you to SafeServer for supporting this deep dive.

Remember, they're

Thanks for joining us on the Deep Drive, and we'll catch you on the next one.

Thanks for joining us on the Deep Drive, and we'll catch you on the next one.