The Sept. 14 NHBA CLE program, Parental Rights & Responsibility Act: The Essentials on the New Law, drew an audience of nearly 300 attendees – including 25 NHBA members who accessed the program through the Internet.

Operating in a similar manner to NHBA Online CLE, the Web cast enabled the 25 Bar members to watch the program live on their computer screens and, through a second browser window, to browse through the materials for the program. Online viewers also had the ability to pose questions to the panelists through e-mails monitored at the CLE site by NHBA CLE Director Joanne Hinnendael. Web users posed 15 questions. It was the second live online, or “Web cast” originated by NHBA CLE.

Evaluations filed by the Web cast viewers were very positive, with 94 percent rating the program “excellent” or “very good.” Nearly 90 percent said the program was easy to access on their computers; however, one-quarter of the Web cast viewers reported some difficulty following along on the online materials (links did not correspond to page numbers in printed materials referenced by the speakers).

One participant called the Web cast: “…a useful method of experiencing a CLE for those of us who couldn’t be there in person but wanted timely info.”

Hinnendael said the Family Law CLE program will be available as an Online CLE program and video replays at locations around the state will be scheduled for later this fall.

She thanked Kevin Lessard, the NHBA’s computer network administrator, for pitching in to ensure that the computer connections were ready, and Anne Breault, CLE program coordinator, for shepherding the details of bringing the timely program together.