ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY BLOG | INVENTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

For the last three weeks I have been part of a Private beta of a new product from Mindjet called Mindjet Connect. I am now longer under a NDA and can talk about my experiences using this new and innovative collaboration tool for sharing MindManger Pro 7 maps. In order to use Mindjet Connect you need to download a new version of MindManager Pro 7 which includes the Mindjet Connect component. Once you have installed the new version of MindManger 7 Pro and have set up your account you can invite your friends and clients to share a workspace that you have set up for them. As the owner of the workspace you can give your colleagues different Access levels as far as being able to edit or read your mind maps. Mindjet refers to these as Author, Owner and Reader. You can in addition to placing mind maps also store Word, PDF, and any other files that you would like to within the workspace.

I had the opportunity to practice using Mindjet Connect with Steve Rothwell and Gaelen O'Connell and it was quite amazing being able to change things within a MindManager Pro 7 mind map in real time as if we were sitting next to each other. Steve and I connected via Skype for the audio and worked on a mind map together. When another user is modifying an idea there is a legend in the top right portion of the screen showing who is making the changes and there are visual cues on the mind map when someone makes a change. The changes on the mind map occurred very quickly and the system as a whole was very responsive. As long as you store your attached documents in the workspace clicking on an attachment on your mind map, works as you would expect. Links to websites work as you would expect by opening your browser and opening the URL.

One of the really nice features which is part of Mindjet Connect is the ability to launch into a web meeting right within the application. This lets you share your screen and desktop and is very similar to a WebEx or GotoMeeting session. There is also the ability to use a chat feature to communicate to the users online and that are involved in the session. If you are interested in trying out Mindjet Connect let me know and I will see that you get an invite. I can also invite you to my collaborative workspace and you can check out the mind map that is there. If you would like to give it a try shoot me an email and I will get an invite out to you.