I’ve been trying to figure out what triggers the audience to get more involved and make the meetings more conversational and two-way. I think one trick (that works well for live meetings as well) is to start the meeting with some audience questions and conversations and sprinkle them throughout the hour, rather than saving them for the end, so people don’t have a chance to settle into a listen-only mood. But that’s easier said than done, throwing out a question and listening to the silence in a virtual world meeting is in some ways harder than in a live meeting.

I like your panel format idea. Another format we might try is the interview format; perhaps we need to get a Charlie Rose round oak table!