I'm not sure there's a parent of adult children who hasn't wondered how parents survived before the advent of Skype. My son has lived in California for 6 years and when I finally got Skype I was overjoyed--a couple visits a year just doesn't do a mom's heart justice. I've seen his new apartment, we Skyped with my husband when I visited Andy over Thanksgiving. My daughter and son-in-law "visit" with us from Indianapolis (although less frequently since I see them more often!) It is wonderful.(You'll also see on the screen shot that my niece loves her boyfriend! Sheesh.)
I thought of using Skyp for parent conferences, but haven't used it yet. I'd have to do it at home (no access at school) so that is an issue. It might be nice for weekend conferencing with parents who have demanding schedules or shift work.
I can see the possibilities of author "visits", although as a former book store worker, I know those are few and far between. Most contact with authors goes through a publicist or agent. It might be more viable for a "visit" with a business person chatting about skills employers want to see--or a local college instructor about what skills kids will need in college. I think the 'author' thing is a bit pie-in-the-sky. Other more "mundane" uses might be more accessible.
Laurie - one of the other tools you might look at for webconference tools is Google Plus. Google recently opened up the service to anyone with an account and you can use the Hangout feature to have a nine-person video conference. We've used this a few times now and it works very well.
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