MANAGING CONFERENCE SESSIONS VIA A CONFERENCE USER INTERFACE

1 . A method for managing conference sessions via a graphical user interface, the method comprising:

a conferencing system establishing a conference session between a plurality of participants accessing the conferencing system via a communication network;

presenting a conference interface via a graphical user interface to a client device operated by one of the participants;

displaying in the conference interface a participant object identifying each of the plurality of participants in the conference session;

selecting one of the participant objects via the graphical user interface;

moving the selected participant object via the graphical user interface to a drop target associated with a breakout session;

removing the participant from the conference session; and

adding the participant to the breakout session.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the moving the selected participant object comprises dragging and dropping the selected participant object.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the moving the selected participant object is performed using one of a touchscreen display and an input device configured to control a cursor associated with the graphical user interface.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the participant objects associated with the conference session are displayed in a first screen portion and the drop target comprises a second screen portion.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the removing the participant from the conference session comprises:

determining an audio stream associated with the participant object; and

removing the audio stream from the conference session.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the adding the participant to the breakout session comprises adding the audio stream to the breakout session.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: joining the breakout session with the conference session.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the joining the breakout session with the conference session comprises selecting a combine sessions component via the graphical user interface.

9 . A computer program embodied in a computer-readable medium and executable by a processor, the computer program for managing conference sessions via a graphical user interface, the computer program comprising logic configured to:

present a conference interface via a graphical user interface to a client device, the conference interface displaying a participant object identifying each of a plurality of participants in a conference session provided by a conferencing system;

receive a selection of one of the participant objects via the graphical user interface;

receive an input command via the graphical user interface to move the selected participant object to a drop target associated with a breakout session; and

in response to the input command, add the participant to the breakout session.

10 . The computer program of claim 9 , wherein the input command comprises performing a drag and drop operation associated with the selected participant object.

11 . The computer program of claim 10 , wherein the drag and drop operation is performed using one of a touchscreen display and an input device configured to control a cursor associated with the graphical user interface.

12 . The computer program of claim 9 , wherein the participant objects associated with the conference session are displayed in a first screen portion and the drop target comprises a second screen portion.

13 . The computer program of claim 9 , wherein the logic configured to add the participant to the breakout session comprises logic configured to:

determine an audio stream associated with the participant object;

disable the audio stream in the conference session; and

enable the audio stream in the breakout session.

14 . The computer program of claim 9 , further comprising logic configured to recombine the breakout session with the conference session.

15 . A computer system for providing an online conference, the computer system comprising:

a conferencing system for establishing a conference session between a plurality of participants via a communication network; and

a client device in communication with the conferencing system via the communication network, the client device comprising a memory, a processor and a conference session management module embodied in the memory and executed by the processor, the conference session management module for enabling a user of the client device to create a breakout session from the conference session, the conference session management module comprising logic configured to:

present a conference interface via a graphical user interface to a client device, the conference interface displaying a participant object identifying each of the plurality of participants in the conference session;

receive a selection of one of the participant objects via the graphical user interface;

receive an input command via the graphical user interface to move the selected participant object to a drop target associated with a breakout session; and

in response to the input command, add the participant to the breakout session.

16 . The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the input command comprises performing a drag and drop operation associated with the selected participant object.

17 . The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the drag and drop operation is performed using one of a touchscreen display and an input device configured to control a cursor associated with the graphical user interface.

18 . The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the participant objects associated with the conference session are displayed in a first screen portion and the drop target comprises a second screen portion.

19 . The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the logic configured to add the participant to the breakout session comprises logic configured to:

determine an audio stream associated with the participant object;

disable the audio stream in the conference session; and

enable the audio stream in the breakout session.

20 . The computer system of claim 15 , further comprising logic configured to recombine the breakout session with the conference session.