Words on Webinars

Yesterday was a slow day for me.  Especially when I look at the pace of the previous two.  That being said, I experienced something new yesterday.  I gave a presentation as part of a webinar series.  A webinar is a lecture or seminar that is transmitted to online registrants.  I'm no techie so someone else organized it and told me how and where to login to the seminar.

I am comfortable speaking in public and have likely given more than 100 talks.  I have spoken to many different audiences.  Young, old, male, female, interested, coerced, engaged, and asleep, I have presented to all of them.  This, however, was completely different.  I couldn't see my audience so I didn't know if they were asleep.  I felt like I was talking to my self and it was uncomfortable.  A joke was wasted as I couldn't tell if they got it.  I usually use a joke or humor as a way to gauge my audience a short time into most of my presentations and I knew I was in trouble this morning when I skipped the humor.

It was a great way to transfer knowledge, especially for someone working in non-profit like me.  There was no need to travel a couple of hundred kilometers to attend a workshop where I only want to attend half the agenda items.  It is a great way for an environmentally conscious individual to save on fuel and green house gas emissions too.

The networking opportunities missed by actually being in a room with people can't be replicated through a webinar.  If groups wish to network they'll still have to include budget money for such events.  Overall though I think webinars are he way of the future, especially considering the global manner in which we now do business.,