Webinars and more webinars

Somebody bored attending webinars came up with this material:

“6 Things People Accomplish while Listening to Boring Webinars:”

1. Binge-watch kittens on YouTube.

2. Catch up on email.

3. Update their LinkedIn profile.

4. Bang the crud out of the keyboard.

5. Christmas shopping on Amazon.

6. Unfriend anyone on Facebook still posting their Candy Crush scores.

We will have to deal with more webinars as on-ground conferences and training will have to wait. The lockdown canceled all activities that involved mass gatherings. This was a crushing blow to the service and hospitality industry. Many speakers started offering “Free Webinars.” It was happening both here and abroad. In hindsight, I have to commend them for this endeavor. They exposed people to how webinars work. Most took place using the Zoom platform. It was useful, user-friendly, and it was for free. Speakers had a tough time adjusting as this is a new environment for them. Speakers could not execute physical touch interactions with participants so they tried to convert what they used to do in on-ground events and to webinar formats. It does not work! They were trying hard to build engagement with the participants by asking them to do “Virtual clapping,” “Thumbs up sign,” “Polling” and my clients told me later that they find these exercises distracting, and many of them zone out in the process.

By April, I began receiving invitations to do webinars. Invitations at this time did not come from HR but Marketing. Sharp as ever, marketing people realize that activities shift to online, and they want to stay connected with their clients. Today invitations are coming in strong from both HR and Marketing departments. It means that there will be more webinars to come, and this has kept me busy. I never thought the day would come when all I needed to prepare myself rushing from one engagement to another is just a few minutes. I can have a coffee, prepare my materials, or if the webinars come in spaces of mornings, afternoons, and evenings, I can still grab some power nap in between.

Here is the upside of webinars:

• You can connect with people wherever they are. I have done webinars addressing participants tuning in from different countries.

• You can use the chat box to ask questions. During on-ground events, people were shy to ask questions. They fear that their boss may misunderstand them. They do not want people to say that they were asking dumb questions. Now they can hide by the name “anonymous.”

• Webinars save costs. No need for travel to and from the hotel, booking of venues and rooms for participants, meals not required, and technically no limit to the number of participants, making it cost-efficient.

• Registration is simple and automated. Mounting is easy. I had four cancellations when the typhoons came, but they rescheduled quickly because it is easy to do.

• Digital content can quickly be evaluated and stored.

Here is the downside of webinars:

• The biggest challenge is and will always be internet connections. Some participants may have weak internet connections, so they would have to turn off their video to conserve bandwidth. I cannot see them, and I cannot determine their mood and motivation. The interaction is held to a minimum.

• I used to do whole-day training, but this is not workable with webinars. At the start, clients advised me that a 30-minute lecture is best. I followed their advice. What happened was that their participants complained that the session was too short. And they wanted a lengthier presentation. The ideal time I have discovered now is an hour and 15 minutes of presentation max. And then the rest of the time for Q&A. I do not mind how long the Q&A would take because it would be an essential part of the training. It is the only part wherein I would get to know what the needs of the participants are.

• I may be doing my presentation. People may be distracted by technical glitches, dogs barking, babies crying, cars honking, and when unmuted, all the hundreds of participants get to be distracted.

Webinars will be here to stay. People have been trained to consume knowledge and training through the digital format. My daughter boss Rachel and I have upgraded our equipment, fixed up a studio, got professional lights and sound system. We have upgraded the internet connection, provided a tech team for support to ensure a seamless presentation. And why is this necessary? Because the methods of doing things may have changed, but the mission remains the same. We still have to pursue and provide excellence in and through this service. There may be changes ahead, and we are keeping tabs on it. But the mission will never go away.

(Connect with Francis Kong at www.facebook.com/franciskong2. Or listen to “Business Matters” Monday to Friday 8 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. over 98.7 DZFE-FM ‘The Master’s Touch,’ the classical music station.)