The Webinar Blog

One Critical Black Friday Purchase

If you are an American or Canadian, this weekend marks the deepest sales and discounts of the year for electronics. Whether you shop online or in physical stores, whether you favor "Black Friday" or "Black Monday," I urge you to add one more item to your shopping list.

Please buy a USB headset. They are cheap, easy to find, and almost any of them will work just fine for webinar work. I don't care whether you buy one branded as Logitech, Microsoft, Plantronics, or Sennheiser. It is a million times better than the built-in microphone on your laptop. It's a thousand times better than the earbuds with integrated cord microphone you use on your iPhone. It's more practical than the separate desk microphone you plug in to your desktop computer. And it works with all the major web conferencing / webcasting products you use.

Good quality, name brand units cost $20 - $50 at normal retail prices. You should be able to do significantly better than that this weekend. Do it. Your audience will thank you.

 

Technorati Tags: USB headset,headset,webcasting,web conferencing,webcast,web conference,webinar,web seminar

Webinar Education Opportunities

After a hectic Fall schedule of webinars, things are slowing down a bit for the holiday season. Here in America, Thanksgiving is upon us this week. People of the Jewish faith are also celebrating Hanukkah. And of course Christmas is just around the corner, along with Kwanzaa, Hogmanay, Saturnalia, and Pancha Ganapati.

If you have some free time on your hands, why not take advantage of the chance to learn a little more about webinars?

I just spoke to Bob Hanson and Roger Rosenquist, who are promoting an in-depth multi-part training program called Webinar University. It will feature a number of live and recorded modules delivered via the web. They are limiting the class size to only 10 participants, giving each person the ability to interact fully with the instructors. And payment for the course also gives you two hours of personal consulting on your own webinar program.

You can also get access to a series of prerecorded seminars on different webinar topics as part of ON24's free Webinar Academy. You can choose from tracks on production, promotion, and presentation.

And I continue to appear as a guest speaker with various free educational topics throughout the year. Coming up in the next couple of weeks you can attend sessions sponsored by Onstream Media and Citrix Online.

On Tuesday, December 3 I will give Tips for Selecting a Webinar/Webcast Vendor. This is an overview on things to think about when comparing different vendors or constructing a more formal RFP. Although it is sponsored by Onstream Media, they are allowing me to remain independent and objective with my content… So I won't be trying to sell you on their products (or anyone else's). The time is most convenient for people in US/Canadian/Latin American time zones (2pm New York time).

If you are in the Asia Pacific part of the world, mark your calendar for December 11. I'll be sponsored by Citrix Australia in a demonstration of best practices for appearing on live video in a webcast. Click here to register for a 1pm Sydney start time.

 

Technorati Tags: Webinar University,Webinar Academy,ON24,Onstream Media,Citrix,webinar,web seminar,web conference,web conferencing,webcast,webcasting

omNovia Adds A/V Preview For Hosts

omNovia announced a new feature addition to its Webinar Pro product today. A webinar moderator can check each presenter's webcam feed and audio line before turning it on for the audience. The functionality is optionally enabled under the moderator's control as a part of the product's existing "AV Remote Control" feature.

The way things had worked previously (and still work in most webinar products) is that the moderator or presenter can turn on a video feed, but as soon as it is on, everyone sees the image. This has resulted in embarrassment for more than one unprepared presenter!

Results don't have to be as dramatic as seeing undressed bodies or people picking their noses… It can be as simple as the moderator needing to tell the presenter that s/he is out of focus, out of frame, or poorly lit. Or my most common complaint, that they need to put their laptop on a stack of books so the built-in camera isn't shooting up into their nostrils.

Why don't more webinar technologies include this functionality? I'm not saying omNovia is the only vendor to include the capability, but they are part of a vanishingly small minority.

Of course if you aren't working with a moderator or if your moderator doesn't want to take on the additional role of a multi-camera TV producer, you can default back to the easier but more dangerous behavior of "on means on" for all participants.

Good stuff and highly appreciated. I'll be using this with my clients.

 

Technorati Tags: omNovia,video streaming,webcast,webcasting,webinar,web seminar,web conference,web conferencing,video conferencing

WebcastGroup Changes Name to Venstream

I received an email today stating that the company formerly known as WebcastGroup is now Venstream. The email said that they wanted to highlight streaming web broadcasts of venues, virtual venues, and events.

But they also added a self-service presentation webinar product for audience sizes of up to 100. It includes VoIP and standard telephone audio and the email says it uses WebRTC.

The new product adds to the company's existing product lines for managed services for webinars or webcast streaming.

I will try to schedule some time in the coming weeks to test out the new webinar product offering and post my impressions.

Technorati Tags: Venstream,WebcastGroup,webcasting,webcast,event streaming,webinar,web seminar,web conference,web conferencing

CopyTele Continues Fight To Destroy Web Collaboration

CopyTele put out a new press release today. They have acquired two new patent portfolios in the field of Unified Communications. For clarity and conciseness, I will quote the important sentences directly from the press release:

• The first portfolio covers the multicast, Internet delivery of streaming data, media, and other content to large numbers of recipients, within the confines of specialized virtual private networks ("VPN's).
• The second portfolio covers the integration of telephonic participation in web-based audio/video conferences by creating a gateway between the Internet, and cellular or traditional landline telephones.

Prosecuting the first patent will affect several big name and big usage enterprise webcasting providers. Prosecuting the second patent could affect almost everybody in this field.

I first reported on CopyTele and its new concentration on web conferencing and collaboration in May of 2013. At the end of that post I wrote:

The chilling part of the lawsuit is encapsulated in a quote from CopyTele CEO Robert Berman in the TechCrunch article. He says "This is the initiation of what will be a broader patent enforcement campaign" that could target 90 to 100 web conferencing companies.

In July I reported on the first CopyTele patent infringement lawsuits being initiated against Citrix and Logitech. I wrote:

If CopyTele keeps adding other major vendors (Cisco? Adobe?) to its hit list, this could turn into the biggest legal battle in web conferencing history.

Now CopyTele has even more ammunition that can be used against even more technology providers. And the company has emphatically shown that it acquires these patents for active prosecution and revenue generation.

CopyTele is certainly operating completely legally and in a transparent and open manner. This is their explicitly stated business model and they are exercising legal rights following the letter of the law. The revenue potential for them is impressive.

Still, it turns my stomach from a standpoint of conscientious propriety. Patent law was established to protect inventors and encourage disclosure, sharing, and use of publicly beneficial innovation. It wasn't intended as a "get rich quick" scheme for consolidators with no interest or vested time and effort in the technologies.

The New York Times published an article last month where Floyd Norris brought to light some alarming statistics about companies like CopyTele. Officially and legally known as an N.P.E. (Nonpracticing Entity), the commonly used parlance is "Patent Troll."

In 2006, only 19% of all patent suits were filed by Patent Trolls. The current estimate is 60%. Suits are relatively easy to file because there are no damages assessed against a filer who loses his case. But courts are starting to consider remedies that might make Patent Trolls pick their battles more carefully, with more to lose.

I'll keep watching CopyTele and their suits. We are sure to see filings associated with these new patent portfolios. I'm scared about the possible effects and I'm not even in the business of making the software! If things were chilling in May, they are positively icy now.

Technorati Tags: CopyTele,web conferencing,webcasting,multicasting,web collaboration,unified communication,unified collaboration,ucc,patent troll

The Myth of Metonymy

Webinars are not effective. Video is not engaging. PowerPoint is not persuasive.

These are examples of metonymy. Each keyword is being used as shorthand to convey other attributes or content with which it is associated. James Thurber gave memorable examples of metonymy in his short story "Here Lies Miss Groby" - where he remembered learning about "Container for the thing contained" and wondered whether you could flip the concept to use the "Thing contained for the container."

Consulting firms, research analysts, and industry pundits love using metonymy. The problem is that it trivializes real problems and shifts focus away from useful improvement strategies.

Look at any major marketing survey and you'll see graphs and statistics showing "most effective marketing content: White papers, newsletters, webinars, emails…"

Read webinar blogs like mine or Mike Agron's WebAttract and you'll see discussions of whether streaming video content is effective and persuasive.

And who hasn't seen or heard people talking about how awful PowerPoint is for presentations, and how it should be banned as a presentation tool?

All such blanket statements are of course meaningless. Webinars, video, PowerPoint, telephones, headsets… These are merely tools. Technological means employed towards achieving a business goal. Some people use them well and get great results. Some people use them poorly and get disappointing results. And some results are influenced by factors entirely separate from the tool being used. I was giving a  product marketing webinar on September 11, 2001. It was not very effective in getting our company any new business. Is that because webinars are an ineffective medium?

The question you should be asking is not whether the tool IS effective. You should be asking whether you can practically and pragmatically USE the tool effectively to accomplish your business goals? Are you willing to spend the time and effort necessary to employ it to best advantage? If not, you should probably choose a different tool that better suits your personal preferences.

If you plan to fill up PowerPoint slides with text sentences, don't use PowerPoint. Write your sentences in a Word document and distribute it to your audience. You'll be more effective.

If you plan to put yourself on video captured from a built-in laptop webcam, pointing up at your nostril hairs, with harsh fluorescent lights over your head while you try to sneak glances at your presentation notes… Don't use video. At least not for a public lead generation webinar where you are establishing the audience's first perception of your company, products, and professionalism.

If you plan to "wing it" in your webinar without rehearsals, technology testing, and technical support for the presenter… Perhaps you should rethink whether that technology is the right one for you.

I don't use American Sign Language, Cantonese, or Russian when I present my messages to mass market audiences. Why not? They are effective communication methodologies. Millions of people are influenced and persuaded by them. While I could take the time to learn to use them effectively, I haven't yet.

Instead, I use tools I have invested time in to learn best practices… English language with good vocal presentation habits; visually-oriented PowerPoint slides that support my vocal presentation; well-structured, tested, and supported webinars. Sometimes I even set up proper lighting, backdrops, costuming, and camera technology to use live video. But only when it's worth the effort to reach my audience with that communication medium.

Because while the opening sentence of this blog is true, the following is just as true:

Webinars are effective. Video is engaging. PowerPoint is persuasive.

 

Technorati Tags: webinar,web seminar,web conference,web conferencing,webcasting,webcast,online meeting,online seminar,PowerPoint,streaming video

Excellent ReadyTalk Response To Service Interruption

I have a sample ReadyTalk account that I use for testing purposes. As a result, I see the same notifications as any other customer. On Wednesday I received an email stating that some customers were unable to connect to the ReadyTalk website or access web conferences, recordings, or SalesForce.com integrations.

The notification email gave the cause of the problem as a domain registration renewal error that was corrected quickly. But DNS servers cache paths to websites, and some customer servers did not get refreshed with the updated information. The email contained a telephone number for additional questions and I also successfully contacted an online representative through live web chat.

Today I received another email further explaining the problem source, the steps ReadyTalk took in resolving it, the start and end times of the service interruption, and the plans ReadyTalk is making to avoid the possibility of future DNS interruptions.

Obviously any affected customer (and not all had problems) who needed access to the ReadyTalk conferencing during that period would be livid. But any and every web-based service is subject to the possibility of downtime. It has happened to many other web conferencing vendors as well as online retailers, service providers, and the US Government.

What is more important to me is transparency and timely communications to the company's client base, along with a sense that the company takes the problem seriously and will try to improve reliability or failover in the future. And this is where I want to recognize ReadyTalk for their communications. I appreciated seeing the explanation of root cause, the window of interruption, and the forward-looking plans for improvement. About the only other thing I would have wished for would have been a Twitter message or website posting as soon as all services were restored so that customers knew immediately that they should have access again.

As we rely more and more on cloud-based business services, occasional interruptions will always be a possibility. Fixing the immediate problem is critical of course, but so is proper communication. It's nice to be able to point to a positive example.

 

Technorati Tags: ReadyTalk,service interruption,web conference,web conferencing,webinar,web seminar,webcasting,webcast

Free Webinar Production Checklist

NASDAQ OMX recently published a high level checklist for webinar producers, organizers, or administrators. It's a nice way to make sure you don't accidentally overlook a critical step in your process flow. The checklist is online as a PDF and not only is it free… You don't even have to register to get it! Almost unheard of in this day and age.

I shortened their long URL with a mini-link:  http://j.mp/wchklst

Thank you to Matthew Raymond at NASDAQ OMX. He posted this on a LinkedIn group for Webcasting, Webinars & Online Video Best Practices.

 

Technorati Tags: NASDAQ OMX,webinar,web seminar,webcasting,webcast,online seminar

Webinar Recordings Should Look Like The Live Event

Earlier this week, I was a guest speaker on a Citrix Australia webinar. We used their relatively new HDFaces functionality in GoToWebinar to include my live webcam feed at the beginning and end of the presentation.

But when I went back to review the recording, I found that the playback did not include the video stream… It only showed the screen share (in this case my slide show). I looked up the FAQ for HDFaces on the Citrix website and sure enough, it said that video is not captured in recordings.

Ouch. I can see customers really getting burned by this limitation. If you were demonstrating something visually via your live video, showing off a product, giving instructional training, or making references to things on camera, your recording audience would have no idea what is going on. They would see only some static background image from your screen share (probably something uninteresting and unimportant that you used so as to not draw attention away from your video!).

Citrix definitely needs to schedule this for an upgrade as quickly as possible. I find the lack of the recording feature highly disturbing in the world of public webinars. It might be acceptable for more ad-hoc peer-to-peer video conferences, but you need a full record of your event when making an archive of a formal webinar.

Citrix is not the only vendor with lapses in this area. I have found several examples over the years where the content available in the recording does not match the content available to attendees in the live webinar.

omNovia used to omit the text chat display from their recordings. So a presenter might make reference to a comment posted by an attendee, making perfect sense in the live session while confusing the on-demand audience who could not see what he was referring to. To their credit, omNovia fixed this oversight, and you can now decide whether you want to include or exclude the chat display from your recording.

WebEx still has what I consider to be a major flaw in its recording content. If you run a poll during a live webinar, you can set the displayed results to show only percentage of responses for each answer choice. That's great when you don't want guests to know you have a disappointingly small turnout for your event. But if you elect to make poll results visible in your WebEx recording, they always show the number of raw votes. There is no way to show percentages only.

On-demand playback of webinar recordings makes up a large and very significant percentage of total viewership. I call on each and every web conferencing vendor to review their recording/playback functionality to make sure that on-demand viewers get the same experience and the same content as their live session counterparts.

 

Technorati Tags: webinar,web seminar,online seminar,webcasting,webcast,web meeting,online meeting,HDFaces,GoToWebinar,omNovia,WebEx