The Wonderful World of Webinars

One sure sign that you're getting old is when you look at a change in technology and say "I don't get it!"

This is how I am with Webinars.

I have been thinking about doing some RCM Blitz Webinars. In the past I have both participated in and instructed Webinars and I have to be honest and say in both cases I thought it was a truly awful way to present and learn materials.

In each case there were glitches in getting everyone up and running so the material could be presented, viewed, and heard. Questions were clumsy; we tried asking questions by voice and by typing in questions and comments. It just didn't seem natural. And being honest it did not fit my style of learning or instructing. In my mind if you wanted to teach someone how to fall asleep this might be a world-class methodology!

Over the past decade I have spent a fair amount of time trying to ensure that all of my courses cover the different styles of learning; reading, listening, doing and testing. In my mind learning is a process that is alive, exciting and interactive. It is a process that can take place in a classroom or in the field but it is most effective when the student and instructor work face to face instead of screen to screen.

So today for a moment I sit back and wonder if time might be passing by. Is the Webinar the way we will learn in the future?

Will we someday all attend web-based conferences and type in messages about what we learned in a webinar and how it helped us to make significant changes to our company and how we run our business? I was thinking while watching a bit of reality TV last night that I could even record a bunch of Webinars on all kinds of stuff and schedule them until the year 2060. I'll be 100 on September 16th of that year but because I'm going to record them this year I'll still sound young. I also wondered if maybe CBS had already done this to Andy Rooney years ago and never told us that we have just been watching a Webinar of Andy the last five years or so.

What I really want to know is what makes the Webinar relevant?

Why do people like Webinars?

How can I make a Webinar fun? (I am told my courses are fun and I enjoy teaching them. I want the feel the same way about Webinars!)

Last but not least, would you rather attend a Webinar or a live, in person training course?

I'm looking for some answers people and it's your time to be heard.