Hispanic Enterprise - February/March 2008 - (Page 21)

HOW TO GIVE A GOOD MEETING: PLANNING AHEAD FOR A BETTER WEBINAR A meeting is not just a meeting—especially when it’s held over the Internet. From poor planning to ill-prepared presenters to distractions in the background, Webinars can invite chaos—and result in a bad event. Instead, address details in advance to ensure success. To run an effective Webinar, plan ahead, says Webinar veteran Paul Holstein. He suggests hosts: • Plan in advance. Lay out a schedule for the event, and invite presenters and participants early. • Advise participants to prepare. Tell them to download or load early any software— from the Webinar software, or Java or ﬂash applications to view the presentation. Log in early to ensure the software and phone connection are working. • Be quiet. From noisy locations or calls placed from cell phones, distractions abound. Ask participants to call from a landline if possible, to turn off call waiting, close their ofﬁce or conference room door, and use the mute button if not actively talking. • Shut down other applications. Holstein recently was on a Webinar whose host had email and IM alerts pop up on her screen. Not only were they distracting, they can slow the application. Moreover, some content can be proprietary or conﬁdential to the sender. • Run a bigger screen. Remember: Viewers often are seeing your screen, and 800 by 600 resolution might not sufﬁce. • Pace yourself. People not comfortable giving presentations tend to talk fast— even faster than the screen can refresh to show new content. Slow the presentation to ensure participants can absorb your content—and the onscreen presentation can keep pace. “Remember the other people aren’t seeing it as fast,” Holstein says, “and they’re often seeing it for the ﬁrst time.” • Engage your audience. If it’s a small group, ask questions and invite discussion to ensure they’re engaged. Often participants’ minds can wander, Holstein says. “Keep them on their toes.” 21 or e-learning, or online discussion and marketing programs. THE ‘YOUTUBE’ EFFECT The ubiquity of online video and audio is helping push acceptance of Webbased seminars. Call it the “YouTube” effect, notes Grace Kim, a senior marketing manager with WebEx Event Center, which serves the events market, and WebEx Meeting Center, which provides a collaboration and meetings platform. “Companies are linking video with content,” she says. “The market is very ready for that video plus audio presentation of content.” The market is maturing. More users are being drawn by applications focused on voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP), imbedded video cameras and microphones in PCs and laptops, as well as documentcentric conferencing, more robust user interfaces, and even feature-rich offerings from the free services, Gartner notes. “This is a growing solution that allows small and medium businesses to be more HISPANIC ENTERPRISE * THE UBIQUITY OF ONLINE VIDEO IS PUSHING ACCEPTANCE OF WEB-BASED SEMINARS. productive and competitive in their space today,” says Beth Gilbert, a manager with GoToWebinar, part of Citrix Online, which recently was named 2008 North American Web Conferencing Company of the Year by research ﬁrm Frost & Sullivan. “This allows small businesses to compete with large companies in ways they’ve never been able to before,” Gilbert says. “They can reach thousands of people, where even trade shows might not have helped them stand out like this.” February/March 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hispanic Enterprise - February/March 2008

Hispanic Enterprise - February/March 2008 Contents Briefcase: BIZBUZZ: Business Briefs Briefcase: Trendsetters Briefcase: BIZTECH: Virtually Meeting BizLife: Travel: Madrid's New Attraction Q & A: Mi Case es su Casa Hispanic Commerce: The Agenda Cover Story: The Top 50 Corporations for Supplier Diversity Technology: Hispanic Web 2.0 Success & Motivation: Sweetening the Deal Politics & Government: The Rescue Generation Managing: The Method Franchising: The Hispanic Face of Franchising Chamber Focus: It's Showtime Movers & Shakers: Open for Business Finance & Investing: Getting Your 401(K) on Target

Hispanic Enterprise - February/March 2008

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