Webinars and virtual meetings: are they replacing a billion dollars industry?

Today most of our communications and interactions are online and live meetings are replaced by Webinars and virtual meetings on small screens from the comfort of our home. The internet has changed our world and the ways we communicate. But is it true that virtual communication is as effective as the real live one?

If more and more business people are attending virtual meetings and webinars in their PJs, while eating or having a drink or probably laying down in bed, does this mean the job of event planners organizing meetings and conventions will be taken over by webinars and the internet? And if so, what will be the impact on lot of businesses involved in the meetings and conventions industry?

In 2010, the meetings and events industry generated $140.3 BILLION in the US alone and it was accounted for 1.7 million jobs and responsible for 36% of the hotel industry's revenues and 17% of total air traffic for airlines in the US. Out of the $140.3 billion generate by the industry, 35% was through direct spending on hotels, 24% on air and transportation, 14% on restaurants and caterers and 12% on other business services.

While a webinar can be attended by people from all around the world, can also be watched and re-watched by uploading it online, does it bring same value and content as a live meeting or convention? Does it provide same experience as live interaction with other like minded people?  

It’s true that live meetings are costly: hotel accommodations, restaurants, entertainement, airline tickets, transportation, insurance, risk management, logistics, production, speakers, and the list goes on and on, but are webinars the only alternative to this billion dollars industry?

The experience of the real thing when you attend a live meeting, convention or seminar, is what I consider “a life experience”: it stays with you forever. I attended lot of meetings and workshops in different places and I will always remember them. They impacted my life for ever. I can remember to the samllest detail my feeling when I first walked into that big room and engaged in interesting conversations with people I just met. I remember the hotels I stayed in, the food I tasted, the motivational speeches I listened to with all my senses, the speakers faces, names and how excited or bored I was listening to them, the networking and stories exchanged at coffee breaks and lunch time. I will never forget the tour of the city where the meeting took place, the people, the hospitality, the sightseeings, the little things from my morning coffee in the hotel restaurant with other participants to my big sigh checking out wishing my experience could be a bit longer.

Can a webinar make me experience all this while sitting at home, staring at my computer’s screen, listening or watching a presentation alone in my room? No it can’t! No matter how interesting the content of a webinar and the person presenting it, the energy and excitement you experience in a live meeting can never me met or matched online.

What do you think? Would you rather attend a live meeting or a webinar and why? I’d love to hear your opinion!

Are we making sure events volunteers feel welcome and appreciated?

Volunteers are a necessary component of most events. They are the public face of the event and they have to feel comfortable and welcome in order to do a good job and be more committed and passionate about the cause they’re volunteering for. A satisfied volunteer will give your organization a good reputation, will always come back and bring friends and family along.


With a crazy schedule like mine, I always try to spare few hours to volunteer for the causes I believe in. After all it’s a duty  and a joy to help others. But my last volunteering experience made me wonder if we have recently started taking volunteers and their safety for granted. My disappointment started from the first minute I attended the parking lot and was asked to park somewhere else as the venue parking was full. The next parking option was fairly far from the venue, no shuttle buses were available and the walk from that parking to the venue was not easy.


The lady in charge of volunteers was at the check in table, she didn’t even greet me with a smile. I immediately felt unwelcome! The captain of my team (another volunteer) was unfriendly, so were the 2 other staff I was working with. I had to jump over the tables to reach my volunteering area.


We were swamped few minutes later with all the guests’ requests and it became messy since no clear instructions were given to volunteers.  A pole on which a couple of promotional items were displayed was attached to the table with scotch tape. It kept falling every time we were nearby.


I was too tired to jump over the tables after my shift so I crawled underneath.


I left the place with a bad taste in my mouth. I am volunteering again soon with the same organization and I am already worried about it. Will they be more welcoming and organized? Will they give volunteers better instructions? will I enjoy the experience or crawl my way out to the nearest exit?


My experience taught me a priceless lesson about dealing with volunteers as an event planner and make sure they enjoy their time, feel needed and appreciated and above all welcome by me and every person working with them. 

Event Planning & Safety: Risk Management Plan, first things first!

When planning an event, the first and last priority of the event planner is the safety and security of everyone involved in the event: employees, volunteers, suppliers, guests, etc. With any event, no matter its size, comes risk. The bigger the event, and the bigger the crowd, the higher the risk. We've recently heard of unfortunate accidents that happened during different events this month because of  bad risk management assessment: The Stanley Cup riots in Vancouver, the 2 deaths of Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester and the injured children in the deadly bouncy castle in Long Island New York soccer tournament.

Three different events in 3 different cities but they all had in common a poor event risk management plan.  Unfortunately the 2 deaths at the Bonnaroo Festival this year were not the first as a total of 10 people died at this event since 2002 because of heat-related issues.  Vancouver riots were not the first either as the city witnessed same riots in 1994 at the same Stanley Cup event. It makes us all wonder why the organizers of these 2 events didn’t take into consideration  what happened previously in their events and took proper measures to prevent it from happening again this year.


Bob Whitelaw, the investigator who helped draft 100 recommendations after Vancouver riots in 1994, said that the police, the event organizers and the city’s public transit system ignored some of the recommendations regarding safety and crowd management.

During the 10^th year celebration of Bonnaroo Festival, one of the biggest music festivals in the US, 2 people were reported dead by hyperthermia after similar incidents occurring in 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2010.


If there’s one lesson to learn from these 2 tragedies is that events are full of uncertainties and risks. That’s why crowd and risk management should be a primary concern of any event planner and should never be underestimated or miscalculated.