by kevin, on April 18th, 2010
While others debate whether we’re living through the final days of print media, I wonder if some day virtual conferences will replace physical ones. Are the webinars of today comparable? Do they offer an equally compelling exposition or learning experience? Actually I’m not entirely certain that’s a fair question. Although similar, the two venue types are so utterly different it’s difficult to make comparisons.
A year ago I might have thought it unlikely that a webinar could equal a face-to-face conference. But two things have changed my opinion. First, over the past twelve months I’ve endured terribly disappointing lectures at some of the biggest events. There are few things more frustrating than traveling long distances and paying good money for event registration, flight, rental car, hotel, and meals only to be tortured by painful presentation skills and horrendous graphics. It’s even worse when delivered by someone you respect and were looking forward to. Second, I’ve attended several well produced and informative on-line sessions. There’s still some disparity between virtual and face-to-face events, but technology and web speed are helping to narrow the gap. I can say with absolute certainty that my office chair is far more comfortable than any stackable convention chair. My couch is even better.
Even though a traditional conference is experienced live, I usually feel a strange detachment from the speakers. If the event is large enough, I might be seated several hundred feet from the podium. If the speaker is sufficiently interesting, attendees will swarm the stage, making it impossible to actually meet the person. Even with a computer between speaker and attendee webinars can be more intimate with a conversational tone.
A good example is the webinar hosting service BrightTALK. To celebrate Earth Day last year they organized their own virtual educational program called the Green Building Summit. I was invited to present a session about the environmental impact of buildings. It seems odd to use these words, but I actually met a number of interesting people. BrightTALK held a mini summit focused on sustainable building design earlier this year, where I also presented. It too was a well attended and an informative day of educational sessions (we posted about it here, here, and here).
For Earth Day this year they’ve assembled another strong day of interesting content. It’s free to attend and open to the public. The schedule of sessions is as follows (all times are PST):
- 5:00am Stakeholder Impacts on Building Sector’s Global Carbon Abatement. This session will be presented by Christian Kornevall, the Director of the Energy Efficiency in Building Project (EEB) at the WBCSD.
- 9:00am The Economics of Green Building. This session will be presented by George Elvin, PhD, the DIrector of Green Technology Forum.
- 10:00am Sustainable Federal Buildings: Mariposa Land Port of Entry, AZ. This session will be presented by Melissa Farling, Brian Farling, and Eddie Jones of Jones Studio.
- 11:00am Bridging Ecological Research and Urban Design. This session will be presented by Alexander Felson of Yale University – Forestry and Environmental Studies.
- 1:00pm Adobe – LEED and Beyond. This session will be presented by Randall Knox III, the Senior Director of Global Workplace Solutions at Adobe Systems.
- 2:00pm What’s Good and What’s Next: The Future of Sustainable Materials. This panel discussion will include Jameson Detweiler, CEO of GreenKonnect.com, Sasha King, Co-founder and Director of Product Research and Development at epOxyGreen, and will be moderated by yours truly.
- 3:00pm Solving the Cost Hurdle for Green Retrofits: GreenFinanceSF. This session will be presented by Richard Chein, LEED AP, CGBP, with the City and County of San Francisco.
I plan to attend as many as possible and will post reviews the following week. In the 10am time slot are three friends – Melissa, Brian, and Eddie. They’ve been telling me about the Mariposa Land Port of Entry project for months and it sounds amazing.
Speaking from the perspective of a past presenter, the BrightTALK system has a few minor shortcomings that limit the ability to employ the kind of animations, builds, or transitions that are key features of my slideshows. There are trade-offs and compromises that require some adjustment. At their core maybe webinars are actually a bargain made between organizers, speakers, and attendees. They’re not necessarily a direct replacement for face-to-face conferences but something supplemental with both advantages and drawbacks. This Thursday I know I’ll be lying on the couch in casual clothes, shoes off, with a cup of coffee, and my new iPad watching the BrightTALK sessions in more comfort than I’ve ever experienced at any conference. What about you? What will you be doing on Earth Day?
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