Webcasting 101: TV on Your PC
by Kendall Callas
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Thanks for tuning in again as we continue to inch along the cutting edge of webcasting in the
legal
community. This month we broaden our topic to include a specialized flavor of presentation via
Internet, the ‘webinar’.
WHAT’S A WEBINAR?
A slightly different visual experience, the ‘webinar’ delivers audio-plus-slides as
compared to the audio-plus-video of the webcasts most commonly discussed in this column. The
webinar format offers a slide presentation with narration; it gets the job done but notably lacks
the
energy and appeal of video. The slides may include text with fonts, graphics, or photos.
Webinar format is designed to increase the delivery of information such as for a lecture or
seminar, and is clearly a valuable tool for online learning. For motivating the message, however,
video is obviously more effective in delivering an emotional or persuasive spark.
By omitting video, sharing only the presenters’ voices, I think webinars create an
emotional
thirst to see who’s talking. This void is lessened by including bio photos of participants in
the initial slides.
WHAT’S ON TONIGHT?
With almost 1,000 attorneys and offices across America and in Brussels and Tokyo, Foley &
Lardner, LLP, covers “more than 60 practice areas encompassing the full range of
corporate legal services, including corporate governance and compliance, securities, mergers and
acquisitions, litigation, labor and employment, intellectual property and IP litigation, and
tax.”
At the firm’s home page, www.foley.com, the
upper
third of the screen rotates between banners announcing the firm’s strengths. Wait a
moment for the banner marked Innovation
— then click ‘Learn More’ at right. Or, point your browser to:
“Foley & Lardner - The Web Conference Series for Corporate Counsel”
![[play
button]](aw_images/playbttn.gif) http://www.foley.com/news/hottopic_detail.aspx?hottopicid=9
Thus far, about a dozen discussions with Foley & Lardner attorneys make up The Web
Conference Series. The webinars are recordings of 1-hour programs originally delivered live
(with interactive Q&A facilitated by the WebEx software) during the lunch hour. Co-hosted by
Corporate Legal Times — evidence of the wisdom of marketing alliances — they have
“provided insight and offered solutions for general counsel across the country”
according to www.foley.com. Here’s a list of
offerings to date:
- Surfing Trademark Issues on the Web (3/24/05)
- SEC Enforcement and Regulatory Disclosures (2/17/05)
- Outsourcing (1/27/05)
- Corporate Governance (10/7/04)
- Alternate Fee Arrangements (9/17/04)
- M&A Deals (8/19/04)
- IP Litigation: Avoiding the Money Pit (7/15/04)
- International Business (6/17/04)
- Labor and Employment (5/13/04)
- Life Sciences/Biotechnology (4/8/04)
- Patents & Trademarks (3/11/04)
- Technology Trends (1/15/04)
Click the presentation you wish to view and you’ll be delivered to a details page, then look
right (under ‘Event Materials’) and click ‘WebEx Recording of
Program’. The first time you use the WebEx viewer you’ll need to download the
software; this is pretty quick, taking only 5 minutes or so at 56 Kbps. You may also view a
‘Program Summary’ PDF.
GOALS
Kyle Heath, Chief Marketing Officer, explained that the firm wanted to “showcase our
credentials in key practices to a wider audience than we'd had access to previously. We also use it
as a way to showcase practices and attorneys that may not get broader exposure due to budget
limitations.”
ADVANTAGES
Without video, you save a lot of bandwidth. Webinars send much less data, allowing even low
speed connections to suffice. In the case of video webcasts, broadband is certainly
recommended.
But the relatively undemanding webinar will serve all comers, even dial-up users.
FEEDBACK MECHANISM
Mr. Heath enumerated how the firm measures success: “1) We do online polling during
the
program to get feedback on content; 2) the company names and attendee titles/job functions
[supplied during registration] give us a good indication of whether or not we are reaching our
target audience; 3) We also measure by new business in the door as a result of the
program.”
TIME INVESTMENT
“We do webcasts for a variety of programs so the time investment can vary. For our
national Web Conference for Corporate Counsel series, each program takes approximately 75
hours from start to finish with development, marketing and follow-up and involves on average 8
people.”
RESULTS
“Hundreds of companies across the country have participated in the program and new
business has been generated specifically from the program.”
BIGGEST CHALLENGE
“Logistically, it is a huge undertaking. The webcast portion is really the easy part. The
program development, marketing and follow-up takes a considerable amount of time and energy
to make the program a success.”
With sobering insight, Mr. Heath mentions that “Roughly 50% of those who register
actually attend.” Though, on the upside, “Attendees often invite other colleagues to
join them so we are able to reach more people than we really ever thought we would.”
ADVICE TO OTHER LAW FIRMS
“Hold practice sessions with the attorneys before they go ‘live’.”
What would they do differently, if they had it to do over again? Mr. Heath says they would
“Use an application that streamlines the registration process and registers attendees
instantly so new registrants can join a program about to begin or already in process.”
FEEDBACK FROM CLIENTS
“Clients and prospects have loved the format, the fact that we keep the program to 1 hour
over the lunch time frame, and have also given high marks for the program content.”
THE FUTURE
“The program has worked extremely well for us and we anticipate developing more
webcast related programs in the future.”
Too many webcasts, not enough time.
If you see streaming audio or video you
think would be of interest to our readers, please
URL and description.
Has your firm produced a webcast? We want the details!
If you'd like a clickable list of the web addresses from this and past columns,
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Kendall Callas, ,
is president of American Webcast and a 20-year veteran law office technology
consultant.
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