The concept of the webinar has been with us for more than a decade. The whole idea, as its name implies, is a web-based seminar. I am proud to say that I’ve introduced the concept to two different companies and consider it a communication channel of choice. You can gather as many people as your connection can stand, pontificate on the topic at hand, entertain questions, and truly share knowledge for a very reasonable cost. These are all reasons why the webinar has become so popular yet at the same time have driven the channel into a funk.

At one time my heart would skip a beat when I received an invitation to a webinar. Really. The very thought of being invited to a web-based opportunity to learn something and to have some instructive dialog with an industry expert was a highlight of my day. Turn up the speakers (or in my present work space, crank up the headphones) and enjoy the learning. Then something happened. They became something to dread. My desk phone would ring, and a distant voice with a difficult-to-understand accent would call to invite me to a webinar that was way outside my areas of interest. Forget about asking them for clarification on the topic; the voice (is that a vacuum cleaner in their hand? have they figured out how to talk through a fuzz box?) is only there to push attendance. Content has been dethroned.

What went wrong? At the risk of sounding like Andy Rooney, I’ve identified the following list of why webinars have become passé.

• Invitations have become invasive. Just send me one email to invite me. And only one call per day is acceptable. One such provider called me 5 times on Friday!
• Sign-up forms have become opportunities for that distant voice to shove a white paper or demo down my throat. Just because I signed up for a webinar doesn’t mean I want every piece of content your company provides.
• Lame login process. The mere act of logging in has become a challenge. Click on the email link to visit a landing page to visit another landing page with a “webinar will start shortly” message plastered on it. Then wait.
• Actually I’m late. Is punctuality extinct? Why does every webinar start late? Why does it sound like the presenters just rushed into the room, completely unprepared? Does anyone rehearse anymore? From now on I will charge the webinar host $200 every time I hear an “um” and $100 every time I hear the word “actually” – the word seems to be used in lieu of punctuation. But I digress; “actually” is another blog post.
• Content, once King, is now crap. Whatever happened to content? Most of the webinars I’ve attended recently have been really boring. After about 10 minutes I have figured out that this isn’t for me and bail out on the party.
• The webinar has morphed into a thinly-disguised attempt to sell me something. I am not at all against commerce, I would rather learn about a new application or technology without sitting through an infomercial. Sell me something when I decide that I might be a prospect for you.

OK, so the webinar may still have its benefits and uses as a communications channel. But please, Oh Webinar Purveyor, please limit to only one invitation.