Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation - A cure is only a breath away

WPRNY recently steamed three live internet events for the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation. The reason the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation decided to host live events, as opposed to taping the events and posting them for viewing after the fact, was so that viewers would be able to call in with real questions, which could be answered by the panel of experts.

The first web broadcast was from Columbia University on Lung Transplantation for Pulmonary Fibrosis. The second webinar was broadcast live from Yale University on the various forms of Pulmonary Fibrosis called IPF. The third live internet broadcast was from the Hershey Medical Center, part of Penn State, and the subject matter was developing advocacy and support groups for IPF.

People with Pulmonary Fibrosis may find it difficult to travel. So the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation did a great service to bring the leading physicians onto the screens of those effected.

First, let’s take a step back.  What is the purpose of your webinar?  Education? Marketing?  Informative or Team Building?  This is a critical question that needs to be asked from the outset.  It will determine the direction your entire production will take. 

As you plan your webinar, think of the questions in the above paragraph?  Make sure you know the exact reason you are holding this event.  It is important to know who your audience will be and thus allow you to know what the dialogue should be during the event.  Each webinar has a particular message- making sure you convey that message and answer any hanging questions is critical for your event to be considered a success.  Next, you have to know who will be the voices speaking for your organization: Your own staff?  Industry experts?  Happy clients or customers?  Make sure that everyone knows the message and stays on it.  Scripting will help with this, but will also require the skill of a writer.  If you do proceed without a script, make sure you go through a few dry runs before going live.

Next, you need to make sure that people are actually going to see your broadcast.  Market it! You have to begin marketing your event in advance of its broadcast.  Whether you will just play the webinar live or post it for on-demand re-broadcast, you need to make sure your audience is aware of it.  Send emails to current or potential clients.  Post a notice on your website.  Announce it on your phone calls while people are waiting to speak to someone.  The more people who are aware of it, the greater the success it will be.

Finally, you have to actually produce it for people to watch.  There are several options in this area.  You can purchase a program which allows you to produce your own events in-house, but stills leaves you with a heavy tech burden.  You can have an intern research and attempt to produce on your own (not necessarily recommended).  Or you can hire an outside company to produce and handle post-production/ posting to server so your attendees can view.  Some companies can actually handle all three steps for you; it all depends on your budget and end goal.

We would be happy to discuss how a webinar can help your business.  Contact us with questions you may have or if you need an extra hand in production: 646-519-2451  or sales@wprny.com

Many companies however, don’t want to take on the management and technical role of producing a webinar.  There are numerous companies and styles to assist with hosting a webinar.  The most basic of services is essentially a broadcast over the internet of your powerpoint or presentation slides along with the presenters voice which is being recorded over the phone.  The next step up is to have the presenters computer equipped with a webcam, allowing their image and voice, along with presentation slides broadcast over the net.  Finally, you have a custom broadcast which in viewing looks similar to a television broadcast, multiple professional cameras, name fonts, full screen graphics and seamless transitions between them.  

Naturally, the price for these services ranges.  For voice and slide presentation, they begin at only a few hundred dollars a month.  For video- your webcam- the price really doesn’t increase much.  For the highly produced broadcast, add a zero to the aforementioned prices.  

Of course, with quality comes perception.  If you are a company that isn’t flashy, your clients aren’t with you because of social perception, then the final product doesn’t matter as much.  If you conducting this in hopes of getting new business, then obviously, the more professional you look to your end user, the higher chance of success will be with their business.

Be sure to look and listen to examples before you commit to a provider.  Look for a clear  and audible broadcast and the quality of the images, as a viewer, are you engaged?  If there is video, does the audio synch with the video or is there ‘lip flap’?  Remember, once you commit to a provider, you want to feel comfortable with their work so that any headaches are removed.

We are happy to discuss any needs you may have concerning a webcast or webinar for your company.  WPRNY provides high-quality, professional webinars and webcasts to our clients.  We know that customer service, hassle-free broadcast are reasons they choose us.

Contact us at 646-519-2451 or sales@wprny.com

Traditionally, this has been geared towards undergraduate and graduate level courses, however, many continuing educational programs are now taking their curriculums online.  These professional courses are broadcasting their material online both live and on-demand.  For example, WPRNY has begun consulting with a large Continuing Medical Education (CME) program and outlined ways to monetize from extending their attendance and revenue from what was previously a one-off event.  

By helping to broadcast their CME conferences, we now have given the ability for doctors in Africa and Europe and all over the world to attend these specialized meetings, who previously would have been unable to participate in the dialogue unless they travelled to the conference.  The educational reach is tremendous, and what follows for the CME is increased attendance, revenue and notoriety.  In turn, doctors and other medical professionals can now gain their mandated CME credits at their convenience by watching the conferences online.

Almost any educational opportunity can be produced for a webcast.  Providing a professional stream of this material can greatly enhance your organizations’ awareness and balance sheet.  We work with both educational organizations and businesses to webcast their meetings and courses.  Contact us to discuss how you can increase your awareness and attendance for your courses.

Contact us at 646-519-2451 or sales@wprny.com

But what about an attendees time and patience?  How many people actually have enough of both to sit down and watch these webinars?  It really varies from conference to conference.  For your conference to have success with a webinar offering, it must have material that is just as easily digested from watching on a computer as it is in person.  

Sometimes, you do all of your marketing to encourage people to ‘show up’ on line, but if  they don’t become engaged or encouraged to stick around then your on line attendance can quickly drop to zero.  

There is no magic number for those that watch on line.  If you are having a traditional conference with the web as an extension of that broadcast, I would say you will see anywhere from 10-50% of your in-person attendance on line.  But this really varies from conference to conference.

One thing that you do want to do if you have a webinar, is make sure your webinar provider has enough options and tools to keep those watching on line engaged and interested.  

I will post another entry about some of the ways that we help to keep viewers around.  But in the meantime, let us know if you want to add your conference to the growing list of webinars.  We would be happy to discuss your needs and details.  

If the early returns are any indication, the hot technology for 2009 will be…anything that can save money.

If you are interested in taking your meetings to a new level, let us help you.