Webinars

Webinars are training sessions or online workshops in a predominantly similar format to traditional seminars, but in a digital format. Webinars are advantageous in several ways. They are highly flexible, with the subject matter being as focused or as broad as is needed to reach the target audience. Webinars are also cost effective, as they avoid time and travel costs getting to and from the venue, and they also allow for more training of the target group of employees without increasing costs.

Companies that take advantage of webinar material get access to the best and latest information available on the specific topic. Often a webinar consists of a noted speaker or trainer presenting the materials to a live audience of industry personnel or employees. In the case of software testing webinars, it is best to look for the most recent posts. The speakers should be recognized authorities in their field and if there are handouts, they should be readily available to participants in the webinar. The sessions may be broken up into smaller time segments.

An example of a relatively recent software testing webinar can be found here http://www.eurostarconferences.com/content/best-of-eurostar-2012-webinar-week. This is the Best of EuroSTAR Conference 2012 Webinar Week and was targeted at the European software testing community.

Microsoft’s overwhelming presence in the industry makes a webinar presented by them, or one with features related to their products, a popular one. Attending such webinars will provide attendees with information presented in a concise and meaningful format. The user groups may be online or at a live seminar which was recorded in order to reach a wider audience later on. Although most of the material is recorded in a webinar format, it may only appeal to a certain group and many of those who learn from these sessions do so as they are unable to attend a live session due to work or financial constraints.

An example of the type of groups that make use of Microsoft Development webinars is the Microsoft Health Users Group. Access to information about the webinars is available at https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032560093&Culture=en-US&community=0 .

There are various models for presenting webinar materials. There could be a multi-week course with a module or lecture posted each week and participation in webinars encourages participants to be proactive. The discussion can be spirited; with the webinar presenter available to answer questions and business analysis webinars may present case studies or techniques with good results. Learning results will depend upon the skills of the presenter and the quality of the discussion and follow-up. Discussion groups which are well-moderated can be quite useful in expanding learning.

A group that presents quality webinars on this topic is the International Institute of Business Analysis. Their webinar materials can be seen at http://www.iiba.org/Learning-Development/Webinars.aspx .

A personal development webinar can be used by individuals or by corporate entities. There are thousands of such presentations on the internet and many are free, while others are designed to be part of an overall life coaching effort. More specific webinars might deal with career development options such as time management, resumé preparation, or study skills. As with other webinar topics, the choices should be made from the most currently available material and the most credentialed presenters. This is not, however, to say that classic presentations are valueless.

http://discovertheedge.com/free-webinar/ is the link to a three-session webinar on the topic of mistakes made by business owners. The webinar is posted by Discover the Edge.