Webcasting
by Caro Segal

For the past five years, the webcasting industry has been evolving to meet the needs of the organizations that it was serving. Today's technology allows for webcast systems that apply features of instructional design for better educational outcomes. This technology has been widely implemented by the organizations worldwide and is ready to be applied to continuing education events.

Webcasting systems record and deliver live events over the Internet, much the same way that Television broadcasts programs. Attendees use their Internet-connected personal computers (PCs) to view the recordings of these events. The basic presentation includes the audio and visual of a lecturer displayed in a window on your computer.

EduCast systems go further by producing a virtual classroom, and applying critical interactive tools in the instructional design. eduCasting also greatly enhances the visuals by incorporating a robust, multi-dimensional presentation with numerous communication features such as large and clear slides; networking amongst attendees; questions to the lecturer with faculty feedback; an on-screen notebook to accompany slides; and online surveys.

Webcast systems are an excellent way to capture live events that have the following set of characteristics:

• There is a lecturer speaking to a live audience.

• Presentation materials such as slides, graphics etc. are being used.

• The event is an educational or information-assimilating event, suitable to become enduring materials.

• By considering these characteristics you will find the following types of events as good candidates to be webcast:

• Annual meetings, conferences, seminars and symposia

• Periodic lectures

• Grand rounds and board reviews

• Workshops, special compliance courses and certification programs

• Messages from leadership

• Educational videos, which may be converted to an Internet-ready format

Delivery of educational materials is often the most important service of your organization. The main reason for the interest in webcasting is that it creates an interactive environment for members and a revenue model for associations. Educational webcasting is versatile and dynamic because it combines the always-accessible attribute of the Web with the bells and whistles of broadcast media.

The vibrant quality of webcasting holds the user's attention in a familiar format. It also helps organizations deliver education and critical information to their members or target audiences on demand. Thereby, greater exposure to your community of learners helps grow your membership or customer base with cost-effective communication tools.

You may have already recognized webcasting as a possible solution for reaching larger audiences.

Online education exposure is rapidly gaining ground among meeting planers. You can and probably want to tap into this market.

By employing an educational webcast system you will have the potential to attract new members to your educational resources:

• Professionals that are members of groups that have are very busy and want the convenience of always-available, easily accessible, educational materials and information that is delivered in a familiar format. Recordings of webcasts are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as narrated PowerPoint presentations.

• While the individuals may be located across the country and around the globe, webcasting condenses geography and promotes networking.

• By their very nature, large conferences and annual meetings preclude attendees from participating in all the concurrent sessions. Webcasting increases exposure for lecturers while allowing attendees to view those sessions they have missed.

• Your recorded webcasts will be the basis of a web-based learning center (or information center), allowing attendees the flexibility to learn at their leisure and thus vastly increasing traffic to your web site where you may promote your other products and services.

• Members with travel restrictions and limited financial resources welcome webcasting over the Internet as an affordable alternative for securing continuing education credit.

• eduCasting emphasize interactivity, resulting in a more appealing and attractive web site. Research released by Nielsen//NetRatings (a prominent Internet audience measurement company) states that a majority of Internet users now watch and listen to streaming media.

The technology of webcasting usually uses streaming, it streams the audio, the video and other information from a network of servers directly to each attendee's computer via the Internet. Actually accessing a webcast is similar to accessing a link (or URL) in your browser - you simply press on a link and a window pops up displaying the visual of the lecturer synchronized with the PowerPoint slides and the interactive controls. Much the same way you did today to attend this program.

It is thus important to note that different attendees have different computer systems, and prominent "next-generation" systems use smart technologies that automatically detect the end-user's computer capabilities whether a dialup modem or a DSL line. Through these capabilities next-generation webcast systems work simultaneously over a range of bandwidths serving low-end modem users as well as broadband institutional users. Employing this type of system will help you to keep all of your members happy.

While some large organizations with the proper IT infrastructure may choose to license software and manage the webcast service in-house, most associations outsource webcasting services.

Be sure to work with a webcasting provider backed by a track record of several years, and a commitment to education, as well as research and development to assure that your services remain state-of-the-art. In selecting your partner, find someone who will advise you, help train your faculty and assure the maximum exposure of your society's content.

After all, associations are recognized as the content experts and the reason why members come back. And healthcare professionals receive the majority of their continuing education through participation in association events. Feedback from online surveys will allow you to design valuable online programs to complement the information that is delivered at your live events.

With educational webcasting, the Internet provides a solution to the increasing demand to grow non-dues revenue sources for many associations. Since educasting does not require creation or definition of new content, it has a potential to reuse existing content to increase revenues toward better serving the members without incurring additional costs or raising the membership dues. There are several ways an organization can generate revenues from webcasting. We offer five approaches so that you may consider those that would work best depending on the structure of your organization:

1. Registration to virtual meeting: The first obvious choice is to charge online attendees a fee for viewing the recorded archives of your events.

2. Pay-per-view: Organizations can charge members and non-members a fee for access to individual webcasts on the organization's web site. This process is now-known as pay-per-view and can be accommodated either through an existing e-learning center on your organization's web site or through a special web page that your webcast vendor will set up for you.

3. Educational grants. With industry dollars for educational grants being more carefully evaluated, sponsors look for programs that offer widespread and lasting exposure. Therefore, when your high-quality content is coupled with state-of-the-art “educasting” and made accessible for 6-12 months, you offer the perfect environment to attract sponsors.

4. Training: Certification and compliance courses can reach wider audiences via the Internet. Your organization may even charge a premium for the convenience of the online training as participants are spared typical travel expenses.

5. Subscriptions: Similar to the approach used for online journals, you may choose to make monthly programs available for an annual subscription rate. Faculty would present continuing education lectures, allowing healthcare professionals the opportunity to secure 12 - 36 hours of continuing education contact hours per year.

Let's look now at an example of revenues generated from registration to a virtual meeting. Say an organization has 20,000 members, out of which about 50% are attending its annual meeting and paying the $300 registration fee plus travel expenses. Now let's assume that out of the 10,000 members that do not show up, 2.5% will pay the same fee minus travel expenses to have access to the archived sessions. This alone will bring-in additional income of $75,000 (more then sufficient to cover the costs for the webcasting services). Of course, additional non-member online attendees, may even double this amount.

You can imagine the possibilities if we looked at the other 4 means of revenue generation that I discussed earlier.

Can you afford to take the risk of ignoring these opportunities?

While costs certainly will vary amongst vendors, there are several primary components that are factored into the basic cost:

• Number of viewers to the webcast
• Sophistication of the technology employed.
• Level of customer service

A live video and audio production costs more than an archived one, considering additional on-site personnel and equipment. For instance, a Webcast using a studio setting for one hour can cost $1,000 to $1,500, while a one-day shoot at an off-site location with a camera crew and production team usually ranges from $9,000 to $12,500

Choosing a “next generation” webcasting provider may be crucial for the success of your project. Search for a provider that has both wide technical background and extensive educational experience. Providers lacking experience in instructional design might find it difficult to educate you about the best choices you should make. The following checklist may help you while searching for providers:

• Does the provider offer a full end-to-end turnkey solution? In other words, does it provide all aspects of the webcasting.

• Are there interactive features that allow for two-way communication in both live and recorded webcasts? In other words: Will the attendees be able to ask questions, get feedback, participate in discussion groups, post messages to bulleting boards? Etc.

• Can it incorporate a media-rich environment, such as large and clear slides, simulated slide pointers, polling, evaluation forms, and live chat?

• Does it support multiple bandwidths? Does it auto detect end-user bandwidth?

• Are there demonstrations, which clearly exemplify the provider's final product?

• Does the webcasting company provide registration and billing support?

Choosing a educational webcast system:

Look for a system that will support different types of webcasts, whether they be live, real-time delivery of events or online archives. Also of importance is the delivery media. Look for a system that is able to augment the Internet delivery with CD-ROMs or DVDs, and other types of off-line media.

Look for interactive systems. Allow your attendees to interact and you'll get many coming back again and again to view your archives. Questions, discussion groups, bulletin boards, polls and live chat will make your audience proactive and happy with the materials you provide.

For conference room replication

Attendees are familiar with presentations in conference rooms. Look for systems that replicate this experience via the Internet. The more easy and familiar it will be on the attendee side to participate, the more he would like to view your recordings. For example: taking notes is a common activity in conference rooms, therefore allow your attendees to take notes on-screen and save them on their local computer.

Catering for audiences with different bandwidth

Look for systems that will allow simultaneous delivery for low and high bandwidths. A system that is capable to detect your computer's capability and thereby adjust to deliver audio-only or audio with video will provide for a larger audience. Attendees having high bandwidth will get the full impact of the recorded event, while those with modems will still be able to access the narrated slides.

I would like now to make you aware of you-niversity's involvement in the webcasting industry. You-niversity.com specializes in producing educational webcasting for associations. Our healthcare division, IACME sub-specializes in the production of webcasting for healthcare organizations. Our service team will record the lectures and presentations from your upcoming events, allowing your members to access these recordings either over the web or with CD-ROMs. You-niversity.com's webcast system is complete with audio, video, slides and polls, as well as other interactive features, which bring your scientific content to life.