Key Learnings on Hosting Webinars

In July, we hosted our first themed webinar and 20 participants joined the call, representing nine different holistic centers. Hosted by Leslie Hoffman, Program Director of Hollyhock and supported by Christine Lines, Manager of Core Programmes, Findhorn Foundation, and Cheryl Fraenzl, Program Director of Esalen Institute, the conversation was rich in learning and inspiration. With a focus on marketing we realised we’d chosen a vast topic to explore in one hour and decided to focus on best practices.

Participants joined us from The Haven, Le Monastère des Augustines and Retreat Guru in Canada, Breitenbush Hot Springs, Omega Institute, Kalani Retreat Center, Living Earth and Thinking Partners in the USA. In feedback after the call, participants rated the webinar as highly valuable and commented, “it’s the relationship-building that’s most important and the webinars further that goal.” It was noted “that there is a lot of need for sharing and learning across departments.”

 

We share some of our key learnings to support the hosting of future webinars.

Prior

• Establish a series of webinars and post details online (people can then diarise and plan around the dates)
• Use e-invitation software to track RSVPs and email two weeks prior with further details (we used greenenvelope, there are numerous to choose from)
• Collaborate amongst the host team (four of us shared our collective wisdom to shape the webinar)
• Encourage participants to share questions and information prior to the call (we used google docs)
• Send a reminder two days prior with the link to the call
  We used zoom video conferencing and web conferencing service
  We also included a youtube clip offering a virtual visit to the host center
• Send a reminder with the link five minutes prior to the call

Introduction

• A warm, informal welcome as people joined the call created a relaxed space
• Allow five minutes for people to join and then begin the conversation, (others can still join the call), this honours the time commitment
• Offer a brief overview of how to use zoom – gallery view/mute/chat
• Share the intention for the call
• Remind people of using the mute button (this minimises external noise such as typing) and allows the focus on the person speaking
• Invite everyone to use earbuds/headphones if possible
• Clearly define what you are looking for in the introductions from each participant
  eg. Name/Center/Role/What do you most want from your time today
  Define who are closely involved in the theme of the webinar (eg. from the Marketing/Communications team vs who are observers/in other roles in their centers)
  Encourage brevity – short, a one or two sentence response is sufficient
• When one person has finished their intro, call on the next person (this helps the flow in a virtual space)
• Top issue gets put on table for discussion as time allows – host guides the direction

Discussion

• Once the discussion begins, the host invites people to speak rather than waiting for people to volunteer to speed up the conversations (this can flow into impromptu contributions)
• Each center/participants gets to talk once to share the one hour time together
• One person hosts the call / one person supports / one person captures notes in chat – team effort in holding the call is a must

Conclusion

• Host team share time awareness – ten minutes notice and then ending the call at the agreed time helps build safety and trust (and can also inspire enthusiasm for future webinars!)
• Host shares observations eg. the value of participants engaging in preparation prior to the call and contributing questions in advance helps make the most of the time
• Participants share appreciations 🙂

Follow on

• Zoom automatically sends notes/recordings after the call ends
• Add public notes to shared doc immediately after call
• Update contact list with who was present
• Invite participants into slack (or whichever communication tool you choose)
• Create survey to collate feedback (we use survey monkey)
• Upload the recording to a private channel
• Send follow on email with the various links within 24 hours, encouraging ongoing conversation

Recommendations

• Start small and with people you know in person
• In our pilot webinar we invited participants of the recent Holistic Centers Gathering in Quebec City
• In our first themed webinar, gathering participants were encouraged to welcome their marketing teams into the call
• For the first six months we agreed to contain the group to give us time to establish our learnings around hosting webinars. Maintaining this boundary also helps build safety and trust.
• Ideas for flow of webinars (thank you Dennis Marriot from The Haven)
  15-min welcome, tech check, announcements and highlights of previous webinar
  30-min ‘hot topic’ focus session
  10-min open discussion, other topics, ideas to improve future sessions, general comments
  5-min wrap-up

Insights

• As we get to know each other we more easily move into each call
• It takes time to develop a virtual culture, especially as we welcome new people into our expanding circle, it can also take time to feel comfortable sharing in this space

Feedback

“I think it was wonderful. I think that each of the best practices could have an in depth call. Amazing quality of information exchanged. The atmosphere was also that of the gathering, it was soft and yet crisp.

I would have liked to invite our head of Growth to this meeting as well. And about 20 more centers to this. But all in good time. I felt like the numbers were great. Not too large and enough time for everyone to speak. Well done!!”

Cameron Wenaus, Co-Founder Retreat Guru