I recently stumbled upon a conversation thread on Twitter between one of the speakers of the 2009 Social Media Telesummit and someone who didn’t register (by his comments, I know he didn’t register for the event).

In summary, the person (who didn’t register for the Telesummit) said that delivering cutting edge information over the phone was akin to flushing money down the toilet. The exact language from his tweet was:

That flushing sound is the sound of your wasted dollars paid to “listen on the call” for the “Social Media Teleconference” -so sorry

Interesting.

There’s a reason why I chose to deliver the content over the phone. Well, maybe two:

• It’s the lowest barrier to entry. People are familiar with this technology and most people have access to it.
• It’s stable. Whether you live in Boston or Africa, you won’t have any fears of the phone cutting out on you (not unless it’s a cellphone or Skype).

The (Sometimes) Problem With Webinar Software

I’ve been to virtual conferences where webinar software was used and there’s always a small portion of your audience that just can’t connect. Maybe they’re using a MAC or Safari or Vista or something.

Or, as the presenter, your computer freezes because you’re working with the webinar tool, Powerpoint slides and your browser all at the same time. Then, attendees complain because your slides haven’t changed.

This ruins the learning experience when as a facilitator you have to stop, troubleshoot an attendee’s problem, then try to get back in the swings of things. Then repeat when another attendee goes through the very same issue.

The (Often) Problem With Slides

Also, we’ve become too reliant on slides to cover up weak content. At least with the phone format, none of the speakers can hide behind a stack of slides. Because they’re talking for 75 minutes, they’re forced to give a content rich session.

And this is not to say any of the faculty I assembled for the 2009 Social Media Telesummit would present inferior or weak content. The speakers I selected to speak at the 2009 Social Media Telesummit all have a reputation for over-delivering on the content side.

Great Content and “Forced” Social Media Participation

Webinar technology has its place and it does work. However, I want to erase any barriers to the information that I and the speakers at my 2009 Social Media Telesummit are going to deliver. Using the phone helps me create a safe environment for attendees who may already be shell shock at this whole “social media thing.”

So, my goal is to make the 2009 Social Media Telesummit a 360-degree experience. Attendees listen to the live sessions (or the recordings). Then:

1. Attendees go to the private group on Facebook and jot down your a-ha moments. This shows them the possibility of using a private, secret group on Facebook for their own clients and projects.
2. Or, they go to the Telesummit blog, login and download the recordings and handouts (if available). Again, this shows attendees the possibility of using a blog to share premium content.
3. Or, they subscribe to the Telesummit blog’s feed to get new updates through their feed reader. Attendees can get updates without ever logging into the blog and understand the effectiveness of RSS.
4. Or, they share their reaction to the event in Twitter and see how hashtags work. Again, another way attendees can see how Twitter extends the learning process, helps people network during virtual events and helps attendees see how using hashtags help to make an event a trending topic (which then encourages more sign-ups).

How the content is delivered shouldn’t be the focus. Phone, webinar, in-person, who cares. Instead, my focus is on just 2 things:

1. Delivering to attendees quality information
2. Encouraging attendees to interact with each other and the tools during and after the event

As Carrie Anderson said on Twitter:

A S[ocial] M[edia] (SM) conference via phone is a ‘safe’ environment to introduce ppl to the vastness of SM technology (being the operative word)

Update: Yet another person hating on the Telesummit and insulting the intelligence of attendees. My only feedback is this – intelligent business people who care about the success of their business and who don’t want to have their destiny decided by a 9-5 job will invest in a strategy that gives them a shortcut.