Is there a difference between webinars and webcasts?

 

Online events, webinars, webcasts, videocasts, audio broadcasts, simulcast… You’ve heard them all. But are there differences in these terms or are they all referring to the same thing?  

 

Here’s my take: In general, there are two types of online events:

Interactive online seminars (two-way communication):  Terms like online events, webinars and web seminars generally refer to interactive sessions over the web where you have designated presenters and an audience. The audience can interact with the presenters over a telephone, VoIP or online chat. How is this different from web-conferencing? Web conferencing is a broader term that encompasses many different types of interactive online meetings, including online seminars.

 

One-way communication: We are all familiar with TV broadcast. It’s a one way transmission of information to a large, distributed audience. So anything with the word “cast” refers to one-way dissemination over the web. Audio broadcasts can be now disseminated over the radio, over the web or as a podcast (downloadable audio recording.) Videocast includes video and audio. Simulcast typically refers to a videocast, but emphasizes synchronized audio and video. Webcast is a general term that can mean any combination of video, audio and data (e.g. PowerPoint presentations).

 

But today, the line between two-way webinar vs. one-way webcast is blurring. Many webcasting vendors have the ability to support two-way communications with the audience via online Q&A and Chat. Many webinar technologies now include video and audio integration. 

 

So what does it all mean to you? You have many options to reach your audience using the web so first define your content and budget.

 

Who is the presenter? If you have an important or a well known presenter like a celebrity or your CEO, you should include a video component to your online event. 

 

Is content more important than the presenter? A financial services company that wants to educate all their brokers on the latest SEC rules and regulations and open up for Q&A may want a robust webinar application but skip the video.

 

In general, including video in your webcast is more expensive, because to do it right, you need an expert production crew that can handle the lighting, camera, make-up, background staging, etc. 

In addition to the budget, you need to consider the location of your presenters. If they are remote, they’ll need to travel to attend the video shoot, which takes time and money.

 

I recently did a video recording of our VP of Products to announce the launch of a new product. This was a video only event; no PowerPoint presentation. The VP’s content was motivational, not educational, he wasn’t going to go into the details of new feature. After the launch announcement, I followed up with webinars to educate our salesforce on the new features. I used our WebEx Event Center webinar solution, and didn’t include the video, since I was focusing on the content. 

 

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