How strongly do you vet the users in the webinars?

amoore13 · 2019-03-14T20:05:18.000Z

It does seem that a LOT of the chat during the webinars have nothing to do with the subject and are pretty unprofessional, without being offensive.

Just based on the conversations I am seeing I would guess that there are a bunch of teenagers and college students logging on just to try to win the prizes.

georgemcfarlin · 2019-03-14T20:07:46.000Z

There is a question area if you want to ask questions about the subject of the webinar.

You are also invited to close the chat window at the beginning of the presentation if it is not something you are interested in.

dimforest · 2019-03-14T20:08:48.000Z

Vet? If you sign up, you’re in. The questions are vetted before being read but the chat is simply that - a chatbox. It still is bound to the community rules and staff have done a good job at removing any infractions.

amoore13 · 2019-03-14T20:11:55.000Z

So just to be clear, while these are supposed to be for IT professionals, then anyone who signs up can log on and be eligible for the prizes. There is no assurance that it is going to the intended audience.

jimmy-t · 2019-03-14T20:15:05.000Z

Chat is rarely on-topic with the video. As for target audience, it’s posted on here, which is focused on IT pros. If you find the chat distracting, just close the window.

dimforest · 2019-03-14T20:15:42.000Z

amoore13:

So just to be clear, while these are supposed to be for IT professionals, then anyone who signs up can log on and be eligible for the prizes. There is no assurance that it is going to the intended audience.

Well, is there really any assurance that ANY webinar of this nature is being attended by only 100% vetted IT professionals? I could go to the VMware, Nutanix, Dell, or even Microsoft websites and join their webinars just as easily.

I think the assumption here is that if you managed to find this website and create an account, then sign up for a webinar… it’s overwhelmingly likely that you are in fact an IT professional or at least have a serious slant towards technology. I would not have easily found this website without being in the industry. Even if I had, I wouldn’t have thought to look into it enough to find the events and webinars.

atatngie · 2019-03-14T20:22:38.000Z

Feel free not to participate in the chat. Chat is optional. We tend to enjoy talking to other IT Pro’s that we don’t get to talk to every day and tend to make really close friends. You have options, my friend!

adrian_ych · 2019-03-15T01:47:34.000Z

Well…since the organizer put up prizes and sent invitation to these people…maybe its part of their objectives or KPI ?

Even in many “onsite” events that start at 8am with breakfast then talks start at 9:30am , they can just put that event starts at 930am and not provide food…maybe its the intention to let people mingle as well ?

edwineekelaers2 · 2019-03-15T08:53:11.000Z

I usually ignore the chats or watch the events in a rerun. Prizes are nice but not essential. The info is though.

amoore13 · 2019-03-15T11:40:02.000Z

Unfortunately that is not the case. They typically announce the winners in chat rather than during the webcast, and they do not proactively reach out to the winners after the call. So unless you do not want to participate in the drawings you do have to follow the chat, at least near the end of the call.

If this were an in-person event then we would expect the users to follow along and pay attention.

And lastly it seems like it would be easy to vet the users. Just ensure the domain on their email address is for an IT focused company. I wonder how many users have signed up with a .edu email.

georgemcfarlin · 2019-03-15T12:07:20.000Z

The winner was posted in the original thread about the webinar…

brodyweber · 2019-03-15T13:24:45.000Z

I can guarantee that the chattiest 95% of the webinars are all professionals who have been on the forum for at least a year. Just because we’re professionals doesn’t mean that we can’t multitask. Chat is a way for a lot of us to release some stress or to vent about things.

Winners are posted in the original event threads, some webinars they don’t even announce the winners at all during the webinar. If they do, they always say the names as well.

EDIT: College kids who are studying IT or computer specialties are considered “IT Pros” by spiceworks anyway, or at least are a part of the demographic we try to encourage.

amoore13 · 2019-03-15T13:37:19.000Z

With the prizes, I do tend to register and listen in webinars that I may have otherwise ignored. This has been really helpful as I have been exposed to subjects that I probably would not have been in the first place.

There seems to be a lot of concern over this subject, so I will let it go. I am not someone who would be looking to book an IT Webinar through Spiceworks anyway.

amoore13 · 2019-03-15T14:32:59.000Z

There seems to be a lot of concern over this subject, so I will let it go.

Jrx1216 · 2019-03-15T17:03:56.000Z

amoore13:

Unfortunately that is not the case. They typically announce the winners in chat rather than during the webcast, and they do not proactively reach out to the winners after the call. So unless you do not want to participate in the drawings you do have to follow the chat, at least near the end of the call.

If this were an in-person event then we would expect the users to follow along and pay attention.

And lastly it seems like it would be easy to vet the users**. Just ensure the domain on their email address is for an IT focused company**. I wonder how many users have signed up with a .edu email.

There seems to have been a bit of a misconception about what an IT professional is here. You don’t need to work at an IT focused company to be an IT pro. For example, every school I went to had an IT department. They had email addresses that were not from an “IT focused company” they were addresses from the schools. Also this site is open to anyone who may still be learning with the goal of becoming an IT pro.

It’s good that you’ve learned about things because of the prizes, but if you’re participating purely because of the chance at a prize, perhaps you’re missing the point. The webinars are a chance for you to learn about technologies and interact with fellow IT pros to learn and grow.

On another note, Welcome to the community! You should introduce yourself here and fill out your profile for a bonus 100 spice-points and your first level up.

@amoore13

amoore13 · 2019-03-15T17:13:17.000Z

There seems to be a lot of concern over this subject, so I will let it go.