A few weeks ago, we wrapped up the W.E.B.I.N.E.R.D. Educational program, a course designed to teach webinar practitioners how they can get more out of the ON24 Digital Experience Platform. As extra credit, we asked our course participants to highlight themselves, or a colleague, to identify the superlative webinerds among us.
We got a lot of submissions, but we whittled them down to seven superlative winners. Here they are by category.
BEST WEBINERD TEAM
Your webinar program wouldn’t be a success without the help of your talented teammates. Through your collective efforts, you guys push the boundaries on webinar creativity and crush goals.
Winner: Abit Luempert of Ulmer & Berne LLP
We’re doing our best to improve, become self-sufficient and best utilize the many, many tools offered by ON24.
NERDIEST OF THE WEBINERDS
When it comes to your webinar program, you totally geek out about the data and analytics and can’t wait to report back the metrics to your stakeholders.
Winner: Jocelyn Robertson of Edelman Financial Engines
I have read nearly all of the articles in the Knowledge Center a few times like an obsessed person needing to know every inch and functionality your platform brings. From that knowledge, I can solve any problem super quick that might arise before/during/after a webinar so that no one would even know we had an issue. Also, I have created a few hacks for getting things done that might not be super straightforward to do on the platform. Not to mention trying to integrate ON24 with as many other platforms as I can to help increase my productivity. I geek out about technology and all the fun things you can do with it! So bring on the apocalypse!
MOST LIKELY TO SURVIVE THE WEBINAR APOCALYPSE
You’re prepared for everything and anything. When it comes to your webinar program, you have a backup plan for your backup plan.
Winner: Stacy Combest of Hootsuite
Picture it: A zombie just spotted me! But I don’t panic. My next steps are determined by what type of zombie I’m dealing with; are we talking Walking Dead Zombie, World World Z, Zombieland, or worse! Night of the Living Dead zombie! (Brains not included.) Always a cool cucumber under pressure, I take aim and fire! Crisis averted, zombie dead and the webinar is a success!
THE CLASS CLOWN
You always bring an element of fun and creativity to your webinars. Whether it is the occasional dad joke to get your audience’s attention or catchy webinar title, you prioritize turning boring webinar topics into sessions that wow.
Winner: Brian Higgins of Collette Travel
Our team has gone through a transition, with our Webinar Manager moving into a different role and a new Webinar Coordinator joining the team as we simultaneously were shifting focus from sales and marketing to also be part of the Learning Team. Despite still being a small Webinar team of 2 people, we continue to produce hundreds of high quality live and on-demand webinars each year.
As a presenter, I always try to keep it lively and engaging; sometimes that means adding a little joke or fun fact to keep the audience on their toes, while also using my presentation style to make sure they don’t fall asleep on their keyboards – I don’t want to see what that would look like in the Q&A!
MOST LIKELY TO DETHRONE MARK AS CHIEF WEBINERD
Mark Bornstein, the man, the myth, the webinerd legend. If you don’t know him or his work, refrain from nominating for this superlative. 😉
Winner: Allison Snyder of RSM US LLP
I share Mark’s passion, energy and overall geekdom for all things webinars!
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
You recently joined the ON24 #webinerd family. And guess what? You love it. The newcomer of the year is someone who has fully embraced the #webinerd community to learn and level up their skills.
Winner: Becca Wolfe of Relativity
I was handed the project of scheduling and coordinating webinars weeks after starting my role and ended up flying to SF for Webinar World 2019 that upcoming weekend! I went to the event, not knowing much at all about the platform, having only once attended an ON24 webinar. I dove right in and not even five months later, I’m running our webinars like it’s no big deal! I’m working to bring more to our continuing education and ask the expert programs by trying new features that our company has never used. I’m learning more and more each day and have completed the Webinerd Certifications as well. I now lead my quarterly webinar meetings rocking my #Webinerd bomber I earned through the network. I feel like I’ve come a long way since March!
MOST IMPROVED WEBINERD
You started out as a complete webinewbie, but now you’ve embraced the webinerd lifestyle to its fullest. Your webinar program is a well-oiled machine that delivers results.
Winner: Pam Granzin of SCOR Global Life Reinsurance of North America
I’ve been using ON24 for two years, but I’ve learned more about features, functions and the fun of the platform during the past eight weeks than in the prior two years. I wasn’t a total WebNewbie, and we aren’t quite a well-oiled machine (yet), but I have created a playbook and a creative brief template. I’ve added CTAs to our console design for the first time. I’ve spoken to our presenters about using Webcams for webinars vs. just showing their slides with voiceover. I have a list of questions to discuss with my tech rep at ON24. I have a list of goals for the webinar program and ideas to achieve them. I have been energized by this training and look forward to wearing my WEBINERD label with pride!