4 Dumb Mistakes People Make During Web Conferences

Every so often your job may require you to participate in a webinar (web conference).  We end up having to do several of these each year.  I get why we use them, and boy they would go so smoothly if people in general would just abstain from these stupid mistakes.  Here's a few examples:

1.  The guy that doesn't put his phone on mute.  Most of these conferences involve calling in with your desk phone to hear the audio while you watch the computer presentation.  Anyone with an IQ high enough to use a toilet should also know to mute your phone so people can't hear you.  I've heard people sneezing, listening to music, saying "of course I muted it," etc.  Then it's almost always followed by multiple requests by the host to "mute your phones, please."   And then further into the conference, repeated pleas, "Does everyone have their phone muted?"

2.  Technical difficulties.  The chances of a webinar going off without a hitch is 1 in 177,854,301.  That's just slightly better odds than winning the Powerball.

3.  The girl that says she knows it all and doesn't need to listen, then asks questions that were already answered.  Then, there is a collective groan from everyone else who was paying attention.

4.  The "20 minute guy."  Usually this is a host or a guest speaker during the web conference that will say, "Ok gang, this should only take about 20 minutes or so, then we'll let you get back to your day."  IT'S A TRAP!  These things never go 20 minutes.  All that does is gets you watching the clock.  Keeping the meeting under an hour is an achievement.

I understand the beauty of web conferencing and I'm all for it.  Hopefully some day in the near future we'll all have a little better etiquette.