1. Webinar Research Report - KRM
Webinars – the Answer to Rising Costs
and Increasing Training Demands
by Rick Olson, CEO
KRM Information Services, Inc.
ABOUT KRM INFORMATION SERVICES, INC.
KRM was born in 1994 when Rick Olson was looking for a way to inform and educate the membership of a large
national association – without asking everybody to travel to one central location. That first "telephone seminar" was
primitive by today's standards. But 420 sites registered for that first event. More than 1,000 attendees liked what they
heard. Even more, they appreciated the convenience of having Continuing Legal Education delivered simultaneously to
all their offices. Everyone saved travel costs. Everyone saved time. KRM stands alone as the very first company built
from the ground up to offer virtual events.
KRM’s reputation for seamless performance and a uniquely high level of personal service has been built deliberately
and carefully with the successful production of thousands of virtual events delivered to sites and audiences all over the
world.
www.krm.com
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2. Webinar Research Report - KRM
Why Webinars ?
Airline delays. Rising gas prices. Economic slowdown. Talent management challenges. These
and other issues are prompting organizations to consider alternative options for training and
educating their members, workforce and customers. Virtual events – or webinars – may be the
answer.
Surprisingly though, a recent study conducted by MarketVision Research
(www.marketvisionresearch.com) for KRM Information Services, Inc. (www.krm.com), indicates
that about 25 percent of the association market has never held a webinar.
KRM Information Services, Inc., has been offering virtual events since 1994 and was a pioneer in
introducing telephone seminars. As technology has evolved so have our services. Today, while
we continue to offer audio-only events, our clients are able to choose from a variety of training
options that include audio plus web and multiple video options.
We find the number of associations that are not currently using webinars as a method of
providing training and education for their members surprising. Those who are using webinars to
deliver training and education point to a number of advantages that we believe outweigh the
perceived barriers.
Study Methodology
In 2008, KRM contracted with MarketVision Research, a market research firm based in
Cincinnati, Ohio, that has been providing research solutions, advanced research design and
analytical tools to clients since 1983. Telephone surveys were conducted with representatives
from 200 trade (150 or more members) and professional (3000 or more members) associations.
Interviews were conducted with individuals in the associations who make decisions regarding
conferences, seminars or other forms of communicating with members.
The maximum statistical error for a sample size of 200 is +6.94% in a two-way split of the data at
the 95% confidence interval.
About the Respondents
Respondents represented primarily senior executives – Executive Directors (26 percent),
President/CEO (12 percent). The remaining respondents had a variety of titles in the areas of
training/education, meeting/event planning, marketing and sales.
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3. Webinar Research Report - KRM
The majority of respondents were highly experienced event planners, with more than half having
6 or more years experience. While respondents have experience with live events, many are not
familiar with webinars at all and among those who are familiar, a significant number have had no
experience with webinars.
Meeting/Convention Planning Experience
Familiar with
Hosted a Webinars, Have Not Familiar
Total Webinar Not Hosted with Webinars
Base: 200 50 95 55
Less than 1 year 9% 10% 8% 9%
1 - 5 years 39% 50% 39% 29%
6 - 10 years 22% 20% 23% 22%
11 - 15 years 11% 6% 12% 13%
16 - 20 years 9% 4% 13% 6%
Over 20 years 10% 8% 4% 22%
Average Number of Meetings Per Year
Webinar Experience
Total Hosted Familiar Not Familiar
1-3 meetings 25% 14% 26% 33%
4-6 meetings 25% 20% 24% 29%
7-9 meetings 7% 10% 6% 4%
10-12 meetings 17% 18% 15% 18%
13-15 meetings 3% 8% 1% 2%
16-18 meetings 2% 2% 2% 2%
19-20 meetings 6% 4% 7% 6%
More than 20 meetings 15% 24% 16% 6%
Average Number of Meeting Attendees
Webinar Experience
Total Hosted Familiar Not Familiar
Less than 100 attendees 45% 46% 48% 46%
100 to less than 150 attendees 15% 10% 15% 18%
150 to less than 200 attendees 9% 4% 11% 9%
200 to less than 300 attendees 6% 6% 4% 9%
300 to less than 400 attendees 6% 10% 6% -
400 to less than 500 attendees 1% - - 4%
500 to less than 1000 attendees 8% 10% 8% 6%
1000 or more attendees 8% 14% 4% 7%
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4. Webinar Research Report - KRM
Trade association respondents were slightly more familiar with webinars than professional
associations.
Trade (99) 58% 20% 19% 3%
Professional (89) 44% 20% 36%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Extremely/Very familiar Somewhat familiar
Not very/Not at all Familiar Don't Know/Refused
Larger association respondents were significantly more familiar with webinars than smaller
associations.
<600 (95) 41% 24% 33% 2%
600 < 1000 (33) 46% 21% 33%
1000 < 3000 (35) 66% 20% 14%
3000+ (36) 75% 8% 14% 3%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Extremely/Very familiar Somewhat familiar
Not very/Not at all Familiar Don't Know/Refused
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5. Webinar Research Report - KRM
Webinar Benefits
More than one-third of respondents who are familiar with webinars have hosted a webinar (35%).
They identify a number of benefits to this form of information delivery.
Have
Have Not
Benefit Total Hosted Hosted
Time efficient – people do not have to waste time traveling 52 64 45
Cost effective 34 46 27
Size flexibility – can accommodate large groups 12 16 10
Can listen and view on demand 11 16 8
Easy to use 11 10 12
Higher attendance than in person events 6 10 4
Easy to administer 3 2 3
Can ask real-time questions of speakers/faculty members 3 6 1
Better for the environment/green 2 2 2
Someone else handles administrative tasks 2 4 1
Quick turnaround/short planning cycle 1 2 -
Other 8 2 11
However, despite a number of significant benefits identified by respondents, one-quarter of the
total association sample has never hosted a webinar. Why?
Perceived Barriers to Hosting Webinars
Respondents perceive a number of disadvantages to webinars, particularly if this is not a tool that
they have previously used. The largest disadvantage noted was a concern about the inability of
members to interact with each other (26%). The next most-cited disadvantage was concern over
technical difficulties (13%).
Format is not acceptable to members 16%
Have never had the need 13%
Prefer in person meetings and seminars 12%
My association is too small 8%
Too expensive 6%
Technical issues 6%
Too impersonal 3%
Not very familiar with webinars 3%
Not something we use/not interested 3%
Do not have the time 3%
Do not think people will learn from them 2%
None 3%
Other 17%
0% 5 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

6. Webinar Research Report - KRM
Expectations and Important Attributes
The most important service attributes, as rated by those who have and who have not hosted
events, indicate that associations are looking for full-service solutions for their webinar needs.
Both those who have hosted a webinar and those who have not hosted said that having a specific
staff person to work with and the training of speakers on webinar technology by the vendor are
extremely or very important in selecting a webinar company.
% Rating As “Extremely/Very Important”
Service Importance
Have Hosted Have Not Hosted
Having a specific staff person to work with 58% 60%
Training of speakers on webinar technology 44% 50%
Coordination of registration for the webinar by 40% 36%
vendor
Providing an on-air host 32% 33%
Assistance or advice with pricing, marketing or 24% 34%
topic selection
Other Points of Interest
Respondents also provided their perspectives and experiences on a variety of issues of interest to
other associations already providing webinars or thinking about providing them in the future.
To Charge or Not to Charge?
Associations are divided on whether or not they charge members to attend their webinars.
More than 40 percent of associations that have hosted a webinar in the past said they always
charge their members to attend webinars, whereas nearly two-fifths (38 percent) of associations
never charge their members to attend webinars that their association hosts.
The Use of Video
Respondents whose associations have hosted a webinar in the past were asked if the addition of a
live video webcast to webinars would attract more interest and if members would be willing to
pay more for this technology. Over one-half of respondents (52 percent) said they do think a live
video webcast would attract more member viewers than a standard webinar with Power Point
slides. However, two-thirds (66 percent) of respondents did not think their members would be
willing to pay more for this service.
Familiarity With Webinar Providers
Overall, awareness of webinar companies is low. More than half of respondents are not familiar
with any specific webinar provider, on an unaided basis (52 percent). WebEx was mentioned as a
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7. Webinar Research Report - KRM
company that comes to mind when thinking of webinar providers by 12 percent of respondents:
KRM was the next most-mentioned at 7 percent.
Of the respondents who had hosted a webinar, 26 percent had used WebEx to host the webinar
and 20 percent had used KRM as their webinar host company.
Close to one-half of the respondents who use KRM most often to host webinars indicated that
they have heard of KRM because they know of someone who has used them in the past (43
percent). Respondents use KRM because they consider it a quality company with good service
and they can ask real time questions of the speaker or faculty member.
Future Growth Predicted
Those not currently hosting webinars indicate a high level of interest in doing so in the future –
likely related to rising costs and inconveniences of travel: almost 50 percent of respondents
indicate that they “definitely or probably would” consider hosting a webinar.
Virtual events will never entirely replace live events and the opportunity for in-person
interaction. However, in an era of rising costs and the need to closely monitor expenses and
demonstrate ROI for training and education activities, webinars present an affordable and
convenient alternative particularly when covering hot topics and emerging issues.
KRM virtual events offer organizations an array of flexible options for their virtual events with
value-added services including customer service and help desk support, live Q&A, moderators
and a variety of recording options. For more information about this study, or about how virtual
events can be used to augment training and education efforts, contact KRM at 1.800.816.2640 or
info@krm.com.
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