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"Overbooking" webinars - an acceptable practice?
Thread poster: Fiona Grace Peterson
Fiona Grace Peterson
Fiona Grace Peterson  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 15:44
Italian to English
Apr 30, 2018

I just wanted to find out what others' feelings on this matter are - when webinar organisers allow more people to sign up to the event than the platform has capacity for, like airlines overbooking seats. This has happened to me twice now, and both times I would have liked the opportunity to ask questions if necessary or ask for clarification, two options that weren't possible during the recorded version of the webinar.

That's part of the reason for signing up for these events, after... See more
I just wanted to find out what others' feelings on this matter are - when webinar organisers allow more people to sign up to the event than the platform has capacity for, like airlines overbooking seats. This has happened to me twice now, and both times I would have liked the opportunity to ask questions if necessary or ask for clarification, two options that weren't possible during the recorded version of the webinar.

That's part of the reason for signing up for these events, after all, and finding out after registering (and possibly paying) that you might not be able to attend the live event is not fair to those who signed up with different expectations, IMHO.

Thoughts? Is this acceptable in your view? ▲ Collapse
 
Thomas Pfann
Thomas Pfann  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:44
Member (2006)
English to German
+ ...
Leaves a sour taste Apr 30, 2018

Yes, this happened to me as well this (probably the same webinar). I agree that attending a live webinar and viewing a recording of a webinar are two rather different things.

On the one hand, it is great that they didn't turn away people who were interested in the webinar – after all, they could have just said "sorry, we're full" once the maximum capacity had been reached. But on the other hand it is not quite fair to say (after people had registered and paid up) "we sold m... See more
Yes, this happened to me as well this (probably the same webinar). I agree that attending a live webinar and viewing a recording of a webinar are two rather different things.

On the one hand, it is great that they didn't turn away people who were interested in the webinar – after all, they could have just said "sorry, we're full" once the maximum capacity had been reached. But on the other hand it is not quite fair to say (after people had registered and paid up) "we sold more tickets than we have spaces so it will be first come, first serve and whoever doesn't manage to join the webinar will have to make do with the recording".

When they saw the high demand they could have increased capacity (if technically possible), closed registration for the webinar (and maybe afterwards sell access to the recording at a reduced fee) or even offer additional dates and run the webinar again. I think they were genuinely surprised by the demand and did the best they could, but this could have been handled better.

Send them your feedback (I will) and I'm sure they will take it on board. ▲ Collapse
 


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"Overbooking" webinars - an acceptable practice?







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