The world is a much smaller place, thanks to the internet and emerging technologies. Now small companies can participate in global meetings through convenient and cost effective online events. The two main considerations in an online event is the technology, and the content.

The technology is typically straightforward, and can be either hosted or on-premises. Depending on the level of sophistication, you may need additional equipment such as video cameras, a VoIP service or phone bridge, and polling/survey software. The content of your online event on the other hand, requires a great deal of planning and a bit of creativity to make it successful. The standard “talking head” presentation with the occasional bulleted list will lose interest quickly. Incorporate wider room-level video shots, simulated interactions, multiple actors or participants, and dynamic graphics or stock video footage.

Marketing
Online events are often used quite effectively as marketing tools. Sometimes positioned as Webinars, these types of events present useful information in an entertaining and interactive format, but also have the ultimate goal of gathering sales leads. For this reason, promoters of Webinars typically require advance registration, which allows them to gather email addresses for later follow-up.

Web Conferences
Not all online events are marketing-related however. Web conferences are held for many different types of purposes, allowing a wide, diverse audience to participate in one single online event from multiple locations. Web conferencing can be highly interactive, and owing to its convenience and cost effectiveness, is used widely by big corporations as well as small businesses. Because it is so cost-effective, it allows smaller businesses to take a more global approach to their business processes, and compete with much larger organizations. During a web conference, ideas and views are shared through impressive, high technology applications; these could include virtual whiteboards as well as polling. Web conferences are also generally accompanied by VoIP, voice over IP, to enable users to make use of audio for their events. Other highlights of web conferencing include online as well as offline recording of a meeting session, sending of text messages, and displaying PowerPoint slides and documents.

Online Business Meetings
Hosting an online business meeting not only helps you significantly cut costs but also helps you improve on the way you work. The best part is that through an online business meeting, you can be in two places at once. In an online business meeting, you can:

* Gain control of another remote desktop
* Make a presentation with innovative applications
* Share documents
* Organize meetings with team members from multiple locations
* Find solutions for remote support issues
* Impart online training
* Make online sales calls

Online Training Modules
For working professionals who don’t seem to have enough time to attend professional courses, online training modules are just what they need. Online training modules are widely popular for their ability to conveniently train corporate staff in diverse fields of knowledge.

Several tools are used for online training, these include e-learning modules, slide shows, pictures, and videos. The training modules may be held live, but are more often recorded for archiving in a training library for on-demand access. The high convenience and comfort offered by these online training programs make them very popular with companies eager to train their staff in an effective and affordable way.