Online Filipino Workers Have Staff Dev too - Or, Waking Out of Sked for Webinars

Today I woke up at 3:45 am to catch a webinar, to add more to my little but growing knowledge on web marketing.

The webinar (web seminar) is a staple of the online Filipino worker.  There are so many things to read in the web for your own development, usually having an interactive class is a pleasant break.

Webinars are usually hour-long classes held by organizations and usually have the most reputable net people as the teachers.  Topics vary, there will always be one for your niche.  The "class" is quite interactive.  Depending on the software, some webinars have IM and the audience can type in their comments and the speaker sees the feedback.  This way too, the speaker can ask questions and audience can give in their answers.

Some webinars are for free, some require payment.  Organizations like giving webinars as it helps establish their credibility and reputation as an expert in the field.

However, don't sign up for each and every webinar you see.  Do seek out the more established companies or ones with more reliably-excellent speakers.  Some companies who host webinars may want to establish themselves as authority but the content is blah.  This can piss off the sleep-deprived online worker more than usual.  Definitely, sleep is more important than unoriginal lectures.  So choose to sign up for webinars with the idea leaders.

My tiny problem as an online Filipino worker is that webinars are usually held at the other side of the globe, and for some consecutive times now, always had the wrong time conversions.  Like today, I converted the time and was informed the webinar would be at 4am.  No, it started at 5am. These days, because of DST on the other side of the planet, I  have always been late or too early for a webinar.  Please don't ask me which time conversion website I use.  hurggh

But despite the little sacrifice, it's okay because I learn a lot more than I would reading a 400 word article on a topic.

If you see an advert for a webinar and are interested to attend:

• Check out the company and the speaker first.
• Double check if content matches your skill level.
• If everything is cleared with you, sign up.  You will have to fill up forms.
• Check your inbox for a confirmation message.
• You will get another message with the meeting link.
  

 On the day itself, you will usually get a reminder email, again with a link.

• Prepare early, check your audio and stuff.
• Prepare your notebook and pen for taking  notes.
  
• Get some coffee and enjoy learning!