2010 Local Government Legislative Review/Update
By 
Aimee Wall plays webinar host
Yesterday we conducted our second Local Government Legislative Review/Update. It was successful on many accounts, but first, the details…
- Duration: 2 hours
- Registered: 84
- In attendance (online): 413
- Presenters: 12 (Wall, Wunsche, Markham, Bluestein, Crowell, Ducker, Welty, Fairbanks, Whisnant, Hughes, Youens, McLaughlin)
- Avg. presentation length: 7.5 minutes
- Faculty Lead: Aimee Wall
Program Manager: Carolyn Boggs
This webinar takes a closer look at some of the more significant new legislation of interest to state and local government officials, now that the North Carolina General Assembly has adjourned for the year. It was a logistical challenge getting 11 presenters in and out of position at the appropriate times, but everything went smoothly. Aimee Wall, did a fabulous job creating the agenda, wrangling presenters, compiling presentations, AND hosting the webinar. Presenters made interesting presentations, each prepared handouts, and to their credit, all our presenters stayed within their allotted time which protected the time set aside for Q&A. Clients regularly rate the Q&A periods as strong points of our webinars.
Jeff, Richard, Jaime and Whitney listen to audience questions
Due to the nature of legislative updates, and rapid-fire short presentations (avg. 7.5 minutes each), this webinar featured little audience interaction outside of Q&A. Still the sessions are highly regarded for the purpose they meet. We had good questions sessions and the interaction and interplay amongst the presenters at times was especially nice. When asked about the single best aspects of the webinar, the following is a selection of participant remarks:
- “Selection of topics was extremely relevant”
- “Wealth of Information and Relevance of Subject Matter”
- “The various instructors and their knowledge”
- “I didn’t have to drive to Raleigh [Chapel Hill?] – no offense, but it was a great time saver!!”
- “ease of accessing the presentation and format of presentation”
Media Convergence
This webinar surfaced an interesting and positive phenomenon revolving around a convergence of our various forms of communication. A number of presenters referenced publications and posts on their SOG blogs in their presentations and handout. More interesting to me, however, was Jaime Markham’s report of a lively “sidebar discussion” occurring on the listserv during Frayda’s presentation on Public Records–around her presentation. Twittering presentations and carrying on such sidebar or back-channel conversations is not uncommon at conferences these days, and may be something we help facilitate for our clients down the road. I know, I know…It all sounds like too much! but I’m just saying it’s happening, and we can decide whether or not we want to be involved.
creating more visual slides (fewer words and bullets)
Special kudos go to Eileen, Michael, Rich and Aimee for successfully attempting more visually appealing and memorable slides–largely sans bullets. A number of us have been talking about ways to improve our presentations by significantly reducing the amount of “stuff” we tend to stuff onto our slides, and it was fun to see that in practice.Webinars continue to be an attractive means of communicating with our clients–another arrow in our quiver. When asked if the webinar was “a good way of conveying this information”, a full 93% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed. Similarly, 89% said they wanted the SOG to provide more training in this manner. Clearly, it’s not for everything, but a number of our faculty are getting good at it, and clients are responding positively.
Contact TLS if you’d like to discuss a possible webinar, or like to see any examples.
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