Do I need a Zoom Webinar? How to tell.
Zoom Webinars are similar to a regular Zoom meeting, but there are some additional features and some that are slightly different.
- A regular Zoom meeting will be suitable for the vast majority of your meetings, even ones where you have large groups.
- In general, Zoom webinars are best for meetings where you have a large group of attendees for which the meeting needs more control and security. Webinars should be fairly rare, depending on your unit’s function. For a webinar, typically, the attendees are not well known, or they don’t know each other well, like the general public. Webinars are also better situated for meetings that will not require much interaction from the attendees.
Below are some criteria to help you decide if a Zoom webinar is the right choice for you.
| MEETING | WEBINAR |
Number of people | < 301 | >300 |
Internal vs. external audience | Internal | External or Internal if large audience |
Audience familiarity | Attendees are known | Attendees are not known |
High stakes/Low stakes | Low stakes | High stakes |
Attendee participation | Medium to high attendee participation | Low to no attendee participation |
Presentation format: |
|
|
Screen sharing | Either Host(s) only or All Participants | Only “Panelists” |
Participant videos | All participants regardless of video status will show | Only “panelists” with video on will show |
Q&A | Can use chat feature with more security | Can use Q&A feature with even more security |
Videos
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Examples
Weekly Division Meeting— Zoom Meeting =
Best Choice
Number of people | 100 |
Internal vs. external audience | Internal |
Audience familiarity | Attendees are known to each other |
High stakes/Low stakes | Low stakes |
Attendee participation | Attendees ask questions and contribute |
Presentation format: | |
Screen sharing | Presenter at beginning of meeting only |
Participant videos | All participants encouraged to be on video |
Q&A | Q&A is live and verbal |
Medicine Grand Rounds—Zoom Webinar =
Best Choice
Number of people | 4,000 attendees |
Internal vs. external audience | External and internal |
Audience familiarity | Attendees are not all known |
High stakes/Low stakes | High stakes |
Attendee participation | Low attendee |
Presentation format: | |
Screen sharing | Only designated “Panelists” |
Participant videos | Only “panelists” who are presenting |
Q&A | Very limited Q&A |
Click here for Zoom’s side-by-side comparison of the features:
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115005474943-Meeting-and-Webinar-Comparison
If you believe your meeting requires a Zoom Webinar versus a regular Zoom Meeting, please look at the calendar below to determine if your requested time is available. For the first few weeks please prioritize one request per division so we can see how many requests we receive for competing time slots and determine an equitable scheduling process.
Please note that the DOM does not offer webinar production services or video editing services.