First, let me start right by saying the writer didn’t say virtual conferences are ineffective but rather questioned it. As a web conferencing service proponent, I tend to agree with Jeremy Palmer’s points over at ReveNews. I attended my first Big Seminar in April last year and frankly, I expect to attend more of them! It’s true, some things just need to be experienced in person. The networking, the fun, excitement, catching up and small talk, the opportunity to make friends you know the old fashioned way with a handshake. I also enjoyed the dinners! There’s nothing like sitting down to a relaxed dinner with people who are just as enthusiastic as you are about business and successful too. There’s no describing it. Like Jeremy says, it’s a memorable event.

Nothing can top an in-person meeting, I think there is a time and place where web or virtual conferences have their place. For example, for a service provider, virtual conferences are a great after in-person contact followup tool. Travelling to meet a client is expensive, even within the city. The intial and deal sealing meeting should be conducted in person but in-between meetings like showing the client a draft or a meeting to hash out a few details could so easily, efficiently and cost effectively be done with a quick virtual conference. I cannot tell you how many times in the past I wished my ad agency account manager could simply show and discuss proofs and mock-ups digitally or via web conferences. That way I wouldn’t have to wait sometimes days because they couldn’t make it or something like that.

The other thing time and place for virtual conferences is the target market. I think the work at home mom and entrepreneurial parent markets would appreciate and value virtual conferences because their schedule and lifestyle just isn’t very well suited to much travel. Yes, parents need to get out once in a while but like the first example, a few times a year is ok but few parents especially mothers like to travel too often.

Next, is opportunity. From the marketer’s point of view, it can be difficult to get a speaking engagement and expensive to travel to that event. Since the barrier of entry is low, anyone however, can hold a virtual conference at anytime. I’d love to hear your input.