Webinar Etiquette

For those who don't know, a "Webinar" is basically a conference call on the web. The presenter can be heard via speakerphone, and the presentation (usually powerpoint slides) is shown through a web site.

I participated in a webinar today, and I want to stress the importance of muting your conference/speaker phone when the presenter is speaking. That way, you can hear the presenter, and the rest of the folks listening in on the call cannot hear you.

This was an issue twice. Early on in the call, while the presenter was speaking, we could hear "HUUUUUHHH... WHOOOOO... HUUUUUHHH... WHOOOOO..." over and over. A heavy breather, with the phone pressed up against his face. I thought I was being stalked.

Later, another participant started... well, I don't know what he was doing. It sounded like he was cracking open peanuts or something. Maybe it was 16 people all cracking their knuckles at the same time. It was freaky. :)