Business-to-Business Internet Marketing, Fourth Edition - Lifecycle ...

Using Internet Events for Marketing 141
hear a synchronized presentation. Web content is pushed to the attendee’s
computer while the audio is sent via a telephone. The benefit is that no
plug-in or sound card is required to participate, only a basic Web browser
and a telephone, which are likely to be available to virtually any audience.
Some technologies permit additional features, such as computerbased
chat, instant polling, and live demonstrations.
Numerous providers of software and services have entered this
market, and it is growing exponentially. For example, PlaceWare
(www.placeware.com) provides live, interactive Web presentations for
business use that can include hundreds and even thousands of attendees
at a single event. PlaceWare is based on a meeting room concept
that goes beyond passive Web-pushed content. It also allows participants
to talk via online chat while permitting the presenter not only to
push Web pages but also to conduct online demos and instant polls, and
to use an electronic whiteboard to enhance the online presentation.
Some solutions are provided over the Internet as a service; others
are software products. An essential difference is the combination of Web
and teleconference, as described earlier, versus what is commonly known
as voice over IP, which is voice delivered via the Internet. Voice over IP
quality has dramatically improved, but both a sound card and a computer
headset are necessary if the participant wants to both hear and
speak. Some solutions offer the option of both teleconferencing and
voice over IP.
Astound (www.astound.com), MShow (www.mshow.com), and
WorldStream (www.worldstream.com) function as online event service
bureaus, and companies such as Centra Software (www.centra.com) and
Latitude Communications (www.latitude.com) offer Web-conferencing
software products. Expect this area of Internet technology to expand
dramatically in the next several years as service providers and software
companies rush in to serve the market.
The marketing world has been waiting for a Web that can truly
support full-blown multimedia, live audiovisual presentations, interactive
live chat, and live videoconferencing. Streaming media products
take a giant step forward toward that ultimate goal. This technology is
still in part dependent upon the vagaries of an Internet that is bloated
with traffic and the inadequacies of data transport pipes, delivery devices,
Web servers, and receiving computers, but dramatic improvement
is on its way. Broadband, which uses both cable and telephone lines,
will increase the Internet’s ability to handle the load, as will newer technologies
such as DSL. Nevertheless, until these technologies are com-