Online Events and Meetings are the New Normal—Embrace the Change - Q&A

We've received a lot of great questions during our three-part webinar series "How to Create and Host Online Events." We wanted to publicly post the Q&A from each session so everyone can benefit from the answers.

During part one of the series, we discussed online meeting and event opportunities, technology that can be used to host these events, and tips on how to engage attendees during your presentation.

Q. Would you recommend drafting the healthcare directives for attendees or provide them a free template for them to complete it on their own?
A. We would recommend using a free healthcare directive as a way to get them to talk about bigger planning issues and open up a conversation about their goals and how you can help. You can use this as either a draw to the webinar or an offering in the call to action at the end to schedule appointments.

Q. You suggested a healthcare directive as a good document to advertise right now. However, notarizations or having two witnesses present to make this document effective is a challenge in the states that do not allow remote electronic notarizations. Having a mobile notary is irresponsible for some elder clients, as is having outside people come by as witnesses. Can you please address this?
A. We will focus on this topic in depth on our webinar on Friday, March 27, “How to Get Documents Signed During the COVID-19 Crisis.” If, after reviewing your state’s rules regarding signing (whether you are a “line of sight” or “physical or conscious presence” state), you believe you cannot get documents signed during this time, then a different webinar topic may be in order.

Q. How do you protect client confidentiality during a virtual meeting when you can't control who else is present but off camera in the client's home environment? I have concerns with undue influence with elderly clients.
A. You can ask the client who else is in the room and their relationship to the client. If feasible, you could ask the client to show you the room using the webcam. If you feel uneasy about the people in the room you could ask for them to leave during your meeting. Just don’t let perfect get in the way of helping your clients if you can do so confidently.

Q. What are your thoughts on Google Hangouts?
A. We don’t use Google Hangouts within ElderCounsel on a regular basis. However, we found this article describing Google Hangouts that is very helpful.

Q. Is there a cost to OnceHub?
A. OnceHub is also called ScheduleOnce. Their pricing model starts at $15/month for up to 3 users.

Q. Please explain how to minimize (1) disconnect between lips & sound & (2) connectivity drops & (3) garbling of speech/feedback. Are there some platforms where these are not problems at all?
A. Audio issues typically stem from internet connectivity issues – either on the presenter’s end or the attendee’s end – and not the platform itself. Slower internet on either end will cause lags, skips, and sometimes will even garble the sound. Feedback, however, is often caused by the microphone picking up the audio coming out of the speakers or when there is a lot of background noise occurring. Headphones are suggested to reduce this problem.

Q. How do we deal with attorney advertising restrictions in our "call to action?" In Texas, we don't need state bar approval for educational materials, but we do need approval if we are trying to obviously get business.
A. This will depend largely on your state ethical rules. When marketing your event, you are promoting it as an educational event. What you say during the educational event is your call to action, where you could offer a free consultation, free healthcare document, etc. You’ll have to determine whether your state’s rules determine what you can say during your presentation, as your advertising should be ok since it is an educational/informative webinar.

Q. Has anyone used Microsoft Team?
A. We do not use Microsoft Teams within ElderCounsel. However a quick search online shows that it is described as a hub for teamwork within Office 365.

Q. Will OnceHub work with an Outlook and/or Clio calendar, or do you have to use a Google calendar?
A. Yes, it will integrate with Outlook. Click here to view all integrations.

Q. If I limit size of my webinars is having Zoom (paid version) enough or do you recommend getting goto webinar also?
A. If you will have 20 or less on your webinars, you probably don’t need GotoWebinar. You can certainly add it later if needed.

Q. Why did you not recommend GoTo Meeting for video conferencing?
A. GotoMeeting is a viable program for video conferencing. We have found Zoom easier to use for our purposes – internal meetings and smaller workshops hosted online.

Q. While marketing our online events should we promote the free document(s) or should that only be shared with those who attend the event?
A. There are pros and cons to promoting the free document. The biggest pro is that it will probably result in more signups. The biggest con is that those people may only sign up to get the free document and may not be interested in other services from you. As an additional consideration, you’ll have to review any ethical rules regarding advertising as well when making this decision in case your rules don’t allow promoting something for free.

Q. What is a good way to get the word out about this webinar - to get participants?
A. A lot of this depends on your database of potential attendees. Do you have a large database that you can utilize to market to, or do you need to take some initial steps to build up your database? If you have a large database of people who already know you, then an email campaign may work well. If you need to build up your database, then some social media campaigns may be in order, where you are offering a newsletter, or downloadable item, in exchange for getting someone’s email address to add to your database. For more ideas, you can tune in to our recording from March 25 here we talk about getting the word out.

If you have questions or wish to discuss how we can help add online events to your business model, contact your ElderCounsel Account Manager or reach out to one of our Practice Solutions Advisors: