Cruising Mexico on a Budget: Webinar May 12th

[SV THIRD DAY]

You want to Cruise Mexico?
You want to know how much it costs?
Well then sign up for the Tuesday May 12th Webinar sponsored by Seven Seas U by the Seven Seas Cruising Association.

Link to Review Course and Register

[monte]

What's the deal with these webinars? As opposed to say, just putting a vid on YouTube. Real time conversations during the broadcast? Q&A with the presenter? Just curious as they seem to be becoming a popular thing...

[SV THIRD DAY]

I think you hit on it, the real time feed back Q&A nature of the presentation.
The screen is split in 3 feeds:
Image of the speaker
Power point type slide show
And a real time chat box.
So the participants can ask real time questions to be answered during the presentation. It's more of a "class room" setting than just watching a video.
The SSU (Seven Seas University) is run by the Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) with the goal of hosting educational cruising webinars on varied topics. Proceeds go to support the SSU and SSCA.

[monte]

Sounds like a pretty good idea. How does the payment structure work? You mentioned proceeds. Is there a joining fee? I'd assumed money would be made from supplier kickbacks, 5c/ viewer or something. I've noticed navionics sending a bit of guff in emails about webinars and assumed someone was making it profitable for the speaker. Maybe il check one out sometime. Limited bandwidth while cruising is a bit of an issue though.

[SV THIRD DAY]

SSU speakers volunteer their time to make and give the presentation, knowing that the proceeds will go to the SSCA to help the organization.
($30 for non-members and $20 for members)

There are varied speakers dealing with their specific areas of expertize. There is a NO SALES HYPING rule, so you won't be seeing infomercials for things people sell.

Here are some upcoming Webinar Topics:
COM106R: Marine WiFi
COM105R: AIS Installation and Operation
SYS106R: Solar and Wind Energy
COM100R: Communications Alternatives for Cruisers

Following the live Webinars the presentations are also archived so you can watch the course at anytime. I've seen them all....ha ha ha

[Gadagirl]

But is there real time Q&A during the webinar ? I've never attended one and I'm also curious the difference between a webinar and a podcast or video presentation.

[monte]

Yikes !30 clams! I guess they're not expecting 1000 participants at that price. Maybe a similar price to what you'd expect to pay at a local yacht club for a similar seminar though. I'd have thought maybe 5 bucks and 100 participants would make it viable and more likely to attract punters bug whatever. So you sell beer afterwards?

[gordwedman]

I have viewed a couple of these webinars in the past, energy management and communications. Found them to be interesting and useful. Being able to ask questions is a big plus over just watching a video.
As I have just spent 5 months cruising in the Sea of Cortes I may sign up for this to see if I can pick up some money saving tips and to see if my experience is similar to Mr. Boren's.

[Mirar]

It's a California thing , right? Where is the pleasure in new horizons if everything is pre-ordained and explained? I guess there are not a lot of real explorers left.
Greg

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by Mirar

It's a California thing , right? Where is the pleasure in new horizons if everything is pre-ordained and explained? I guess there are not a lot of real explorers left.
Greg

Na...why be adventurous...we just follow the cookie cutter step 1, step 2, step 3 how to guild book...that's how it's done now days, don't ya know...

Look, I don't have any problem at all if you don't see any value in gaining insight from people who have been there done that, I guess all those cruising guides and book are just a waste of time... Sorry to bother you, but why were you here on CF again, looking for information?...

Oh and the smart ass comments during the presentation are thrown in for free, my wife would make the case that's my specialty....

Cheers

[Mirar]

I guess it is just a personal thing , Rich, if you know what is around every corner coming up, a lot of the adventurous spirit is lost. True, where do you draw the line? I guess my comment came out of the old joke about how many Californians it took to change a light bulb, dah dah , one , and 99 to talk you through it. We all are from the same brush stroke, so I still refer to the pilots for their grim grey picture of the world. Beyond that, I still like to see for myself what trees or rocks are on the far point coming up, without having already seen them on google earth. There should probably be a cut off zone here for cf, anyone over 60 or with more than 40 years on the water should keep their yip shut. Ha Ha!
Greg

[mserafi1]

Yeah...I'm with Mirar on this one. I live for the unknown. Don't even use charts. There's just nothing like a good grounding or the electrifying surprise of that unseen overhead power line.....oh, and your first sinking!!!!! Priceless ���������� hehehehe sorry...couldn't help myself.

[monte]

^^^^^ hahahahaha

[monte]

This is actually an issue that comes up occasionally between myself and my 1st mate. I'm usually asking other cruisers how it is, get a low down on the anchorage, town, formalities etc before arriving at an unknown port, whereas Jen always says " what do you care what they think! just because they hated it doesn't mean we will!"
Well this has been true of a lot of places, but I still like to have some idea, a cross section or a guide book or 'maybe a webinar' to know what to expect. I agree it does maybe take some of the excitement away if you know too much. Still laughing at the first sinking, haha

[Mirar]

okay, I concede defeat! It was mostly in jest anyways. Besides, I have already survived my first sinking so all the challenge has gone out of it. I now just need to find an overhead powerline.
Greg