With online video, live steaming, webinars and the ability a to make education available with the click of a button, are in-person seminars becoming a thing of the past?

It’s a compelling scenario. Sit at your office, (or at home in your bathrobe!) and watch amazing video. No expense. No travel. No wasted time. Why go in person?

While the benefits are indeed compelling, there’s a good argument for attending seminars in person. And, although as a speaker I hate to admit it, the advantages of being there go far beyond the information and ideas that come from the stage…

The Top Five Reasons Seminars are Here to Stay

1. The opportunity to work ON your business
When you attend a seminar you have an opportunity to leave your “normal” environment and spend time working on and thinking about your business and life in a larger context, rather then being buried in the day-to-day minutiae.

I’ve had some of my greatest insights sitting in a seminars. And the insights usually have little to do with the information being presented—they come from being away and seeing things with the fresh, unencumbered perspective from which great ideas always seem to flow.

2. Motivation and Inspiration
Sitting in a room with like-minded people is very inspiring and energizing. There is a positive energy in a room of people who are open to new ideas, excited about growth, and interested in play a bigger game.

When someone makes the commitment to attend a seminar, they’re committing to learning and growing. I always leave that environment far more motivated and inspired then when I arrived, and I find the weeks after a seminar are often the most productive of my year.

3. Ideas from Many Sources
Some of the greatest idea that I get from seminars don’t always come from the stage, but from the conversations I have with other attendees on the breaks, at lunch, or in the evening. Marketing guru Seth Godin shares a similar experience here.

Seminars provide an incredible opportunity to speak with people that I would never have had the good fortune to meet otherwise. They come from different markets, different cities and different backgrounds. Often they have real time solutions to many of my business challenges, and at other times I can offer a solution to their challenges—it’s a wonderful synergy that I find difficult to replicate online.

4. Friendships, Referrals and New Business Opportunities
I have never left a seminar where I haven’t meant at least one person whom I’ve continued to communicate with after the seminar. I’ve created many lasting friendships this way, not to mention the referral opportunities, and the joy of doing business with like-minded people.

5. Travel That is a Tax Write-Off
How cool is it that we can travel to some wonderful cities, enjoy some magnificent restaurants, enjoy morning room service and write it off because education is a legitimate business expense? It’s amazing!

And travel itself is one on the greatest learning experiences of all—it’s the bonus learning and growth that we can’t get without leaving our comfortable surroundings.

Are seminars a thing of the past? Not a chance. They offer so much more than just the insights being presented by the speakers or panelists. They give us a chance to learn from a multiple of sources, become motivated and inspired, (something we all need), develop new and many lasting friendships, and possibly do some business while traveling to some very cool destinations.

And that’s a combination not easily created sitting in front of a screen in your track pants or pyjamas.

What’s your take? Are you continuing to invest in seminars? What have “live” events brought to your life and business? Let us know!

And just a reminder to our event goers – super early bird pricing for ACHIEVE 2011 | July 6-7 | Vancouver, BC – ends March 31st!
CLICK HERE for event details and to lock in your pricing today. See you there.