I have participated in a number of webinars where there was a similar format: set presentation followed by audience questions and clarifications. It works well, because every audience is different, especially in this broad field of online community.
I am grateful to Hugi for having something for people to follow while we got the tech and time issues worked out. It isn’t something we would do otherwise. And he was a fine addition to our duo of Noemi and myself, making many excellent points.
The hosting where you don’t see the live audience is similar to radio. A certain kind of performance art.
Regarding Noemi’s responses to Dorsaf’s questions, I agree with her points. I have never seen any online gathering become financially sustainable purely on its own in any short amount of time. So one must keep expenses as low as possible with the focus on the quality of what is being said and the energy of the group that comes from the enthusiasm of being together. One idea is to invite guests with expertise to spend an amount of time there answering questions and offering advice to the core group.
Of course you can have a presentation + questions… As a format. My point is that it doesn’t work unless they come together by design and the contents are thought through in advance. Otherwise it is hard to judge them together, you can only say yes the presentation was great, yes the q and a was useful. But the sum is not as good… And I think it makes each look weaker. But that’s just me.
Your post kind of reminded me of this video that you may find useful.
You are looking to build a community that you think is important. Are there people around you who understand the importance of biohacking the way you do? Who are they? Are there people that are looking for a community like the one you’re trying to build? If not, maybe a slightly different solution would be more attractive to build - a sort of MVP.
Your questions about how to know if you have attracted the right volunteers is something I wonder about myself. Do let me know if you find an answer to it.
