ACTE is to consider holding “virtual” conferences for buyers who do not have time to travel to educational events.
Greeley Koch, the association’s executive director, said he wanted ACTE’s training to “stay fresh and innovative”.
“People want to learn differently and they cannot get out of the office so much these days,” Koch told BBT. “They still want to learn about best practice but we have to look at how we supply our training.
“We have looked at virtual conference before but we could not afford the technology and the prices involved. But this technology is evolving and other associations have tried them.
“We want to try new things – the marketplace is changing. The advantage of virtual conferences is that participants can see it live or watch at a more convenient time – it’s really like having a conference on demand from your desk.
“We have tight budgets as an association but as the technology advances and the price points become more affordable we will test the waters.”
Koch said there was still a place for running online webinars as part of its programme of training.
“We will look to continue running webinars - although people can ask questions, they are fairly static and we want more of an open dialogue,” he added. “Webinars still have their place because they cover specific topics.”
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