Zoom Webinars allow you to broadcast a Zoom meeting to view-only participants. UMass Dartmouth offers an event (license) capacity of 500 attendees.
Zoom Meetings and Webinars offer similar features and functionality but have some key differences:
- Meetings are designed to be collaborative events in which all participants may screen share, turn on their video and audio, and see who else is in attendance.
- Webinars are designed so that only the host and any designated panelists can share their video, audio and screen. Webinars allow view-only attendees. They have the ability to interact via Q&A, chat, and answering polling questions. The host can also unmute the attendees.
For more information on meeting and a webinar differences, visit Zoom Help.
UMass Dartmouth has a limited number of webinar licenses that can be shared with users. Please make your request at least 10 business days prior to your event, so the license can be applied to your Zoom account, and you will have time to set up your event and invite your attendees.
Roles for Webinar Participants
There are different roles available for webinar participants: host, co-host, panelist, and attendee. The webinar host assigns the role for each participant. The default role is attendee; unless the hosts specifies otherwise, all participants have the attendee role.
- The person who scheduled the webinar is the Host. They have full control to manage the webinar, panelists, and attendees. There can only be one host. The host has in-session controls to stop and start the webinar, mute panelists, disable panelists’ video, remove attendees from the webinar, and more.
- Co-hosts can manage the administrative side of the webinar, such as managing attendees or starting/stopping the recording. Co-hosts cannot start a webinar. If the host needs someone else to start the webinar, they can assign an alternative host.
- Panelists are full participants in a webinar. They can view and share video, screen share, annotate, speak to the attendees, and more. The host can disable some features for panelists, including starting video, sharing your screen, and recording. Panelists can be invited to participate in the webinar using only their name and an email address, a Zoom account is not required.
- Attendees are view-only participants who can be un-muted if the host chooses. They can interact with the host and the panelists through the Q&A and chat features. Learn about joining a webinar as an attendee by visiting Joining and Participating in a Webinar.
For more on webinar roles see Zoom’s support page.
Webinar Registration & Scheduling
Webinars can require pre-registration before the event. The host can either automatically approve all registrants or manually approve each one. The host can add custom registration questions, add email notifications for registrations, and generate registration reports.
- Webinars with registration require your registrants to complete a brief form before receiving the link to join your webinar. This allows you to collect the names, email addresses, and other information from the registrants.
- Webinars without registration allow attendees to join without needing to sign up in advance. Attendees are required to enter their name and email address when joining.
Similar to a meeting, Zoom allows you to schedule recurring webinars during specific dates and times. You can schedule a webinar to occur daily, weekly, or monthly.