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Written by Marcy Phelps
 If you're like me, your email inbox is full of offers for free webinars. Recently one caught my attention. It was called 'Finding People Information: Free Sources and Web 2.0', offered by Donna Fryer of Global Information Research & Retrieval, LLC (http://www.searchitright.com/). Since the topic covers what may be one of the more difficult research tasks, and lately I've been curious about the value of the "free webinar" as a learning vehicle, I decided to give this one a try. I was glad I did.
The webinar was attended by more than 200 people from the legal, insurance, fraud, private investigative, and information research industries. It was immediately obvious that Donna knew her topic, and had a well-organised presentation. It was visually appealing, and very professionally created. In just 30 minutes, Donna provided a variety of resources and tips for not just researching other people, but also for taking charge of the information that's publically available about us and our businesses.
The 'Finding People Information' webinar covered a lot more than just verifying names and addresses and pinpointing an occasional phone number. It also included sites for finding information on individuals who participate in social networks, a whole new avenue for information on individuals that we now need to cover in our research. Rather than just a list of sites, the webinar included valuable insights into each of the resources. For example, at one website you are not searching anonymously, and the target of your search receives an email advising them that someone has been looking up their email address.
So, was the free webinar worth it? Definitely. Donna provided content that had real value. Beware of webinars with more sales pitch than content. Is this a viable way to learn new skills? It depends. A free webinar will not usually offer content that's very deep or broad, but the few tips that I picked up from Donna's webinar will save me considerable time when I need to find information about people.
Because the cost of online conferencing has decreased so much, we'll soon find more and more invitations to webinars in our email inboxes. So when discerning which of those invitations you're going to accept, you might want to consider the topic, length, cost, and value the webinar will provide in this busy, information-filled world. The 'Finding People Information' webinar fit all the criteria in that it was short, packed full of content, free, and will be of great value the next time I need to research another individual, myself, or my business online. It's not a bad way to spend 30 minutes - and I didn't have to leave the office!
Note: The next free webinar offered by Donna Fryer is Business Social Networking; Maximize Your Potential, and it will be on April 8th. Register at http://www.SearchitRight.com.
Marcy Phelps is the founder and president of Denver-based Phelps Research
(www.phelpsresearch.com), which offers business and market research and
research training services.
She started the company in 2000 after obtaining a master's degree in library
and information services from the University of Denver. Marcy is a member of
and has served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Independent
Information Professionals (www.aiip.org). She also is a member of the
Special Libraries Association and the Business Marketing Association
(Colorado Chapter Board of Directors, 2006-2008).
Marcy has a strong background in public speaking and writing. She frequently
presents at marketing and information industry conferences and is a
contributor to "Introduction to Online Market & Industry Research," part of
a six-volume series of business research guides. In addition, she publishes
ResearchNOTES, a free monthly e-mail bulletin with useful sites and tips for
Internet research (www.phelpsresearch.com/research.html).
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