Affiliate Webinars

Process and Timeline for Affiliate Member Webinars:

1. Send our team (membership@ncbfaa.org) an email with:

• Your requested date (we require 6 weeks' advance notice).  Webinars are held Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12 -1 ET or 1-2 ET.
• Webinar title
• Precis
• Speaker names, titles and short bios (text only, short bios) 
• List of learning outcomes
• Draft of your Power Point presentation

2. Once we receive your presentation we will send it to the webinar review committee. If the webinar is approved, we will:

• Apply on your behalf with a third-party accreditor (at no cost to you) to request credit (refer to the criteria for Webinar Continuing Education section below)
• Create the marketing eBlast for your approval

3.  After we receive your approval for the marketing we will advertise:

• We will add the webinar listing to our website calendar
• Four weeks out: Our webinar coordinator will design an eBlast.  Our goal is to have a final promotional eBlast ready to go 3 weeks prior to your webinar
• Three weeks out: Our team sends out the first eBlast. 
• Two weeks out: Typically, two more follow-up notices are produced either as listings in the MMeB, or as separate eblasts.  Registration numbers will be monitored to determine the timing of the notices.

4. Prior to the webinar your speaker(s) may request a test run with our webinar coordinator to familiarize themselves with the GoToWebinar platform.  This test run should happen the week of the webinar at your convenience and will take approximately 15 minutes. If you would like to schedule a test run, please let the webinar coordinator know at least one week prior to the webinar date. 

5. Webinar Day: Our team hosts the webinar for you, and you present to our members. An NCBFAA staff member will introduce your speaker(s) and moderate the presentation.

6. Post-Webinar:  Our team will send a follow-up email to the participants. The follow-up email will contain a link to the webinar recording, presentation slides (if applicable), a short satisfaction survey and information about how to earn CEU credit.

The day after the webinar, our team will also provide you with a spreadsheet of the names and email addresses of the webinar attendees. Affiliate members are encouraged to follow-up one time via email after the webinar to educate webinar participants about your products or services or offer additional information. Please note we provide an attendee list after the webinar; we do not provide registration lists before or after the webinar.

Criteria for Webinar Continuing Education 

If the learning outcomes of your webinar meet at least one of the accrediting requirements, your webinar can offer 1 CEU to attendees.  If none of the following criteria is met your webinar will not be eligible for continuing education credit. 

1. The activity promotes an understanding of the laws and regulations governing CBP or enforced by CBP, including relevant laws and regulations of CBP’s partner government agencies.
2. The activity provides understanding of U.S. imports and exports.
3. The activity directly contributes to CBP’s trade priorities, programs, policies, and/or business practices.
4. The activity conveys information intended to increase and improve U.S. trade compliance and enhance risk management.

Webinar FAQs

When do you recommend scheduling our webinar?

Webinars are held Tuesdays and Thursdays at either 12-1ET or 1-2ET. Only one webinar is presented per day, allowing our webinar coordinator to give you her full attention.

I am in a rush to get my webinar on your calendar.  Can I send you the title & precis now, and come up with the actual presentation later? 

The short answer is no. We require a full presentation draft to reserve a date – because it ensures that we have the necessary materials in advance to fully promote your webinar. Experience has shown us that rushed materials received 1-2 weeks before a webinar results in lower attendance, which directly impacts on your efforts. We want to take advantage of the full 3-week promotional window to advertise your webinar. 

Additionally, we need time to apply to get your webinar approved for continuing education credit.  

How long should the webinar be?

60 minutes max, to include time for Q&A at the end. Typically, presentations are 45 minutes and the last 15 minutes are reserved for Q&A.

What materials should I provide in advance?

The Affiliate member will provide the webinar title, precis, speaker names, titles, and short bios for marketing purposes. The presenter provides a PPT slideshow (provided as a PDF for distribution) for the webinar. You are welcome to provide additional handouts if you would like.

I understand NCBFAA will run the webinar. What platform will we be using?

We use the GoToWebinar platform. You will need to provide the speakers' email addresses so they can be set up in GoToWebinar as panelists*. NCBFAA sets up the registration link and monitors registration. 

*Note: The speaker(s) will be invited to join the webinar via a special link so they may join as “panelists” – not as attendees. This gives the speakers the ability to share their screen, audio and camera during the webinar. 

Does your platform have automated reminders for registrants about the webinar?

Registrants receive a confirmation email when they register, and then 1 day and 1-hour prior reminders. 

I am not familiar with GoToWebinar. Can I do a practice run?

Yes, and we highly encourage you to do so, so that technical issues do not arise. We can schedule a practice logon at your convenience prior to the webinar. The practice usually takes about 15 minutes.

I noticed on the timeline for implementation, NCBFAA will publicize the event 3 weeks from the event date. May I know the channels you will be utilizing for this?

We list the webinar in the MMeB Event / Calendar listing beginning three weeks from the webinar date. We send out one initial eblast, using our marketing software Constant Contact. We follow up with further eblasts (or notices in the MMeB), depending on registration numbers.

This webinar is exclusive for NCBFAA members only, correct?

That is up to you. You are welcome to market it to other audiences. Please note that there is a 1000 attendee limit, which is rarely reached, so additional marketing efforts are a good idea. We can share the registration link so you can advertise the webinar with your own contacts.

What follow-up can we do with the attendees?

We will send you a list of attendees (names and email addresses) the day after the webinar. We do not provide registration lists after the webinar-  – only a list of the webinar attendees after the webinar. We encourage you to follow up one timewith attendees after the webinar.

Can we get a recording of the webinar afterwards?

Yes, we share the link to the recording with you and all the attendees in a post webinar email.