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Scenario 3: Scheduled Sessions Only

Below is one of four common approaches to scheduling an eWebinar.

When deciding how to configure the Schedule and Chat of your eWebinar, a good starting point is to choose the scenario that most closely fits with your team’s goals, capacity, and how quickly you feel you must respond to chat.

See and choose one of the four scenarios here.

What this scenario optimizes for

This model is best for teams who want to keep the same or a similar schedule to the one they followed when doing their webinars live but remove the burden of presenting (including not having to manage interactivity live). Chat response times are good, because chat only happens during scheduled sessions, which always have moderator coverage.

Why this scenario exists

Sometimes teams moving from live webinars to automation initially keep the same schedule. This model supports that approach while allowing the webinar content to be delivered automatically.

However, because availability is still limited to set scheduled times, this model will likely not increase attendance, engagement, or watch time. We almost never recommend this model.

How it manages chat expectations

Chat expectations are managed by limiting chat to scheduled session windows.

Because attendees can only join at scheduled times in a fixed time zone, it is straightforward to align moderator coverage with the session schedule. This reduces the need for broad availability and makes response times easier to control.

Recommended configuration details

Schedule tab

Event type: Recurring

Scheduled webinars:

  • Recurrence: Weekly or less frequent, At least one day, At least one session time
  • Time zone: Fixed (Your time zone)

On-demand webinars: Off
Just-in-time webinars: Off
Replays: Off (Read guide to replays)

Hours of operation: N/A

Chat tab

Chat preferences: Chat for scheduled sessions only. If you wish to include replay links in your follow-up emails, you may want to only show an Email form (or disable chat altogether) in replays.

Moderators: One or more moderators (coverage only during scheduled sessions)

Moderator notifications:


  • Send email for first chat message: Optional
  • Send SMS for first chat message: No
  • Send email 15 minutes before a session: Yes
  • Slack integration: Recommended (if relevant)

Welcome messages: Per best practices

Auto response: Yes

  • Auto response message: Yes (As a failsafe, per best practices)
  • Auto response trigger time: 2 - 5 minutes

Tradeoffs

  • Attendance will likely remain flat, since attendees still have limited opportunities to join.
  • Scheduled-only availability can reduce watch time and engagement compared to immediate access, because it creates a delay between peak interest and viewing.
  • Scale is often limited by the availability of the moderator.
  • Engagement and watch-time improvements depend heavily on how well you adapt your webinar script for automation and interactivity.

Transition note (for nervous teams)

This model is a common starting point for teams transitioning from live webinars. Once you’re more familiar with eWebinar, we recommend switching to the Recommended Default or Strict Chat Coverage scenarios as quickly as possible. Otherwise, you will miss out on the greatest benefits of webinar automation: scale, higher attendance, stronger engagement, and longer watch times.