In early 2020, as the world adjusted to a new normal, I found myself inundated with invitations to webinars. Despite their promise of convenience and flexibility, I couldn’t shake the image of low-ceilinged conference rooms at a Holiday Inn, time-share salesmen, and the lingering smell of stale coffee. My aversion to webinars, though, seemed irrational. After all, webinars could be attended from the comfort of home, with self-brewed coffee, and the ever-tempting option to click the X and leave whenever they morphed into disguised sales pitches. No accusatory stares included.

Yet, as the pandemic stretched on, attending webinars became a daily ritual. The more I participated, the clearer it became that my frustration stemmed not just from the content but from the format itself. Companies would often plan an hour-long session, with 45 minutes dedicated to presentations and a mere 15 minutes for questions at the end. The structure seemed arbitrary, with many hosts struggling to fill the time meaningfully. The low information density and the “questions at the end” format meant I often lost track of my queries or interest by the time my turn came.

Determined to find a solution, I envisioned a more efficient webinar experience. Assuming the content was relevant, my ideal setup included:

• A searchable transcript, complete with images of key slides
• Bullet points highlighting the top takeaways
• The ability to watch at 1.5x speed or higher
• An option to listen to the webinar as a podcast

Achieving this, however, posed a significant challenge for production teams, requiring considerable effort to create transcripts, summarize content, and upload podcasts. Enter GPT-3. With its release, I saw an opportunity to transform how webinars were consumed.

This marked the birth of Playbox (née Foyer), driven by my vision that any input should become any output, allowing users to consume content in their preferred format.

We utilized rev.ai to achieve 98% accurate transcripts, developed a sophisticated transcript editor linking words to video timestamps, and allowed users to insert video frames to display slides. GPT-3 helped generate summaries and key takeaways, enabling easy creation of social media snippets and videos and podcast-ready audio tracks with chapters.

However, understanding the motivations behind companies hosting webinars proved complex. Typically part of a broader marketing strategy, webinars often aimed to gather potential customer details. While we addressed this by allowing content to be gated behind email collection forms, the core issue was that many companies used webinars not just to inform but to engage potential customers post-event. By enabling users to skip the live experience, Playbox was seen as disrupting this lead generation flow, despite evidence that our approach led to a gradual increase in leads over time.

In hindsight, the timing for Playbox was off. During a period when webinars were a primary touchpoint, offering a tool that encouraged asynchronous interaction conflicted with companies’ immediate needs. Yet, I remain convinced that a consumer-centric approach to content consumption is the future. Companies that embrace this shift, making their content accessible in all formats, will ultimately gain more control and foster deeper connections with their audience.

While Playbox’s initial reception highlighted the challenges of disrupting entrenched practices, the principles behind it hold promise. As technology and consumer preferences evolve, the idea of flexible, on-demand content consumption, in the format that they want to consume, will become increasingly relevant. Companies that adapt to this new landscape will not only survive but thrive, meeting their audience on their terms and fostering lasting engagement.