Having struggled to convince firms that the wonders of web conferencing will slash travel costs and improve productivity, Microsoft has resorted to the oldest marketing tactic of them all – bribery. And Sneak reckons there could be some unexpected corporate benefits from the company's decision to reward users of its Live Meeting web conferencing service with gifts such as airmiles. Suffer through enough sessions with jittery sound and an image more liable to break up than a boy band, and eventually you might earn enough miles to fly to a proper meeting where you can learn what was actually being said.

27 Jul 2005