HootSuite and HubSpot chase Guinness world record for largest webinar, ever

In seven days, HootSuite and HubSpot are teaming up to make history, and it’s not about how many interCaps the two partNers can jam into their names.

Rather, the social media management company and the inbound marketing firm are holding a seminar on inbound marketing and social media … and they’re inviting the world. Or at least enough of the world to break the Guinness record for most attendees of a live webinar.

Above: Dan Zarrella

Image Credit: HootSuite

Currently, the record stands at 10,899. HubSpot should know: It set the record itself in 2011. Now, with HootSuite’s four million users, the companies are attempting to hit 17,000 attendees.

VentureBeat spoke to HootSuite’s VP of marketing, Ben Watson.

“Theoretically, we could shoot for 10,900 and break the record by one, but we want to go all the way to 17,000. We’ve had massive registration already … we’re in the tens of thousands.”

The seminar is focused on bringing social and in-bound marketing together, Watson said. According to a video HootSuite has produced about the seminar, it will help digital marketers examine where they are using social versus where they should be using social, learn how to optimize for fan engagement, and drive increased inbound marketing results.

“We wanted to give something back, to go deep into the data and help people find insights that, unless you could spend $100,000 on an analyst contract, you would probably never get,” Watson told VentureBeat. “We want to help people close the loop with social, demonstrate how to do cross-platform engagement, and truly build a relationship with their customers.”

Above: Ben Watson

Image Credit: HootSuite

The seminar will feature both Watson and HubSpot’s “social media scientist,” Dan Zarrella.

And the technology necessary for the world’s largest webinar?

“We’re using some custom technology that’s been put together by a HubSpot partner specifically for this,” Watson said. “For the big ones, you really need to go custom, to find ways to distribute load and manage that many attendees.”

If you’re interested in the topic or in being part of a Guinness world record, register here: The Science of Inbound Marketing. The seminar is on Thursday, July 12.

Here’s the promo video for the webinar: