Hey Adobe – Webinar registration FAIL

So – I wanted to sign up for a lil’ ol’ webinar hosted by Adobe. In this age of easy and fast I get this first screen when trying to sign up: (click the image for a larger version)

So, I have to be “a customer” in order to sign up for this thing. Strike one! Why? Well, they do provide a short bullet point of so-called benefits to being a member (wait – I thought I was a customer) but I don’t care about any of these. Just get me to the webinar sign up screen.

Deciding to continue, because I really do want to sign up for the webinar … after this screen I come against: (click the image for a larger version)

A survey – and notice that every single field is required (see those little red asterisks?) for me to continue. Why? Why required? What purpose does this information serve in merely registering for a webinar?

Perhaps Adobe gets some demographic information, which they can then aggregate. But WTF!?! This doesn’t help me, the user. At the very least make this crap optional.

I understand that one could argue that since Adobe is hosting this webinar and that we’d be using their tech to participate that they, as owners of the tech, can call the shots. Yet what is the real benefit to me, the participant? How about the notion of some customer focus?

Oh well … Adobe, you lost me. Not gonna attend … not gonna. And who knows – I might have become a mouthpiece for your tech if it were really really good and useful. But instead because of this lame a$$ maneuver you’ve not only lost me, but have soured me and turned me into an opponent