Imagine being invited to an event. You accept, set aside the time, and arrive at the correct time. You’re welcomed in, find a seat, and things get underway. Then someone asks you to leave.

You explain that you were invited. They apologise, let you back in, and you sit down again. A few minutes later, you’re forceably removed. At that point it’s clear it’s not a misunderstanding. Someone has decided you shouldn’t be there, despite the invitation.

It would feel awkward — and rather unprofessional.

This actually happened

Last week, this actually happened to me.

A colleague and I were both contacted by a competitor and invited to a webinar they were running. We were completely open about who we worked for and there was no suggestion that this was an issue. In fact, they actively encouraged me to attend, suggesting there could be potential partnership opportunities.

We both signed up and, when the time came, we joined the event. As the speaker started the presentation, we were both removed from the meeting.

I assumed it was a glitch and rejoined. But the same thing happened again. After a couple more attempts it was clear this wasn’t technical. Someone was actively removing me.

Moving from a physical to a virtual context doesn’t really change the interaction. It just makes it easier to remove people without making a scene.

Where it goes wrong

Clearly there was a disconnect. The outreach team that cold-called me said “come along”, but the delivery team didn’t agree. That should have been resolved before the invitation was sent, not during the session. Or, if that wasn’t possible, a polite message to say there had been a mistake would have been acceptable — ideally before the event started.

It’s not hard to see how it happens. Outreach is often measured on registrations, so the focus is on getting people signed up. Moderation is dealing with a different concern entirely. It’s a good example of Goodhart’s Law — be careful what metrics you measure people on because they might not generate the desired outcome.

It’s not really a big deal — some time wasted, then looking up the appropriate contact to send a polite but firm email. But it’s an experience that I will remember (and tell people about — even if I’m not naming the company here). And our industry is remarkably small at times…