Background Blended learning in education is the combination of face-to-face seminars and on-line work based on the internet. We have investigated which factors that we found were important in designing and conducting face-to-face seminars in order to facilitate learning processes in the periods of on-line work. Material and methods The setting was two different educations based on blended learning: The Master of Information, Communications, Technology and Learning (MIL) and the Netpaed-education, Roskilde Social Education, University College of Sealand. The project was a combination of three set of data: 1) ethnographic observations on the MIL-education and the Netpaed-education. 2) Four qualitative semi-structured individual or group interviews with five experienced students and three experienced teachers. 3) Discussions among students from periods close to F2F seminars on their VLE, virtual learning environment. Interviews were transcribed. Data from interviews and on-line conferences were analysed with template analyses. The initial template was based on theoretical concepts regarding the initial situation of learner, frameworks and the learning process. Results Face-to-face seminars were characterized by being an extra-ordinary event compared to the ordinary educations where students and teachers meet most days during a week. These seminars were more like a conference with name badges, access to computers, practical assistants etc. The process, the existential meeting between students and teachers, the setting (rooms, how chairs and tables were arranged etc.), and the professional content of the seminar were all important factors. However, no factor was important in itself. It was the correlations between the factors that proved essential. Conclusion When the correlations between the significant factors were balanced successfully, the face-to-face seminars had a positive impact on the students’ motivations for continuing their education during the periods of on-line work.