Open Houses, do they work?

Ok, 8 years ago my friends bought a house through an open house, 6 years ago my broker found her agent (before joining the business) with an open house. Today.....No one even comes to an open house. My question to all of you is this. Is this an outdated method? Does it really work to find buyers for the house or for you to represent? The last several I have hosted have had little to no visitors and have had NO influence. In the land of current technology are these just simply outdated? If you do host open houses and find them successful, will you post to me and tell me your secrets? The results of this post and a couple of others will tell me if I refuse to do them from now on.....