I'm a big fan of virtualization in the data center (a subject of a future post) but I have to admit I really don't understand the draw of the virtual worlds such as Second Life. Sure, I've been known to have a video game or two loaded up on my home PC and I've even tried some online multiplayer games but just can't get in to wandering around - or flying around - the meta worlds of Second Life. A little over a year ago I was convinced to set up an account and go check it out, I was even warned that the experience will be very different than anything I had ever done in any game. Sure enough, I saw people with wings and other animal parts, strangely dressed people (even more strange than casual Fridays during the summer) and even inanimate objects that, well, were animated. I discovered you could own property and that many real world companies had even set up virtual store fronts within this crazy world. I discovered even more odd things outside this virtual world such as the debate as to whether or not people could be taxed on their virtual possessions. I started to wonder if this virtual world, and others like it, might be the future on the web. After all there were some similarities. Stores that weren't physically there but you could buy things at, conversations with people that you would never meet in real life, advertising and general social interaction of a kind. Thinking back 10 or 15 years ago I remember how odd it seemed at the time when I first started seeing URLs on TV commercials and wondered if normal people would really latch on to this phenomena called "the Internet". So how could I use this new virtual world in my business?
But after a few sessions I kind of gave up and while I now had at least a small understanding of the virtual world I just couldn't see anything special here. Sure you could have store fronts in this virtual world but I already had that out in the "real world" of the Internet and people were still learning to deal with that. Having them come to this special place only to be greeted at the door by a floating ball of fire or some other mythical beast just didn't inspire confidence. Nonetheless, not wishing to be left behind some companies did set up shop including H&R Block. So, there was interest from the business community after all - but it all still seemed a stretch.
Then, I read an post by Dave Bost on a recent Visual Studio Launch event where Microsoft decided to host a launch event in the Second Life world. They combined the participation of SL with the power of Live Meeting for demos and presentation materials and discovered a unique way to get people to interact. Just as when attending a real conference attendees could mill about, talk to others and come and go as they please. It was more than just a web cast, it was a gathering of individuals for a common purpose and a chance to exchange ideas and interact just like the real world. Okay, so why not
just live in the real world? What did they or anyone who attended gain by not physically being there? Well for starters, no one actually had to travel to some single location which meant it was really free. Depending on the company you work for and where its located these "free" events can sometimes be costly to attend. The rising cost of gas, airfares and maybe even an overnight stay all begin to add up or just make it impractical to actually attend. Could this be a way to hold corporate events or user conferences? While I still enjoy the interaction at a "real event" I think there might just be something here.
My current employer has an annual event for the leaders within the firm - about 900 people in all. The event usually takes place at the beginning of our fiscal year, lasts several days and consists of the usual corporate things such as speeches from our president and other CXO types all designed to get people fired up and on the same page for the next year. the cost of this team building exercise - millions of dollars. Think about it, 900 people each spending 4 nights in a hotel (let's call that about $800), airfare (say $500), meals (figure $100 a day so $500 easily). That's about $1.6M right there and that doesn't even take into account the cost of the facilities and the soft dollar costs. What if instead of actually going to this event we all virtually went? That's $1.6M we could save right off the top. Sure, we would still have to invest the time, people would still need to create the slide shows, demos and other content of the event but we're doing that already. Maybe there is something to this virtual world after all.
Do I see this as a replacement for all conferences? Absolutely not. Is it an alternative for some during these cost-cutting economic times? You bet. What do you think?