How does the experience of real meetings compare with virtual ones? The ITM and Eventia tried out both styles. Sara Turner reports
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| Paul Tilstone |
In a bid to compare the virtual and real life, the UK and Ireland Institute of Travel and Meetings (ITM) and Eventia held two events, one a real meeting at the NEC in Birmingham, the other in the virtual reality computer programme Second Life.
The same content was included in both events, held on September 22 and 23, after which the delegates were asked to complete a survey about their experience.
The two meetings organisations wanted to use the events to test out the business viability of Second Life technology. After comparing the feedback, ITM and Eventia recently released the results of the experiment to be mixed.
Ease of interaction between delegates was one of the biggest plus points, according to the results, with the virtual event scoring 8 per cent higher than the real life event.
Paul Tilstone, ITM's ceo, said: "Those who attended the virtual event seemed to comment very favourably on the format. The statistics on interaction are interesting as it demonstrates that virtual technology actually aids interaction rather than hinders it as one might expect, so clearly this aspect could drive the technology application for certain types of event."
The climate friendly aspect to the event was also positive, with virtual attendees reporting they would have expended a combined total of 690kg of CO2 had they attended the real life event.
There were some negative sides to the virtual experience, however, with delegates scoring registration and joining instructions 11% higher for the live event than the virtual.
According to Mr Tilstone, the performance of avatars, the virtual bodies given to attendees, was also not so successful. "People preferred hearing from real-life speakers in the flesh," he said.
Izania Downie, Eventia's ceo, said: "It was a really interesting exercise. I think the results highlight that there is a potential application for the technology in the events arena but the evidence to date seems to suggest it is predominantly on a complimentary basis to real-life events and won't replace the benefits people get from face-to-face interaction."
The web-based world of Second Life has been used in the past to launch new products and test out consumer opinion. For example, hotel group Starwood initially launched its new brand Aloft in the virtual world in 2008, using feedback from in-world guests to tweak the real-world product.
www.itm.org.uk www.eventia.org.uk
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Comments
A Great Study--Keep it Going
Thanks for publishing this article it was interesting. I hope the association partners continue to experiment with physical and virtual meeting techniques. I think they'll be especially interested in the trend to turn meetings and events in to "hybrids" where there are physical as well as virtual elements incorporated into the event. Their study focused on people who physically attended the NEC exhibition event which is fine but it excludes all the people who could not or did not attend the physical event.
Studies have shown that (especially today) those that attend events are just the tip of the iceberg of qualified potential attendees. Offering a hybrid event allows the event or meeting producer to reach the entire market with an option that usually can work for everyone. In fact, some research has shown that attending virtually increases the likelihood that someone will attend the physical event on the next opportunity.
I also hope they look beyond Second Life in the future. I'm not knocking Second Life, it is a good solid platform (great for what it does) but there are many options out there today to consider based on the objectives and requirements of your event. Some are easier to use, don't require building out environments, offer lifelike face-to-face options via video or avatars that look just like you. There are many types of platforms and solutions to consider based on the objectives of the meeting and Second Life or 3D platforms like it are just one option. I hope ITM (and others) continues their exploration and comparison and shares their findings.
Excellent Study and Comments - Hybrid is Hot
This is an excellent study and the results are clearly showing that virtual technology will provide alternative ways for people to engage and further their education. As a developer of Virtual and Hybrid platforms I really believe that the reason the results were not favorable regarding Second Life is that Second Life was not built for the purpose of running events. The learning curve is much too steep for the average user, which is a significant and immediate turn-off.
At Digitell, Inc., we have spent considerable amounts of time making the entry point of our VirtualU platforms as easy as possible. In fact, for our Virtual and Hybrid Events, we have even built both 2D and 3D environments that are integrated together so that the user can select how they wish to experience the event and both options provide very similar interaction and functionality.
As the previous comments reflect, turning your event into a Hybrid is becoming a popular option and rightfully so. To think not to many years ago this required satellite trucks, etc., and now with a camera, an encoder and an engaging end environment, you can offer access to your event to the entire world. How can this not be a viable option? I see Hybrid events as the next "Must Have" for alot of association and organization meetings. To learn more about a Hybrid Event, view this 1 minute movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygj1csCifOE
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