What's a virtual environment and how could my events benefit from it?
Virtual this, hybrid that. We hear a lot of this nowadays and we’re guilty ourselves of talking about virtual environments like everyone knows what we’re talking about. Here’s a quick read that will hopefully make it clearer.
From this point on, I’ll refer to them as 3D interactive environments.
A proper 3D interactive environment lets the user navigate their way around and interact just like they would if they were there in person.
It’s not just a static 3D image with interactive points that you can click on.
What’s the main benefit of a 3D interactive environment?
If it’s done right, I’d have to say it’s attendee engagement.
Keeping attendees engaged on screen for long periods of time using the traditional webinar methods is a tough challenge. Giving them an actual experience online where they can interact will increase engagement levels.
It takes me back to when I was a kid on a school trip to the museum. I was one of those kids that had an attention span of about 3 seconds and calling me mischievous is probably the kindest description (I’m sure some of my teachers would have used something a bit stronger). I didn’t just like looking, I liked to touch, so when I could click a button and it would tell me more about the exhibit, it did actually hold my attention.
This is no different really. Interactive points will stop attendees from leaving the event or slipping off for an unscheduled, “quick” 30-minute break.
Can we have different rooms in the environment?
Yes, for example, you might like a room for the Foyer, Auditorium and Exhibitors. It’s easy to navigate between each one and it’s a good idea to give attendees more things to explore and interact with.
For events with a longer duration, you might like to add rooms that are purely aimed at keeping attendees engaged such as Social Walls, Games and Networking rooms.
We already have a webinar software provider.
No problem. Most of our clients do, all we do is integrate that into the 3D environment. Here’s a quick illustration.
Go from this
To this
The webinar platform goes from being the event itself to the live streaming element of the interactive environment.
We don’t have a webinar software provider.
That’s not a problem either. We can make a recommendation and easily integrate into your environment.
Do you have a library of 'interactive components' that we can include in our environment?
Yes, they include:
Images and videos
Social wall (where users can leave comments or vote)
Webinar platform
Webconference platform
Chat
eCommerce
Gamification
Surveys and polls
We love the idea, but it’s going to too expensive.
3D interactive environments aren’t just for big budget events. The Wikipoint platform makes it possible for all event sizes and budgets to benefit from them. Granted, there are some events that don’t need or warrant them, but the below should give you an idea on cost:
Single-day event with 200 participants
2 rooms (Hall + Auditorium)
Streaming is provided through your webinar platform
The price would be £4950 + VAT which includes the 3D environment build, interactive points, access to the content management system and support.
Could we reuse the environment?
Yes, the content management system would allow you to reuse it and add new content, removing the majority of the build cost.
If you’d like to dip your toe in the water and take the first steps, contact me directly at greg@mitingu.com for a 15 minute exploratory chat.