The faceless Zoom events that were novel at the beginning of lockdown are gradually becoming tiresome. Organizers constantly need new ideas to surprise their remote audience.
We have prepared a selection of 5 unusual solutions that can diversify your remote communications:
Conference afterparty in SpatialChat
SpatialChat is a virtual space where guests can move around as they please, forming “interest groups.” If you “move closer” to another person, you will hear them better. You can chat, watch videos together, listen to music, share pictures, and the space itself can be divided into tables, dance floors, bar counters, restrooms, and smoking areas — all of which maximizes the feeling of presence and brings you closer to offline life. The creators have managed to reproduce the atmosphere of informal communication as much as possible, just like in real life.
It’s a great idea to use the platform as an after-conference party, which will restore the value of networking, because it is after the business part that people have an excellent opportunity to chat, get to know each other better, discuss content, and find common ground for their businesses.
For organizers, this is an opportunity for upselling — sponsors can be offered to brand the parties.
The platform can accommodate up to 10,000 users.
All you need to connect to the conference is Google Chrome. On the downside, you will have to share your screen to show presentations or files, as it is not possible to upload presentations to the platform.
Immersive 3D world from Virbela
VirBELA is an immersive technology platform for business meetings, entertainment events, and education.
The platform offers a customizable virtual world for online events that revolutionizes the way they are held and attended — from exhibition halls that accommodate thousands of visitors, auditoriums for speeches and presentations, to music stages. Event participants can create and customize their own 3D avatar (choosing their outfit, hairstyle, shoes, and even watch), explore different venues, and interact with other participants just like in the real world. The avatar has seven preset movements that express emotions, from shrugging to a victory dance.
Hosting events is convenient for organizers: presentations and videos can be uploaded in advance, and billboards can be hung on the walls. Guests can be seated in private areas so that neighboring groups cannot hear each other. All of this expands the range of possible event formats.
There is even a format for a virtual company office: with offices, workstations, meeting rooms, and a conference hall. You can host an entertaining beach party or a forum for a thousand people; there are special features for everything.
AltSpace VR platform
Altspace VR is a Microsoft product that combines two currently popular themes: virtual reality and cartoonish graphics.
This solution is suitable even for low-budget events, as the low graphics requirements allow for the use of the most affordable virtual reality headsets.
You can organize an event in ready-made locations or build your own world. Games can be added to entertain participants, and the volume of the sound also depends on the distance to the sound source.
An interesting feature of the platform is that participants can take pictures of everything around them and even take selfies.
There are two ways to get into a private event. The first is to create a “portal” in your room — a specific point that exists for a minute and through which those who are in the same room with you can pass. The second is through a link.
The limit for one room is up to 70 people.
Online bar at StayTheFuckHomeBar
This type of platform has become incredibly popular during self-isolation. The online bar at StayTheFuckHomeBar was created by the St. Petersburg agency shishki.collective — it is a beautifully designed page that launches a video conferencing engine.
Stay the Fuck Home Bar consists of several “rooms” designed for 12 people. Video conference creators can invite other users using special invitation links. The site was launched in English and runs on the Whereby platform.
StayTheFuckHomeBar can accommodate up to 50 people. Participants share their screens, Trello notes, and documents. They express their emotions in the chat using emojis.
The advantage of such platforms is a slightly more relaxed atmosphere. It can also be suitable for networking parties, simple parties, or anti-conferences.
To participate, simply follow the link through your browser.
Event in the game. Minecraft
A high-profile case was the HSE conference on games in Minecraft in a virtual copy of its campus.
For the event, the organizers deployed a modified version of the game on their own servers. Inside the game space, they rebuilt some of the buildings and added their own game mechanics, as well as programmable shows.
The Minecraft engine allows you to implement the most daring ideas, but at the same time, such a project is labor-intensive. You will have to work hard on organizing broadcasts within the game. HSE, for example, used Discord for this.
Now, events are starting to be held in other gaming universes as well. For example, American rapper Travis Scott recently held a music concert in the game Fortnite.
Most likely, this is only the beginning of such integrations, and soon events in popular games will become even more accessible to customers.