Article: How [LearningWare]* Makes Content Fun in Virtual Environments to Drive Engagement

From VirtualEdge.org:

How [LearningWare]* Makes Content Fun in Virtual Environments to Drive Engagement

By: Frank Spinelli

Content is king. That is the mantra throughout the event industry. Technology is all well and good, but at the end of the day, what keeps users engaged is not graphics but content. And too often, content is left up to the client who may know what to say, but not how to say it in an engaging way.

Studies have shown that virtual event attendees do not stay engaged for as long as physical attendees. Whatever the cause—politeness in a face-to-face context, the anonymity of the virtual experience which allows disengagement for periods of time—the need to create content that not only grabs attention, but holds it is vital to the success of the industry. Minneapolis-based [LearningWare] develops creative and unique solutions to content delivery. With its [product], All Play Web and sister company Live Spark, [LearningWare] has a foot in both the virtual and physical worlds and seeks to keep users engaged in both.

One of the keys to keeping users engaged is to give them a stake in the outcome, according to ... Creative VP Missy Covington. Using games and quizzes, for example, can bring out a competitive drive, one sure way to hold focus. Animated characters (AniMates), voiced by local Minneapolis acting talent, can be a strong complement to live event activities. Live Spark produces both physical and virtual events, and until recently, has produced them as separate entities. They are beginning to experiment with hybrid events, however, the roster of animated characters being one virtual element augmenting their physical events.

One of the topics at this year’s Virtual Edge Summit has been incorporating successful elements of online gaming into the production of virtual content. If gamers willingly spend hours online, the theory goes, perhaps the industry can find ways to recreate that experience in its presentation of content (without the blood and guts). [LearningWare] has taken a playful approach to this theory. By utilizing games and animation, they hope to deliver content in a way keeps users in their seats while maintaining the integrity of the information. When a potential client is advised, “Make sure your content is compelling,” the question of how is often left unanswered. [LearningWare] can provide those answers in a unique and fun way.

*Both Live Spark and LearningWare presented at the Virtual Edge Summit. AllPlay Web, referenced here, is a LearningWare product, though the article references the offerings of both companies

The Virtual Classroom: Virtually Imperfect

Recently, we attended the Virtual Edge Summit in Santa Clara California. We made the following observations:

• There is a tremendous demand for "hybrid" events: conferences or training that occurs in-person and virtually. Sometimes together and simultaneously, sometimes separately and with a symbiotic relationship. This is driven by the demand for low-budget, internationally viable solutions AND the recognition of the ongoing value and effectiveness of face-to-face interactions. Personally, we're glad that we're not seeing much of an either-or opinion coming from the technology leaders. It's nice that the "real" classroom can co-exist in harmony with the virtual classroom.

• There are a huge number of completely innovative solutions coming out for virtual conferences, trade shows, webinars, training sessions, etc. This includes streaming video at a rate unheard of in a virtual meeting space, 3-D rooms where participants can log in and "sit down", PowerPoints that stream along with a speaker along with a twitter feed and a chat feed and...well, anything else you'd want, really. It was downright inspiring to see what progress is being made and what new solutions are coming down the pipeline.
  

• While virtual events and conferences have been around for over 5 years now, there's a lack of general knowledge in this area from the general populace. It seems like most people are just taking live presentations and putting them into a virtual tool instead of modifying them for a unique virtual situation. Part of this is ignorance; thinking that a web class is the same as an in-person class--save for the physical presence aspect. It's not.
  

And speaking of the last two points--the wide availability of solutions and the direct translation of in-person material to a virtual event, there was one thing that we *didn't* notice at the conference:

Emotion.

We're not talking about the emotion of the attendees, or just plain happy-sad-etc. expressions. We're talking about the effort to engage the attendees in an emotional experience within a webinar or web conference. Sure, virtual meeting spaces were designed to be pretty, streaming media was designed to add variety. But how do you keep participants engaged in a meaningful way when they're attending a session virtually?

AllPlay Web was the only product of its kind there--the concept of playing a competitive game within a web conference (as opposed to simple polling) and getting to use teams was not only new to most attendees, but also tremendously popular.

Right now, we're looking at an industry not quite in its infancy, but rapidly growing in its youth. As people start to adopt virtual solutions in hybrid training and events, we look forward to being part of an incredible solution.