Virtual World Metrics

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Permalink Reply by Charles Gatlin on December 29, 2009 at 12:10pm

I'm pleased with your question. We all assume the cost savings but few have the data to back it up. Companies who host Live Virtual Events are in a unique position of not having to "sell" the savings. Event planners of physical trade shows in particular those who don't plan to go virtual aren't releasing these embarrassing metrics and for good reason. What I can do for you is pull together some data from a live physical event and compare it to the costs of a physical event. I can do this from three perspectives. The Attendee, the Exhibitor, and the Sponsor. Should be fun.

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Permalink Reply by Beverly Gay McCarter on December 29, 2009 at 12:22pm

Thank you, Charles. Metrics are difficult to find for an emergent complex system such as virtual worlds. (It doesn't respond to normal industrial methods) In the short term I was looking for any white papers that may already be out there on the topic. I have found a few, but they are not very common. If you know of any, please refer me to them. Thank you for your help. :)

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Permalink Reply by Charles Gatlin on December 29, 2009 at 1:11pm

Sure Beverly I have some white papers I can share with you. I'll send you over some tomorrow.

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Permalink Reply by Beverly Gay McCarter on December 29, 2009 at 3:17pm

Thank you, Charles. It is greatly appreciated.

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Permalink Reply by Charles Gatlin on December 29, 2009 at 3:27pm

No problem, exactly what type of organization are you interested in? Corporation, non profit organization, educational? Or are you looking for a general sample?

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Permalink Reply by Beverly Gay McCarter on December 29, 2009 at 3:35pm

Corporation and government.
I have been scouring the web (and Linden Labs have been helpful) today and have come up with only a handful and the info in them is not as complete as I need. I know this is a tough one to find .... the field is very new and the technology does not lend itself to traditional methods. Last year at one conference this issue was acknowledged and suggested that is an area wide open for doctoral students to pursue (with a large *HINT* implied. ;) . If you have sources who may be publishing this type of research it would help many in the transition to virtual worlds.

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Permalink Reply by Charles Gatlin on December 29, 2009 at 4:21pm

Very well Beverly, I believe I may be able to help you out. As you may imagine the corporations are way ahead of most governments on this. The recent global warming conference in Copenheagan is a classic example. It would be interesting to get some hard data on the carbon footprint generated by this international event.

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Permalink Reply by Sophia Yates on January 3, 2010 at 10:07pm

Dear Beverly,
I will do some research for you on this subject. I have scene many well orchestrated meetings & events held within Second Life that were very successful. As you know people from all over the globe on a daily basis conduct business, collaborating on all levels of the corporate world within Second life.

Many others meet to channel artistic ideas to one another. That's what is remarkable about this still new technology. There are products in place I'm sure you have heard about from LL that offer you the security that could possibly suit your needs.

There have been some serious issues debated inside Second Life during conferences that had in attendance some very distinguishable people from all over the world and some never had to leave the comfort of their own home or office or put on a suit.

What this technology will do for industries around the world will not only impact the bottom line for the company but improve the quality of lives for their employees and improve the quality of the environment.

It wont cure everything an industry or government needs as far as communications and security but it will be an advantage for most involved. The decision to virtually connect or to present in person will always be up to the people involved.

I will look into some of the groups & organizations I have seen over the past few years hold conferences and ask about the complexities they confronted that you have inquired about.

Sincerely,
Sophia Yates

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Permalink Reply by Beverly Gay McCarter on January 4, 2010 at 5:05am

Hi, Sophia.

Thank you for your response. Yes, the power of virtual worlds is amazing!
What I am looking for is the elusive quantifiable numbers associated with ROI for using virtual worlds. Currently, the only ones are in regards to saving money in flight, hotel, travel, security costs for having meeting with a population group separated by physical distance.

While there is much in the way of qualifiable data or anecdotal references, there is very little actual hard numbers at this stage. I am needing those hard numbers to show ROI across the board.

Anything you can find will help many organizations convince their upper mgt levels of the effectiveness of this tool. :)
I appreciate your help with this.

Kind regards,
Beverly Gay
(aka, Bev Landar in Second Life)

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Permalink Reply by Ken Rigby (Tele3DWorld/MellaniuM/InterVerzaL) on January 4, 2010 at 5:31am

Stats can be gathered in the web.alive apex 3D environments

see:

http://apex.projectchainsaw.com/stats.html

If these were available for more VWs we could could obtain objective rather than subjective metrics.

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Permalink Reply by Charles Gatlin on January 4, 2010 at 5:50am

I agree with Ken Rigby,
The best metrics are the ones you gather at a live event yourself. The reports I can offer are 29 standard and also customizable reports based on unique questions potential end users may have. What I can do is give you a front row seat at my next event. Virtual Worlds don't yet have this capability at the present time. It is companies that have experience in Virtual Trade Shows and events that have advanced this field.

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Permalink Reply by Ken Rigby (Tele3DWorld/MellaniuM/InterVerzaL) on January 4, 2010 at 3:02pm

This is why AVAYA's Web.Alive will come alive for trade shows, conferences, seminars, etc. These stats can be used to drive a CMS system; providing real-time objective data to the Trade show events. That's what I call enterprise.

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