The Reality of Virtuality

Only a few weeks ago we held our first ITM forum in second life and the feedback has been great. Attended by around 20 delegates (a similar number to the amount who attended the real-life event the day before at the NEC) the forum we designed was created to test the boundaries of this technology in a business environment and its application for meetings and events.

As part of ITM’s goal is to innovate and explore the use of technology in the travel and meetings arena our introduction to Second Life has been an interesting one. The mere fact that the delegates at the virtual event reported a 10% higher feedback score on “ability to interact with speakers” than the real-life event shows the potential of this technology.

I’m not saying that we will necessarily see a fundamental shift from real-life meetings to those undertaken on virtual platforms. Certainly some of the feedback has highlighted areas where real life wins hands down, but there’s no doubt that technology like this can be a powerful medium in the right hands and for the right purpose.

Those who say that it’s just a tool for those unable to establish relationships in real-life should take a look and see. To dismiss us as a bunch of crazies is to underestimate the potential opportunity we represent to manage your business interactions more efficiently and to bring a little zest into small meetings and events.

I will never forget the ITM forum we attended. The content and speakers are etched into my mind, because I was really there and I listened with great interest. How many real life events can you say that about!?