See how we saved $27,000 or 76% of the cost of a face to face event by hosing our Agile Worlds conference using the 3d web. Read our Agile Dimensions Case Study: A Virtual Micros Conference: Agile Worlds January 2010
2. Context
May 2009
Second Life™ was selected as business critical
tool by AgileBill‟s consulting company
To reach new clients
To save travel cost and, more importantly, time
To teach *better* using immersive techniques
Other virtual world tools have targed uses
January 2010
Hosted a business conference
5. Cost Benefit
Value Delivered Savings
Attendees 35 Face to Face cost $35,695
Education Hours 200 Minus Virtual Costs ($8,567)
Week‟s Web Clicks 1,330 Net Savings $27,128
Green
27.0
Tons of Co2 Saved
Intangible benefits include organizational
experience, and network building
Expenses for virtual was 24% of face to face
7. Analysis Footnotes
The analysis accounts for combined costs for both Care has been taken not to overstate the savings of
attendees and the hosting organization. If different using virtual worlds.
companies pay for each, most of the cost benefits go
We assume 3 hours of training is required per
to the attendees from travel time and cost savings.
attendee. For future events this would be zero
The benefits to the hosting organization is the ability to
appeal to attendees who have little travel budget after We include the cost of specialists for marketing
they become open to using virtual worlds for business. work. Similar costs may be useful for face to
face but are assumed to be zero.
Is 3d web almost as good as face to face? Or is it
*better*? You can network more quickly through For face to face, we assume 15% of the
reading profiles and the use of „backchat‟. Immersive attendees would have been local and would not
models can deliver better education. Intended body incur travel cost.
language and some gestures can be shown. But it Travel cost assumes US Domestic flights, even
takes while to be comfortable using these techniques, though we had some international participation.
so we assume face to face and 3d web benefits are
similar. Data taken from comparison of two actual events:
Agile Worlds 2010 (virtual), and Agile Coach Camp
Labor costs are based on the “2009 Agile Practitioner 2010 (face to face)
Salary Survey” by VersionOne and ASPE
http://bit.ly/aspesalarysurvey which represents the Volunteer Labor is used for both events. These
target audience of this event. An average salary of people should be paid as the market matures.
99,000 was multiple by 1.2 for benefits Carbon emissions assume 0.97 lbs of Co2 per air
Travel costs assume an average of 1,500 passenger passenger mile for an average of 1,500 miles for 30
miles (half way across the US), $350 for air, $210 for (out of 35) travelling attendees. A small amount was
two nights of hotel and fees, $30 for meals, and $60 added from ground travel for face to face, and
for ground transport. These numbers are increased use of electricity for the virtual event.
conservative, especially since some attendees come
from overseas.
8. Benefit: Traffic Delivered
The event brought web traffic
Upsurge of 1,330 clicks
Global potential, but English
speaking for now (US,
Canada, UK)
10. Pros and Cons
Benefits Challenges
Price Gap
Less time wasted travelling Expectation in virtual worlds is
free education
Less money wasted travelling
Expectation in physical world can
Greener be hundreds of dollars per day
Culture Gap
Takes an investment to orient
Turbo networking environment people to virtual world tools, and to
Able to create custom venues change perception of virtual worlds
from questionable toy to mission
Possible to increase learning critical business tool
through interactive techiniques
Labor Gap
Volunteers should eventually be
paid for their hard work
11. Lessons Learned
Apply the same project management
principles you would for any mid sized project
Prepare risk mitigation plans for
Lossof voice
Cancelled speakers
Security
Screen and monitor attendees
Performance
Balance load on virtual venue tools
12. Include Everybody
Make your event accessible
Transcribe for those without hearing
Build for those with poor motor control
Readable fonts for those with poor eyesight
International English and translators for diverse
languages and culture
For wide ranges of virtual world familiarity
Consider world time zones
Pace the event to allow breaks
13. Key Roles
The conference organizer will focus on content
and building a team
Pair the conference organizer with a skilled virtual
coach
Pair the speaker with a „wingman‟ to help with
location, wardrobe, sound, and slides
Identify docents who can move the crowd
14. Going Forward
Share
Learn
Be Green
Be Accessible
Virtual worlds do not enhance life. They *are* life.
Gentle Heron – VirtualAbility.org
15. Read More
AgileBill Krebs http://www.agiledimensions.com
Dawn Cannan http://www.passionatetester.com
Meadhbh Hamrick http://lindenlab.com
Janet Gregory http://www.janetgregory.ca
Alice Krueger http://www.virtualability.org
Alan Atlas http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/about/#alan-atlas
Kevin Feenan http://www.urockcliffe.com
Jo Kay http://jokaydia.com