DISCOVER YOUR SECOND LIFE
Post-Event Event Summary | Debbie McCormick 0|Page
DISCOVER YOUR SECOND LIFE Discovery Day 2007 Post Event Report Executive Summary The inaugural Second Life Discovery Day conference, ‘Discover Your Second Life’ was co-presented on 17th November by Monash University and Swinburne University of Technology. The one-day conference attracted almost a hundred Australian and international registrations which comprised of academics and industry representatives who gathered at Monash University Caulfield Campus and in the Multi-User Virtual Environment (MUVE) Second Life. ‘Discovery Your Second Life’ was a mixed reality event (occurring simultaneously in ‘real life’ and Second Life) which facilitated attendance at multiple locations. There were an equal number of registrations for both locations. The day consisted of 8 x 30 minute sessions delivered from Monash University Caulfield campus, and from inside Second Life. Presentations covered a broad range of subjects including the business and educational possibilities offered by Second Life; law and order issues; and a presentation by IBM representatives of their research and future plans. Although we experienced some technical challenges we were able to present a (mostly) ‘mixed reality’ event as originally planned. The IBM team were impressed by the conference content and organisation and expressed an interest in working with Monash and Swinburne to conduct a larger event in 2008. Some quick facts: • • •
Registrations were 50/50 for both venues (Monash Caulfield and Second Life) 53% of registrations did not identify as originating from either Monash or Swinburne 14% came from interstate or overseas (a further 15% could not be determined due to the use of generic email addresses and Second Life aliases).
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Introduction ‘Discover Your Second Life’ was developed with the aim of showcasing Second Life as an environment for education, business and collaboration to users with little or no experience in the environment. The idea of organising an event was originally mooted by Dr. Suku Sinnappan from Swinburne University of Technology in July 2007. An organising committee was formed in August and preparations for the inaugural event commenced in September. It was decided that the event would be developed jointly by Monash University and Swinburne University of Technology. The primary organisers of the event were: • • •
Dr. Suku Sinnappan - Swinburne University of Technology Dr. Melissa De Zwart – Monash University Ms. Debra McCormick – Monash University
Data gathered from the online registration site www.eventbrite.com and a post-event survey conducted through www.surveymonkey.com provide the information for this report.
Pre-Event Summary Sponsors The event was sponsored by Open Universities Australia (OUA), Monash University Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (International), and Swinburne Institute of Technology.
Marketing The graphic designed for the event featured the logon screen shot from Second Life with the logos of the co-presenting institutions (Appendix 1 ‘Discover Your Second Life’ graphic). The scene is representative of ‘arriving’ at Second Life and being greeted by Monash University and Swinburne University of Technology as hosts. The event was promoted through email invitation, articles in the Monash Memo (online Monash newsletter (Appendix 2 ‘Discover Your Second Life’ Media Release, Appendix 3 Monash Memo Article), the Second Life Educators (SLED) Events Calendar and the SLED Forum. People interested in attending were directed to the online registration page (Appendix 4 - Registration A wiki (www.sldiscoveryday.wikispaces.com) was developed as an information portal that contained updated event and speaker information (Attachment 5 – Event Wiki).
Site).
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Registrations The online registration service (www.eventbrite.com www.eventbrite.com) was easy to set up and provided good pre pre- and post-event analytics. Registrants were also happy with the service, with 91.7% reporting that the online application was easy to use.
Email Invitations Bounced 4% Unopened 43%
Responded Yes 18%
Responded - Undecided 1%
Clicked 12%
The registration site had a facility that enable the generation of email invitations. One hundred and twenty email invitations were issued.
Opened 18%
Responded - No 4%
The invitations, marketing and word-of-mouth word resulted in the allocation of ninety-nine nine tickets.
Registration Origins Although the majority of registrations were from Victoria it was good to see 14% came from interstate or overseas
NA 15% NSW 7%
O/seas 5% WA 2%
Vic 71%
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Monash Attendees Arts 23%
Law 19% Buseco 10%
Admin 16% Student 6%
Medicine 13%
It was expected that the majority of attendees would be from the host universitiess however this turned out to be incorrect with 53% of registrations coming from outside the host institutions
CALT 7% Library 3%
Education 3%
Attendees from Host Universities
From Monash 31% Other 53%
There were 31 tickets allocated to Monash staff and students. The registrations from Monash represented a variety of Faculties Faculties.
From Swinburne 16%
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Table 1 Institutional Origin of Registrations
Inst/Org
Country
Total
Monash University
Australia
31
NA
NA
16
Swinburne University of Technology
Australia
16
Apple
NA
6
IBM
Australia
6
Deakin
Australia
4
Overnewton Community College
Australia
4
AFTRS
Australia
2
Gartner Group
Australia
2
Rio Salado College
USA
2
RMIT
Australia
2
UTS
Australia
2
Edith Cowan University
Australia
1
Microsoft
Australia
1
Murdoch Uni
Australia
1
Oztron Media
Australia
1
University of Melbourne
Australia
1
University of Sheffield
UK
1
Registrations originated from a variety of education and corporate institutions.
99 Due to the nature of a mixed-reality event it was difficult to determine the exact number of participants but a conservative estimate would be approx 70, based on actual numbers of real-life attendees and estimation of Second Life attendees. More rigorous counting methods should be explored for future events.
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Post Event Information Survey Responses/Recommendations A survey was developed to garner feedback about the event organisation, the speakers, and suggestions for future events. The survey instrument was developed using an online survey site www.surveymonkey.com. An invitation to complete the survey was forwarded to event attendees via the email addresses they used to register (Appendix 6 – Survey Invitation). An invitation was also forwarded to the SLED mailing list to reach any attendees who didn’t register but who may have attended the event in Second Life. There was a 33% response rate to the survey from the email addresses that had been used to register (twenty-two replies). The responders indicated that they had attended the event in Real Life (52.4%), Second Life (42.9%), or both (4.8%). Following is a synopsis of the survey responses. A more detailed summary is attached (Attachment 1 – SLDD Survey Summary Dec 07).
Event Organisation Feedback The vast majority of attendees agreed that Monash Caulfield was an accessible location (81.8%) and most Second Life (inworld) participants (45.5%) found the Second Life location easy to get to. The majority of the responders (46.2%) agreed the real-life part of the event was well-organised. The technical difficulties experienced during the inworld part of the event most likely account for the mixed feelings that are evidenced in the replies relating to the inworld organisation however the majority of responders (66.6%) agreed or agreed somewhat that the Second Life part of the event was well-organised. It is concerning but understandable that a third (33.3%) of responders felt the inworld portion of the event could have been better organised.
Marketing Responders to the post-event survey were asked to indicate where they had heard of the event and the vast majority (90%) had heard through a friend or colleague. Exactly half of the survey respondents reported that they had visited the event wiki.
Speakers Attendees were asked to respond to the following statements in relation to individual presentations
• • • • •
I learnt something from this presentation The information was relevant to my situation The information was easy to understand The presentation inspired me to action I would attend this presentation again if it were conducted at a similar conference
The responses were mostly positive and those that weren’t provided helpful feedback. The majority of responders indicated that they would attend the presentation again if it were conducted at a similar conference. More information is available in the attached detailed summary (Attachment 1 – SLDD Survey Summary Dec 07). 6|Page
Conclusion Budget Despite a very limited operating budget (< $5k), the overall feedback was that the event was professionally organised, well run, and included knowledgeable speakers who gave interesting presentations.
Positives • • •
Presentations were interesting and relevant All survey responders indicated they would attend this conference again We achieved our objective of streaming some of the content
Negatives • • • •
Technical issues intermittently affected streaming between locations Due to technical issues, inworld location was not finalised until the morning of the event Budget limitations We ran over time and missed out visiting several planned locations including Monash Island
Recommendations for future events • • • • • • • •
Conduct more technical testing prior to the event Ensure technical support is on hand on the day of the event Commence marketing the event earlier Provide handout (CD or soft copy) of presentations Professionally film and record the sessions Make sessions viewable of the web Hold event on a weekday Use better counting procedures
An image collage of event highlights follows the appendices. For more information or image copies please contact: Debbie McCormick Behavioural Studies Department School of Political and Social Inquiry Monash University E| debra.mccormick@arts.monash.edu.au P| 0418 481 621
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Appendix 1 - ‘Discover Your Second Life’ graphic
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Appendix 2 - ‘Discover Your Second Life’ Media Release
For immediate release 7 November 2007
DISCOVER YOUR SECOND LIFE If you’ve heard of Second Life, the virtual online ‘world’, you may be wondering what all the fuss is about. Given the amount of negative press it has attracted you could be forgiven for assuming it’s either a 3D Sodom and Gomorrah or a waste of time. Although they concede that most of what you hear about Second Life is probably true, a group of pioneering Australian researchers, educators and corporate organisations will be showcasing some of the more positive aspects of the environment by inviting people to ‘Discover Your Second Life’. An enthusiastic and growing group of researchers and educators from universities and colleges around the globe are teaching and conducting research in Second Life to uncover its potential applications as an educational and collaborative tool that provides immersive and engaging experiences. ‘Discover Your Second Life’ will be an opportunity to share some of their knowledge with other curious educators, researchers and businesses. Debbie McCormick, one of the event organisers explained “we want to provide an overview of the environment for people with little or no practical experience of Second Life. The presentations will be accessible to an audience with varying interests and experience”. The event will be jointly hosted by Monash University (Behavioural Studies and Law) and Swinburne University of Technology. Speakers at ‘Discover Your Second Life’ will be representatives from leading Australian universities, TAFE’s and colleges, and IBM will chair a panel to discuss the future of virtual environments. The event will be ‘mixed reality’- some presentations conducted from a lecture at Monash University in Caulfield and others beamed live from Second Life. For more information: http://sldiscoveryday.wikispaces.com To register: http://discoveryoursecondlife.eventbrite.com Date: Time: Location:
Saturday, November 17, 2007 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Monash University Caulfield Campus - Room H125 900 Dandenong Road Caulfield
Keywords:
Second Life, Online learning, Online teaching, 3D virtual worlds
More information:
Debbie McCormick e. debra.mccormick@arts.monash.edu.au p. 0418 481 621 Available on request
Images:
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Appendix 3 - ‘Discover Your Second Life’ Monash Memo Article
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Appendix 4 - Registration Site (www.eventbrite.com)
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Appendix 5 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Event Wiki
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Appendix 6 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Survey Invitation
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Gary Hayes presenting in real life and in Second Life
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Chris Yeoh from IBM presenting on his ‘home turf’
Organisers (L-R) Dr. Melissa De Zwart Dr. Suku Sinnappan Debbie McCormick
Mandy Salomon speaking about her publication ‘Business in Second Life: an introduction’
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JoKay’s recently opened Educational Island – Jokaydia
Kim Flintoff’s Island of Godot. Designed for Kim’s process drama research
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Monash staff at the event in Second Life and Real Life
(L-R) Peter Wagstaff Michael Henderson
(L-R) Dr. Melissa De Zwart (Law) Joanne Becker (Law) Lloyd England (Law) Kate Roth (ODVC-I)
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Thanks • • • • • • • • •
Melissa De Zwart – Co-organiser (for helping to make the event a reality and keeping me grounded) Suku Sinnappan - Co-organiser (for thinking this event would be a good idea) All the speakers (Glenda didn’t have a photo of you to include but your attendance and presentation were appreciated) Lindy McKeown (AKA - Decka Mah, without her help we would have been in big trouble) Kim Flintoff and Jo Kay for their technical advice Alan Levine (ditto) The good folk from SLCN (ditto) IBM (for use of the inworld location) All the ‘behind the scenes’ organisers (alphabetical ) o James Allingham, Jo Becker, Craig Becker, Kelly Daly, Lloyd (Foxy) England, Sean FitzGerald, Scott Grant, Michael Henderson, Kate Roth, Bruce Somerville, Peter Wagstaff, Chris Yeoh
Special thanks to our sponsors who provided the funding that enabled us to run the event:
Open Universities Australia
Monash University, Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International)
Swinburne University of Technology
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