Enjoy the Vue

Episode 67: Reimagining Online Events with Em Lazer-Walker

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Key Points From This Episode:

  • Memories of the last conferences before the pandemic and thoughts on virtual events.
  • Em's experiences running Roguelike Celebration, and some history of the related games and community.
  • The event's transition to online-only in response to the pandemic and how they weathered the storm.
  • The considerations that go into planning an event with a focus on community and meaningful conversations.
  • How Em went about building the infrastructure that matched the strengths of online games.
  • Video chat versus text-chat; the two camps that exist and accommodating both groups.
  • Ways that Em and his team are simulating the social environment and cues of in-person gatherings.
  • How accessibility concerns were addressed for Roguelike Celebration; text, color, chat, and more!
  • Thoughts on the future of the online event and how it might change and grow.
  • Challenges with the interface; dealing with concerns around confusion and similarities to other platforms.
  • The question of chat histories and digital hoarding, and why Em decided against newer chat trends.
  • Scheduling and timing issues for the conference and the big request for more free time from attendees.
  • The approach to post-event interaction and conversation and the impromptu way things played out.
  • Possibilities for the growth of the video chat feature for the event in the future.
  • How listeners can get involved and check out the open-source space.
  • This week's picks! TV series, movies, audiobooks, games, and more!

    • Tweetables:

    • “I think trying to have a digital-physical hybrid event is inherently a flawed strategy. I don't think it is possible to do it in a way that the people who are attending one of the two events don't feel like they are getting the sub-par experience.” — @lazerwalker [0:26:22]
    • “Providing a novel space itself is inherently valuable, because you are giving people the chance to escape and this feels like something new in a way that a physical event space feels like something new.” — @lazerwalker [0:27:31]

      • Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

      • Roguelike Celebration
      • Using Game Design to Make Virtual Events More Social, Em Lazer-Walker
      • Rogue (Game)
      • MUD (Multi-User Dungeon)
      • Code of Conduct
      • WebRTC
      • Yet Another Browser Mud (Em’s OSS space)
      • Why Video Chat is a Hard Technical Problem, DEV Community 👩‍💻👨‍💻 (WebRTC article)
      • Gnosia (Nintendo Switch)
      • The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker
      • Together Apart, Priya Parker (podcast)
      • Penn and Teller: Fool Us, CW
      • The One, Netflix
      • Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie (read by Dan Stevens)

        • Special Guest: Em Lazer-Walker.

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        Enjoy the VueBy The Enjoy the Vue Team
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