Episode 67: Reimagining Online Events with Em Lazer-Walker

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.Support Enjoy the Vue