WHERE IS EVERYONE?

 Last week I co-hosted a metaverse demo. Turned into one of the funniest things I’ve ever done. A shame it wasn’t meant to be.

Everyone is saying that Web 3.0 and the Metaverse is the next big thing.  And it is :). But really as a new event planner in this new world, I’d like to share our hysterical stories and learning points with all event planners.  It’s challenging us all but it’s also really exciting to learn something new.

So, here’s the thing. On Friday last week, we decided to hold an ICE meeting on the Metaverse.  Our Oculus Glasses arrive with our hand controls.  Very exciting.  On the handset, there are buttons, clickers, and a stick.  We go online the day of the event, and I get stuck.  Contact the lovely helpline and I start to set up my headset. 

1st problem! I have to enter my home wifi code and I cannot see it because I’ve got my headset on.  I drag out a colleague and he has to read it to me.  I then have to enter the access code to the world.  I am now connected to the meta world but the control panel is too high up and out of reach so I have to jump up and down like a kangaroo to reach - very good for the exercise routine!

I then choose my Avatar which is hysterical as it looks more like Eric Morecombe and nothing like me.  I now get into meta world and it’s gobsmackingly amazing.   Bright lights, palm trees and space.  It’s enormous! And now I can’t find any of my colleagues.  I go hunting and hunting.  I eventually find a colleague lying down (maybe he's had too much to drink but it's only 9am) and he cannot get up because it's hard to get your boots to stay flat. (Not worth explaining). 

We finally meet and after much tearful laughing, we have a great meeting.

Learning points from my first metaverse experience:

Ensure everyone has a technical briefing session one on one and not in the group

Have a practice session in the world so you understand the controls prior to the actual meeting

Make sure the world is small enough to find each other

Ensure your supplier includes a pre-paid courier pickup slip for the glasses as people work from home and offices so alot of admin associated

Here at ICEHQ we are now going on to build our ICE Meetaverse World.  If you are an in-house corporate planner and want to come and experiment in this new world register here

To get your event teams recognised for the great events do remember to enter ICEAWARDS (only for in-corporate event planners) by 30 April 2023