Sorry for the delayed recap of my online holiday party. It has been pouring snow here in Portland and very stressful since none of us are used to snow. I’d kill for a snow shovel right now.
Anyway, thank you to everyone who showed up to my online holiday party whether you posted anything or not. It was an interesting experiment. I didn’t know quite what to expect but now I know what works and what doesn’t should I decide to do something similar in the future (and you know I will.)
First, here’s a rundown of the technology used to pull it off.
1. Wordpress 2.7 was used as the CMS for the event. As most of you already know Wordpress is a breeze to use and I think those that contributed content would agree.
2. Kaltura Video plugin: Honestly when I impulsively decided to do this project I never expected to have interactive video, but this plugin for Wordpress delivered in spades. It worked flawlessly delivering realtime as well as uploaded video as an integrated element within all WP posts and comments. I only wish more people had used it, but I guess a lot of people are camera shy. More on this later.
3. Groupboard: Believe me, finding a truely collaborative whiteboard that supported multiple users, saved sketches, and was free was my biggest challenge. Groupboard worked as promised. It is a java based applet that I integrated within a Wordpress page using a plugin to enable iFrames.
4. Embed iFrame: This is the wordpress plugin that I used to embed the Groupboard Java applet within a Wordpress page.
5. Let it Snow: This is the Wordpress plugin that generated the “snow” by embedding the appropriate javascript within the site. This plugin interfered with the performance of the whiteboard and was deactivated shortly after the party launch.
OK, enough of the technical chit-chat. Here are my observations of the festivities and what I learned about human behavior and the 2 sides of the human ego, bold and timid.
Most folks showed up at around 5:30pm PST, the official start time for the event. I think this group stayed for around an hour or so and then site traffic and activity fell off dramatically. Some people stuck around and whenever a new person introduced themselves online, there were short bursts of activity and then back to being very quiet.
Based on who actually posted content, I can tell you that all were artists, filmmakers and hands on creative types in general. Interestingly enough I noticed that behind the scenes, many people had registered for posting rights, but few actually posted.
So I can only conclude that creative types are more likely than not to try things and others tend to be more cautious before taking action. I guess it’s a mindset I need to factor into future projects. Whenever I initiate projects like this I like to include “non-artists” but it seems like I might need to focus on those with a natural creative countenance in future “happenings.”
A huge thanks to everyone who showed up and especially to the gorgeous people who posted media. I love what you did with the place!
See you in ‘09!
Whew!! everything is almost ready for my online party. Here are the directions:
http://party2008.breaknmake.com
See you there at 5:30pm-ish PST.
Hi there, here’s just a little update for those of you attending my Online Holiday Party next week. I have been testing the interactive video component and it is pretty sweet. It looks like all those who RSVP will be able to shoot live video from their personal webcams (and more) and upload them instantly. You will also be able to edit them and add special effects.
I am pretty excited about this. It will be great to see you. The plugin also allows you to add still photos and audio. It’s gonna be a multimedia extravaganza!! In order to use this feature at the party YOU MUST RSVP. It can only be accessed through the back door. You can send me an email at magdazine @ gmail.com to RSVP and get a password for next Wednesday. I will continue to update the features as I add them.
First of all congratulations to everyone who made it onto my invitation list. Feel free to pass around the invitation to others whom you think might enjoy the experience or add extra, joy and/or chaos to the proceedings.
OK. I just clicked “send” in my bulk emailer and there’s no turning back. My online holiday party is on! See you there. Don’t forget to RSVP for maximum power.
I’ve always liked carefully dismantling things, observing and marveling at all the parts that go into making them, then reassembling these same parts to create something totally different. I usually toss the stuff out afterwards, so I decided to document my process and post the images for your viewing pleasure or disdain.
The first project is rather ambitious even by my own standards. I am breaking apart my “Christmas” party, or at least its conceptual components and rebuilding it online. I am going to need your help to pull it off, though. My party will be online. Yes, you heard me right. It will happen next week during a specific set of hours. The site will be open to the public, but most participation will be limited to invited guests. If you’d like to attend please drop me a line and I will put you on the invitation list.
The party will include the following “rooms.”
1. Visual Drinking School: This is an area to share images of your cocktails as well as recipes.
2. Cocktail Cam: I will have a web cam pointed squarely at my own delicious cocktail all night long.
3. Interactive video: You will be able to record and upload images and hopefully video.
4. Collaborative whiteboard: Once again, if technology doesn’t bite me in the ass, the plan is to have a whiteboard(s) on the site for drawing and anything else that comes to mind.
5. Karoke: I am still working on this. I really like MySpace’s karoke but they won’t let me embed the files here. Hmmmnn.
6. Invited guests will have full write privileges to create new “rooms” and posts. (More on this later)
7. Secret Santa Art exchange: Invited guests will be given the name of another invited guest (no email address) and will post their gift images in the “Secret Santa” area of the site.
8. More stuff TBD.
I think it could be lots of fun. C’mon people help me make this happen.
Whenever you install a fresh copy of Wordpress it creates a new post called “Hello World!” I usually delete it but this time I broke it. I could’ve also used:
lol He world!
door Hell w!l
moving on…
