ITMEDIA at the University of Copenhagen have been working with taking the academic conference online for years. Streaming events, using backchannel chat systems and Twitter, producing introductory pre-event videos, setting up audio debates with keynotes to enrich and prolong the conference, and the sharing of knowledge beyond the event days.
But how can we help the organizers and participants realize the potential of an interactive conference? Because let's face it: the easier choice is to leave out the technology enhancement and stick with the well-known conference format.
We came up with a visual aid: turning it into a board game simply called The Conference Game. By making a children's board game, we let organizers play around with the options, get an overview – and the game element makes it just a little bit less dangerous, and more fun to play around with new technologies. Reception has been great, and maybe the board game can be used for other areas, where one needs to communicate complicated options for technology enhanced events or teaching and support organizers in making good choices.