The eternal ennui of conferences
Singing, answering phones, spy stuff, the usual kind of conference shenanigans. Waterstons Innovation: The Dots
Folks from Waterstons attend a lot of conferences. We often have a stand that we sit at hoping that conference goers will take an interest in talking to us. As an extrovert egomaniac, I (Alex) quite enjoy having a sit on the stand. I like the camaraderie that builds up with the other stand owners and the gentle, friendly tension that there is with the competitor that some how has always ended up with the stand directly opposite yours. I once furtively invited someone on a rival stand to a job interview. They didn’t get the job in the end but those of us involved felt like spies trying to smuggle someone out of enemy territory.
The thing is, a stand is a really great way to get to know your competitors and fellow exhibitors but it can be challenging to actually meet potential customers. It’s easy to whack loads of good swag and loot on your stand but it’s not very sustainable. You can take a coffee machine along but the darned conference venues have started to charge for that little trick. So we’re having to think differently. Can we build something that will really draw the crowds in?
What is this? This is The Dots, our newsletter about exciting things we find in the world of innovation. We imagine innovation as connecting the dots; putting together a jigsaw. Our puzzle pieces are the pieces of interesting information we absorb in the world, our partners and their products. This newsletter is about these dots we find and connect.
This week our Marketing team asked whether we could dream up a little game for people to play at our stand when we go out to conferences. Here are a couple of our rough ideas:
Singstar: Keynote
For too long karaoke has only been for music! Singstar: Keynote lets every attendee become the main act at the conference. Just as in "normal" Singstar, where you perform karaoke to famous pop songs, here you follow along to famous historical tech keynotes. Alongside a microphone, you are given a clicker, so you will be tested not just on your ability to match their talk, but also click through the slides at their pace too.
We have a wide range of tracks to choose from: Steve Jobs announcing the iPhone, Elon Musk accidentally smashing a Cybertruck, Blizzard wondering if attendees owned phones, and many more. We aren't just looking for a heartless rendition though - the folks looking after the stall can add a multiplier onto your score based on how well you emulate the mannerisms of the speaker too. Just how Jobs-ian were you?
So, come along our stall and have a go of Singstar: Keynote, and get a chance to do your best Steve Ballmer "DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS" impression.
Super Service Desk Dash
At the start of the shift everything is quiet. Four phones sit silently on four desks. The game is played in teams of two agents - one security specialist and one printers expert. A phone rings, it’s a security call. The security specialist dashes to answer it. The customer is satisfied. Customer satisfaction increases. Another phone rings, it’s a printer call. While our trusty printers expert is answering that phone another one starts to ring. Another security call. And wait, what’s that, is that another phone ringing? Another security call? And a question about networks? And now there are fifteen calls in the call queue?! Time for Super Service Desk Dash!
Super Service Desk Dash is a two player, Game and Watch1 style arcade game. Two service desk agents frantically answer a bank of phones to solve various customer problems as quickly as possible. It plays out increasingly frantically over the course of two minutes with the team’s final score being their overall customer satisfaction number.
This is the game that we have decided to prototype. It’s fast, it’s easily understood and we can make it accessible with accessible controllers - there are only three buttons for each player. We’ve already got a working prototype that we might be able to share with you all next week!
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