Sunday, June 26, 2016

2016 BIZ: PEOPLE: HG: Planning for HG Welcome Centers, Kitely and elsewhere. Outline and summary. HGProjects

Planning for HG Welcome Centers, Kitely/elsewhere. 
Outline and summary. HG projects
Updated 8/12/2016
Kitely is currently  redesigning its Welcome center.  The welcome center for a grid makes the first impression for most visitors and so is critically important in determining whether they stay.  The welcome centers for the HG grids are important in determining the growth of the Hypergrid.  All of us interested in the growth of the HG have a stake in the effectiveness of welcome centers.   This report summarises ideas about designing effective welcome centers.

Who would care and why?

  • The owners and operators of the grid want more people.
  • Merchants and venue operators want more customers.
  • Established residents and Welcomers usually want more people in the grid.  
  • Communities want more people in their community.
  • Venture capitalists (VCs) want to see an attractive entrance.
  • New arrivals want to find things that fit their interests.

Three main kinds of newcomers to HG

Entry model (for grids and communities alike)

  • Feeder sites: attract and link to main web page. 
  • Entry web page: show how to enter and get started.
  • Welcome site: help for newcomers to the  grid or community.
  • Community: show activities they can start immediately or soon.
  • Example: NMA low tech entry path for starting in Hypergrid.

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  • (More after the break)
  • Where is Arcadia?
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    • Q: What happened to the Friday event notices you were carrying twice a month?
    • A: They weren't drawing enough interest and alternative sources came online.  I am now running a short  form daily near the top of this blog. A more comprehensive collection is in  Selby's daily news collection.

    Metaverse events, current and upcoming



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    Background

    Other welcome centers


    Communities in virtual worlds


    Functions of a grid welcome center 

    Maria's list


    • Different grids have different goals for their welcome regions, but here are the top five:
    • Help people make friends on a grid
    • Help people find things to do on the grid
    • Help newcomers outfit their avatars
    • Allow people to donate money to a grid, or to buy goods or services
    • Provide a convenient place to go to for help

    Grid owners

    • Provide favorable first impression for new arrivals
    • Provide newcomers with what they need early
    • Get them into human contact as fast as possible
    • Get them in contact with communities that fit their interests
    • Maria: Kitely’s new welcome region has more personal feel

    Merchants and venue operators 

    • Tell newcomers about products and events available
    • Tell them how to find products and events. 

    Established residents and Welcomers

    • Offer grid-relevant information to newcomers 
    • Offer welcomer-friendly places for welcomers (sandbox) 
    • Offer easy transport to established destinations
    • Offer easy info and access to places where there are people 
    Communities 
    • Give effective newcomer info to get people to communities that fit their interests
    • Easy way to get people into contact with people in our community.

    Venture capitalists (VCs) 

    • Make the place attractve to the target audience of the business?
    • Make it easy for new arrivals start spending money?
    • Compare with the competition.

    New arrivals: quick answers 

    • What do I do next?
    • Where is everybody?
    • Why do I want to be in this grid?

    Suggestions

    Distribution center model

    • Get newcomers to the place that best fits their interests.
    • You can start that on the entry page.
    • Or communities can start it on their web sites.
    • Community sites are feeder sites if they carry a link to your grid. 
    • Consider the food court model (below) 

    If you want welcomers, give them a reason to be there

    • Sandbox.
    • Texture selector.
    • Script distributor.
    • Kitely calendar.
    • Resource links.
    • Dance floor with animations
    • These things may be attractive to newcomers also.

    The food court model (self-triage)

    • A range of options in one place.  
    • Could have community Kiosks with walkin TPs
    • Don't let newcomers go elsewhere until they know how to get back.

    Use a welcome pack

    • Can be used with any welcome site plan.
    • Is a summary of everything we need to get to newcomers.
    • Goes along with the newcomer, always available.
    • Of such broad interest and potential that I will do a separate article.

    Thanks to many Kitely residents who offered ideas, especially

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    News and Notes

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      The Hypergrid WIP Show

      The Hypergrid WIP is a one hour "show & tell" of works in progress or recently completed. All builders from beginner to pro are invited.  Presentations are in voice and text.  For text presentations, best bring the text in a notecard and paste it into chat.  Voice presentations may be captured in video.  Stills and videos from the show may appear in this blog and elsewhere.

      Next WIP show 

      • Next WIP show: Sun. June 26, Noon SLT 
      • Cookie II location (fourth Sunday of the month)
      • HG address below: paste into the World Map next to Find. Click Find, TP
      • grid.kitely.com:8002:Cookie II 
      • in Kitely: paste into Nav (top) bar of Firestorm, Enter.
      • hop://grid.kitely.com:8002/Cookie II/68/369/22
      • Narasnook  location (second Sunday of the month)
      • Pandora allows presenters to run high threat OSSL functions.
      • world.narasnook.com:8900
      • Put the line above in your World Map next to Find.  Click Find. TP
      • At Narasnook, use World Map to search for Pandora
      • Cookie II location (fourth Sunday of the month)
      • HG address below: paste into the World Map next to Find. Click Find, TP
      • grid.kitely.com:8002:Cookie II 
      • in Kitely: paste into Nav (top) bar of Firestorm, Enter.
      • hop://grid.kitely.com:8002/Cookie II/68/369/22

        Previous Articles from the WIP show 

        HG links-- depending on your interests 

        Metaverse beginner help

        Schools in virtual worlds

        • I publish 5 or 6 days a week, skipping 1 or 2 days in midweek
          •
        • For more on topics like this, follow Selby Evans in Google+ 
        • What do we do in Virtual Worlds? 
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