On writing about what I learnt...
I think it can be rather difficult at times to translate specifically what we have learnt into words or even quantify them. I didn't go to the pitch looking to learn three or more things, hence, I'm not going to write exactly what three things I've learnt and how I'll apply them. But I'll still write about things I've learnt.
For me, the session was about gaining insights and perspectives. While I did hope that there may be a particular project that would draw me towards it, I don't think I really saw one that was suitable for me.
Jumping into the social networking bandwagon...
I felt that the session revealed that there was a much needed demand for companies and even the public service to establish themselves through social networking sites. People are only just starting to leverage upon social networking sites for their own business or operations. This represents a huge opportunity for web developers. However, I think the effectiveness and benefits of using social networking site may be sometimes questionable.
For example, for the World Cities Summit, I'm not sure that creating a facebook app for it will help that much. The event appears to be a one-off thing meaning that the game may not be built to be sustainable but will be played only during a period of time. Yes, the app would create more "colour" for the event but I think it will not add anything significant to the true deliverables of the event itself. This is reflected in the fact that there wasn't really a budget allocated to the development of such a medium.
Will creating a facebook app lead directly to more traffic or publicity? I don't think so. Some events or businesses may lend themselves better to the nature of social networking sites but for others, it may be a lot more difficult. Designing a facebook app to work accordingly to what we desire it for may be very much a trial and error process. It will be time consuming. Thus, I think that to try and implement a successful app in a short period of time is a highly improbable thing. If World Cities Summit really wanted a facebook app to help it with the event, this should have started at least last June, a year from the actual event itself.
On 6Waves...
I found 6waves' talk to be very interesting. There was so much information shared in the presentation itself. The presentation gave me insight of a unique business model. I kind of like the way the company works because it's task is essentially to problem solve for social game companies in terms of publicity and revenue. There is a lot of room for creativity. There were certainly many new things I learnt from this talk.
About learning...
One thing from the Redsports.sg presentation struck a rather strange chord in me: that the web developer for Redsports had difficulty connecting facebook with Redsports.sg. I'm not sure what to make out of this. I would think that someone with the experience in handling things with the web would be able to adapt and work with new web technology. I reckon that in the field of computer technology, things are moving at such a rapid pace that unless one keeps learning, one will not be able to stay in the race. This is probably quite a different picture as compared to other industries. However, this may also mean that the better and faster learners will have a much more significant advantage and will prevail in this race. It certainly would take a specific "type" of person to survive in it then.
That's all for now. There are probably some other things about the session bubbling at the back of my head but they refuse to surface. I'll write some more if I get any new thoughts.
I think it can be rather difficult at times to translate specifically what we have learnt into words or even quantify them.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely true. That's the reason why this exercise exists to "force" you to think about what you learnt. Learning actually requires some amount of effort -- and the average person doesn't spend sufficient time and/or effort to try to make connections to the things seen and/or heard.
The event appears to be a one-off thing meaning that the game may not be built to be sustainable but will be played only during a period of time.
Actually, it all depends on what you're doing it for. If you are doing marketing, a one-off thing might be helpful. Recall the Prince of Persia deal. Ubisoft only wants to use Facebook as a means to do publicity for its game and drum up demand. After the game is released, how important do you think the FB game will be?
I think that to try and implement a successful app in a short period of time is a highly improbable thing.
Actually it really depends on the capability of the folks involved and how complicated the thing you want to do is. Flash apps can be done relatively quickly for seasoned developers who have access to certain assets.
I kind of like the way the company works because it's task is essentially to problem solve for social game companies in terms of publicity and revenue.
Actually, what you saw was 6 Waves reacting to market conditions and circumstances. Entrepreneurship is complicated. Many entrepreneurs go into something and then suddenly realise the problems - but they react.
Basically it's *very* difficult to make games. It's hard to come up with successful games. By transforming from a game developer to a game publisher (specializing in monetization), 6 Waves does two things: (i) it reduces its own risk since it doesn't really matter if a particular game flops (just find another one); and (ii) it probably increases its revenue and user base.
However, this may also mean that the better and faster learners will have a much more significant advantage and will prevail in this race.
Obviously. Duh. :-)