Social Presence in Virtual Event Spaces

It is generally acknowledged that the virtual event platforms of today do not perform satisfactorily at what is arguably their most important function: providing attendees with a sense of social presence. Social presence is the “sense of being with another” and can include ways of knowing who is in the virtual space, how others are reacting to what is happening in the space, an awareness of others’ activities and availability, and an idea of how to connect with them. Issues around presence and awareness have been perennial topics in the CHI and CSCW communities for decades. Nevertheless, the time feels ripe for a new effort with a special focus on larger-scale virtual events, given the accelerated pace of change in the socio-technological landscape and the tremendous potential impact that new insights could now have. The goal of this workshop is to bring together researchers and developers from academia and industry with a shared interest in improving the experience of virtual events to exchange insights and hopefully energize an ongoing community effort in this area.