My first experience with web-based roleplay was during NET*Working 99, an online conference for the Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. As a moderator of two experimental streams “The Playhouse” and “The Alcazar” my brief was to push the boundaries to discover what could be done within a bulletin board. In the Alcazar – the bizarre bazaar - I took on the role of “Sister Marie Psychic”. I solved all problems even if you didn’t have any! In “The Playhouse” I co-facilitated two roleplay games with my colleague, Dr Sivasailam “Thiagi” Thiagarajan.

Soon I was surrounded by a group of intrepid players and together we discovered that the only limitation to using a bulletin board creatively was lack of imagination! During the five weeks of the conference, we went on a camel trek to every state and territory in Australia, got lost in the desert, developed an anthology of poetry readings and discovered solutions to ensure a healthy future for the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector. I still get called “Sister Marie”!

Summary Report
Here is the summary report for the Playhouse, The Alcazar and other mementos from the conference.

The Playhouse
The Alcazar
Sister Marie’s Approach to Solving all Problems
Anthology of Poems

Key learning: In these early days on online learning, roleplay and improvisation were regarded as rather extreme. I’ve never had so much hate mail or so many love letters in my life. In other words, these events really polarized people – they either loved it or hated it. Role-play is not a bland experience – it engages people in one way or another!