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video advertisements ahead of the desired video content. Resorts could use this technology to provide instant AI
Mid-roll ads are like a commercial that appears in the middle customer support for common questions such as “What are
of a video.) your hours?” and “Do you have programs for kids?”—which
Live video has become a battleground for social media in turn would free staff to handle more complicated or time-
platforms—Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Snapchat—all consuming inquiries. Chatbots could also help simplify the
competing for more professional content. They are chasing sales process by identifying the best tickets or pass products
TV to lure advertisers into digital video. Ski areas could use based on the information the guest provides, and then help
this to their advantage to help offset ad budgets. the guest complete the sale.

TIPS TIPS
To be eligible to post video ads, US businesses must have Visit https://www.messenger.fb.com/get-started to learn more
2,000-plus followers and have attracted at least 300 concurrent about this promising new feature.
viewers to a Facebook Live broadcast within the past month.
Before a mid-roll add can be added, a video must Virtual Reality Is Not Coming,
be live for at least four minutes and reach at least 200 It’s Already Here
concurrent viewers. Spending time with friends and family creates many of our
Visit https://www.facebook.com/business/ most meaningful memories, but it’s impossible to always
help/257808937971866/?ref=u2u to learn more about be physically near the people we care about. According to
getting started. Facebook, that’s where the magic of virtual reality comes
in. Facebook Spaces—a new VR app where you hang out
Meet ‘M’ (Facebook’s Chatbot) with friends in a fun, interactive virtual environment as if
Facebook’s goal is to turn Messenger, an instant messaging you were in the same room—is in beta for Oculus Rift and
app, into a very useful tool for a business. As more than 60 Touch today, and you can download it now from the Oculus
million businesses are now on Messenger, Facebook wants Store (www.facebook.com/spaces).
to improve the customer experience they can offer using a Perhaps the biggest advantage of VR is that it immerses
human- and AI-powered virtual assistant called “M.” the user into a world void of all outside interruptions. As
M is capable of performing tasks on behalf of users, an example from a business perspective, ski resorts could
including placing restaurant reservations and booking travel, potentially create hands-on VR modules for their trails.
providing quick answers to common questions, accepting From here, multiple people (e.g., a family) could be placed
orders, and sending the latest news. According to Facebook, directly on the slopes to get a feel for what exactly a run
there are currently more than 100,000 monthly active “bots” would be like.
under the M umbrella. VR isn’t just for fun. The United Nations is using it to
How do you find these virtual assistants? Using “transport” top decision-makers to a Syrian refugee camp
Discover, a hub inside the Messenger platform, you can at a major donor conference. Clouds Over Sidra is a VR
find and message new and interesting chatbots. This is experience designed to take viewers to the Za’atari camp
an opportunity for people to interact with businesses and in Jordan, home to 84,000 Syrian refugees. World leaders
brands in more useful ways. In the Discover hub, you’ll be follow a 12-year-old girl as she invites them into her new
able to browse through categories of bots, see featured bots, home, her makeshift classroom, and to share a meal with her
and check out the ones you’ve recently used. family. The aim of this initiative is to bring the experience of
Some of my favorite chatbots include Whole Foods, vulnerable communities straight to decision makers, thereby
National Geographic Kids, and Snap Travel. As an creating deeper empathy and understanding. By transporting
experiment, I did a side-by-side comparison for a hotel viewers directly to a Syrian refugee camp, the UN hopes
reservation, using my go-to, the Hipmunk website, against to add to the discourse and refocus the world’s attention
the Snap Travel chatbot. It wasn’t even a competition. to one of the world’s largest refugee crises (see www.blog.
What took me 45 minutes of searching for the best deal myworld2015.org/virtualreality).
on the web took less than 2 minutes using the chatbot.
The implications made me pause for a bit. If consumers TIPS
move to this new technology, what does it mean for Keep an eye on Virtual Destinations for Spaces at Oculus
traditional web-based ecommerce that would not appear in Rift (currently in beta testing). There you’ll find a variety of
these results? Facebook content, including 360 videos and photos, video

50 | NSAA JOURNAL | EARLY WINTER 2017