After a recent shoot for PBS FRONTLINE’s Digital Nation, I looked at my colleagues-attractive, successful women-and was struck by a startling realization: We’re all struggling to find the right guy, yet MMO gamers seem to be finding true love. What’s going on? Time and again as an interactive media producer & professor, I've encountered gamers who’ve found their soulmates in-world. With digital citizens spending a staggering 3-billion hours a week in online games, what are they onto that the rest of us should know? How is the internet fostering our primal instincts? And how can we apply this magic to our real lives? Seeking answers, I challenged myself to look for love in one of the most unlikely places: World of Warcraft. My journey has me exploring the addictive pull of online worlds: the rush of adventure & the feeling of accomplishment at the end of a challenge. So how we can apply this allure to real life to reengage with the physical world? That’s the $3-billion question. In this presentation, I’ll reveal the 10 secrets that online games teach us about succeeding in life & love. I’ll share the harrowing trials & tribulations of heartbreak & hardware malfunctions, the sage wisdom gained in conversations over all-night raids, and the unlikely lessons about life, success, perseverance & communication I’ve learned along the way, from these digital gaming obsessions. You’ll walk out of this talk inspired and ready to play your way to real world happiness.
Ramona Pringle is a multiplatform producer, digital journalist, and actor.
Searching for the answers to some of life’s biggest questions, Ramona has spent the last eight months exploring virtual worlds, looking for the secrets to success in real life and love. While some people turn to God in their quests for meaning, and others turn to therapy… Ramona has turned to video games, challenging herself to look for love in one of the most unlikely places: World of Warcraft. Now, for the first time, she’s sharing the real world wisdom she’s gained in her journey, with *The Avatar Secrets to Real Life and Love*.
Currently in the process of developing a television series on this subject and writing her first book, Ramona has spent countless hours immersed in virtual worlds, getting to know the real people behind avatars, and seeing for herself what real world wisdom about love and success we can learn from video games.
Recently, as Interactive Media Producer for the documentary “Digital Nation,” Ramona led PBS FRONTLINE in the production of participatory media, including "Your Stories" a portal for user generated content, and was nominated for Digital Media Woman of the Year at the 2010 Canadian New Media Awards.
As Media Director, Ramona develops and produces immersive installations with the PeakMedia Collective. Recent projects include "Ballerina Remix", a multichannel holographic video sculpture installed at the New York Hall of Science; "The Media Tree" at Casino Niagara, a three storey, 96 screen, synchronized video installation; "Winter Sky", a 24,000 square foot immersive video fresco at Sherway Gardens; and “Paranoia” an immersive interactive-narrative cinema-installation. She is currently collaborating on the multiplatform project "Cyborg: The Human Condition" with artist Michaele Jordana Berman.
Ramona was a host at CBC’s "The X", interviewing a wide range of actors, musicians and writers. As an actor, she has appeared in numerous feature films, television series and commercials including "Shoot ‘Em Up", "Model Behavior", "Degrassi", "Murdoch Mysteries", and the “Heidi” campaign for Ricola.
Ramona is New Media faculty in Ryerson's School of Image Arts in Toronto, Canada; she taught in the Film and Theatre departments at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. She has a BFA Honours in Film from York University and a Masters Degree from NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program.
