The Viral Waistcoat – Interesting travels South, North, East & West

Just got home from the Interesting South II conference. That’s II as in “two”, not “eleven”.

A smorgasbord of non-usual, interesting short format talks (in the vein of TED) about topics that interest the speakers – and in most cases – the audience.

The talk that interested me most was Russ Tucker’s review of his year-old “Viral Waistcoat” experiment.

What is the waistcoat?

The Viral Waistcoat is literally a faux-leather waistcoat that Russ rescued after a particularly seedy fancy-dress party (or particularly seedy night at Manacle?). Russ (or whomever handles the waistcoat at the time) encourages random aquaintances to wear the waistcoat, take a photo, sign it in white ink, and pass it along. The coat itself has run out of signature real-estate, but Russ has found room for a NTT Docomo-friendly QR code, ready for when it next tours Japan.

Russ exerts very little control over the proceedings (and doesn’t even have insurance!) yet has managed to document on his Viral Waistcoat blog hundreds of individual wearers and passers-on.

Why is it viral?

The object of the experiment is to make a physical object “viral”. That is, for the idea to be interesting enough that it becomes contagious, and the wearer will gladly pass it along. Of course, unlike digital media, the faux-leather physical object can only be transmitted at a one-to-one ratio. It follows a decidedly linear progression of exposure, not able to be copied and transmitted exponentially.

Why is it interesting?

I was intrigued by the de-virtualising of the idea of “viral”; solidifying the concept and studying it, like a bug trapped in resin. So often, it takes an unhealthy obession with a discarded piece of fetishwear to highlight the curious nature of viral marketing online. This is no exception.

Big props to Ian, Katie, Emily and enthusiastic MC Tim Longhurst for a well-organised, well-directed and above all interesting night.