Good afternoon everybody and welcome to today's webinar Express new product development in a virtual world Which has been organized by the CIM higher and further education group So I'd now like to hand you over to David Smith who is our guest speaker today over to you David Great. Thanks very much to you. Hello everyone. Thank you for joining It's really good to have you here, and I hope that you find this session interesting I found it really interesting in the preparation of it I'll start by introducing myself. So my name is David Smith, and I'm the head of marketing at the University of East London I've got over 15 years experience in education marketing and communications, and that's primarily in the London Higher Education Institutes my experience in HG is quite broad It's from brand management to campaigns market insight research strategic position in and portfolio development and obviously portfolio development It's going to be a key focus of what we're talking about here today For those of you that don't know the University of East London You might not be surprised to hear that we are a university in East London But you might not know that we were established in 1898 as the West Ham Technical Institute So we've got quite a rich and deeply rooted heritage in our local community We're now a forward-thinking university with an ambitious vision We essentially prepare our students for careers of the future So we support them to develop the skills the emotional intelligence and creativity To thrive in a constantly changing world and that vision was actually introduced back in 2018 In the context of the impact of technology on careers and industry of the future But actually since the pandemic out our vision has become a lot more Relevant as change and uncertainty and more prevalent in everyday life And I'm really proud to be part of such an ambitious and inclusive institution And equally proud to be part of the amazing award-winning marketing team at the University of East London So we were recently named a marketing team of the year of the year at the Heist Awards And for those of you that don't know the Heist Awards are the higher education sector awards and In terms of other other accolades We were also shortlisted as the only education brand For marketing team of the year at the most recent CIN marketing excellence awards So I'm now going to turn my camera off partly so that you can enjoy The slides in full glory of the full screen But also to give my Wi-Fi a fighting chance to make it through. I will turn my camera back on at the end So just going over what we're going to cover today And it really is within the context of the global pandemic as I think the title of this session Will have suggested that's going to be the backdrop and I'm going to be using examples from higher education and beyond And talking about how organizations have adapted their product portfolios in response to the pandemic and lockdown restrictions What lessons have been learned and how these can be applied to the way that we operate as we transition back to the new normal And what will be the opportunities and the challenges that lay ahead And I'll be using the theme of the acceleration of digital transformation and product innovation as I work through these points Looking at the opportunities that the pandemic has presented organizations and how this has been used as a platform to innovate Where perhaps traditionally risk adverse organizations might have otherwise lack the appetite or the culture for change So looking at product development, and I want to start with a definition and this is a relatively Simple one New product development is the transformation of a market opportunity Into a product available for sale And I'm going to take a relatively glass half full position on this one and say that the pandemic whilst it's been extremely challenging for businesses. It's also meant that they've had the opportunity To develop and adapt their product offer because life has continued to go on And obviously there's been a need for them to continue to trade as organizations as businesses in that time I also wanted to look at the different types of new product development And I think this is an important distinction that we look at before we go into the detail of the presentation So new product development can be bringing a new product to the market It can be renewing an existing product and this is going to be very much the focus of This session because obviously the pandemic gave us all that opportunity or challenge to look at the way that we were taking our products to market and the way that consumers were consuming our products in a very different world and Also new product development can be introducing a product into a new market And this is another thing that I'm going to touch on as we go through the session So to look at the pandemic and I just wanted to take a few minutes to Go over and remind us of the main factors that have impacted business in the short term because of the pandemic and I think One of them has been the lockdown and the practical barriers of delivery. So people haven't been able to leave their homes They've not had access to the products and the services in the same way that they did pre-pandemic Businesses have been forced to close their doors or find other ways of bringing products to market There's also been the financial implications of the pandemic So people have been spending less whether that's because they've got less disposable income Or they've chosen to spend less because of uncertainty in the economic climate and there have been some some industries some areas that have Seen increases over the last 12 months groceries alcohol books for example have all seen growth in that time but I think more broadly there have been a lot of challenges for business and companies have had to Really respond to to some challenging situations. So I want to start Looking at some examples of how businesses have responded to the pandemic and how they have approached new product development during that time The first example I want to draw on is from the restaurant industry and this is obviously been one of the biggest impacted areas Because their restaurants have essentially been closed and I think there's been two Broad responses to that one is that restaurants have pivoted To the delivery and takeaway models. So many fast food outlets will have already been exploring that as a revenue revenue stream Prior to the pandemic with the emergence of online food order and delivery services such as justy delivery and uber eats But the pandemic really meant that they had to fully focus on that as their main business income Other restaurants have Needed to close down completely. So those high street chains those slightly higher end restaurants that perhaps can't adapt their food Preparation times and their product offer for the delivery model completely close their doors and I think taking one of the biggest brands In the restaurant industry McDonald's and looking at what they did So after the initial closure for them So they decided in in March when the full lockdown hit to close down completely They started to open up and started to do that home delivery And they're already in a good position because they had launched their muck delivery service in the uk In partnership with uber eats back in 2017 and that had had some traction But it was a smaller part of their business the pandemic really allowed them to expand that and to focus on that as their online offer And they they opened up their reach to also include partnerships with just eat And now actually In terms of sales They're back above pre-covid levels. So despite all of the restrictions being in place McDonald's have managed to to pivot to this new model of of product offer and and build their business which is really quite quite impressive another example from the Restaurant industry that I want to go through is cote at home and this this image. Hopefully tantalizing your taste buds on a On a Thursday lunchtime So cote is a french themed restaurant and it's been During the pandemic given its customers access to many of its dishes and products That have been sold in its restaurant at their homes This is actually slightly different model to the one that we've seen in the fast food chains and that online delivery and ordering service Because they're not essentially delivering freshly cooked meals. They're delivering ingredients for their customers to cook at home So I think it's really interesting because it's a slightly different take on what the rest of the sector was doing at the time I think it's really interesting from the perspective of brand as well because it's still allowed them to maintain What's important to them, which is the the quality of their food And it's given us the customers and full disclosure here I have used this service and and enjoyed it very much It's given us a different option other than being left to our own devices to cook Which if you're anything like me in the kitchen isn't a good option because I'm not very good at cooking And the other option being the the array of fast food takeaways, which for me got very boring quite quickly as we went through Lockdown so I think this was a really interesting example I think for the chain it gave them a new revenue stream in the short term Not something that was going to Replace the loss of the the physical restaurants that they've seen for something that had at least given them a supplementary revenue And some think that hopefully they'll be carrying forward as they open up their restaurants And I think that it kept them front of mind to their customers And hopefully encouraged their customers to return to their restaurants when they open Another hugely impacted industry that I want to look at is air travel So as we know flights were grounded travel and tourism had stopped for many many months And airlines had no option but to cease trading in most cases But there are a few examples Of how some airlines have used the time During lockdown to to innovate and look at their product offer So the first example that I want to look at is contests. So they're an australian airline And back in october 2020 They started to offer a flight to nowhere So customers got on to their flight. It took off from sydney It was a seven-hour round trip going over byron bay the gold coast a great barrier reef and then landing back in exactly the same place um, the cost of this was around 500 pounds to 2000 pounds. So it was um relatively expensive for essentially going nowhere And I think broadly this was seen as a bit of a gimmick. Um, they they didn't Scale this up. It wasn't a big revenue Generator for them But I think that what it did do was um, it gained a lot of press coverage when there possibly wasn't a lot of press coverage around Airlines It also kept their customers front of mind and showed that they were thinking about their customers and The people that went on the flight were very happy to have done something that was a bit different and Got an element of travel back into their lives Another example that I want to touch on from the airline industry is finnair so finnair is the airline in finland and During the christmas period they started to offer virtual holiday flights So essentially it was a virtual flight which customers could Could experience could engage with on their laptops on their phones through virtual reality headsets Um, they could experience a flight an element of a flight look around that in virtual reality It lands in lapland and they get to visit center at the end So I was served this opportunity actually as an ad Back over the christmas time and I think it was because I had been searching for a center visits for my daughter So I think from that perspective. It's actually quite a good piece of digital targeting But from a strategic point of view, I think for finnair It wasn't about income generation because the flights only cost 10 euros and all of the profits went to fund To unicef's fund for children who were adversely impacted by the pandemic For finnair, it's more about taking the opportunity to reach a wider audience and tie its brand into the festive periods And to finland and the home of santer and I think that it's a really interesting one from the perspective of virtual reality because virtual reality really is a growing area beyond gaming And it shows how the pandemic allowed the brand and And finnair to really look at product innovation in the virtual space I think that this could possibly be seen as a bit of a gimmick But for me, it's slightly more meaningful than the contest example And I know that for finnair, they actually see this as part of their product extension going forward Um, they've cited this as being something that they're going to carry forward after the pandemic and that's by No means saying that people are going to stop traveling and And continue to do it virtually, but I think that this will complement the physical travel Allow in customers to virtually visit destinations and then look into book or virtually experience some of finnair's service features so their flights and their in-flight facilities So I think it's an interesting example from digital innovation But also an interesting example from the perspective of strategic alignment and product extension So i'm going to switch back now to higher education and the sector that I work in and look at how the pandemic impacted us So broadly we went from this so lots of students in in lecture theaters students on campus in classrooms To this students on their own in their rooms on laptops and I think this is probably quite a common picture for a lot of people and not only students but working as well and you know ourselves at the moment Experienced in this as well so due to the nature of products in higher education, which are courses, which are Consumed for a long period of time. We had a commitment to support our students To complete their studies. So we had students that perhaps were in the final stages of their degrees and really wanted to complete those degrees And to to build on the hard work that they've put in we had students that were earlier on in their degrees who Had already started that journey and were looking to complete their their learning journey as well So for us, we were fortunate enough to have a product that could be moved Completely online and that's what universities did. But it did present us with significant challenges Now first of all, there were varying degrees of virtual course delivery across different institutions Some institutions would have had experience offering online degrees and had quite sophisticated virtual learning environments Others are more Traditional setups and they would have found that pivots are online To be a much bigger challenge from a technological and a logistical point of view Not to mention cultural point of view There were also challenges in terms of access to To hardware and to internet connections as well So in a recent JISC student digital experience insights survey We know that 93% of students said that they had their own laptop So the majority of students would have been ready to set themselves up for online learning But actually it shows that there were still some students that wouldn't have been able to Transition straight away onto online learning and I think that that would have been disproportionately waited Towards certain demographics and certain universities. So a challenge there just in terms of getting students set up to learn online I think there's also the challenge of there being A differences in courses as well in higher education So some courses lend themselves better to online learning than others Some have that kind of practical lab based Element to them which means that learning online might not have been as simple as Another course which is more lecture based And also student expectations was a big challenge for us as well So when students started their degrees certainly their expectations of higher education went beyond lessons and learning There's the support services and social activities Were all very key to the student experience And then of course there's the challenge Of universities Having to adapt their delivery at the same time as having themselves to navigate the challenges of lockdown and the pandemic And as all of us will know it was a extremely Unsettling and scary time. I think that We had to work out how to adapt ourselves to work in remotely at the same time as working to support Students to get online as well. And I think there were some real challenges there I think from a staff point of view Certainly to manage that anxiety of everything that was happening Health issues of staff as well The technical setup of them at home and also the The focus that we needed to maintain on doing the right thing for our students and continue to provide that service And it wasn't really important that we continue to provide that service because a lot of universities rely on tuition fees So there was that real need to Deliver our courses and continue that delivery of the courses And due to the way in which the recruitment cycle work in higher education There was also a real pressure on continuing to attract prospective students for future intakes So this is a An overview of the timelines within higher education. So it shows the the various different academic years So the years where students are studying But also highlights the fact that overlapping those are recruitment cycles. So at the same time Um as students are studying Prospective students are also looking to study in future cycles. So during that full lockdown periods Um, it was really an important period for us because we were seeing out the 2019 academic year Coming to the end of that year and we're really trying to get those students across the line But we're also towards the end of the 20 21 recruitment cycle. So students who had been looking at going to university for many many months Were now presented with The prospect of starting in september to something that was very different to what they'd originally set out to To put themselves forward for and at the same time We had that 21 22 recruitment cycle where students would traditionally start looking at university options And um again having that uncertainty. So there are a lot of um Challenges there's a lot of uncertainty for universities as to how students would respond from that recruitment perspective Particularly for international students I think there's that you know uncertainty in terms of what the university experience would look like in september Concerns around affordability of going to university in a global pandemic and a potential economic recession And also general questions about the value of higher education in in this new climate And I think for for us at the university of east london these points became really prevalent and really key to our messaging And we launched a campaign at the beginning of lockdown to reassure our applicants and prospective students that we were still open Um and to provide clarity and I think this is a really important point That providing clarity of information to them was was really essential at this time because there was so much uncertainty and so much change In terms of recruitment there was also um disruption to to lead generation and conversion activities So we lost physical events and from a recruitment point of view. That's that those events are really important For generating lead and forgetting our brand out there. Um, the government response was also shall we say changeable? So I think that that gave us um a lot of challenges in terms of making it difficult Um to to plan and to forecast and and also decision making had shifted. Um, it was just unknown We didn't know how students would respond To what was happening and and what the future would look like. So a lot of uncertainty That said there were were some factors in our favor for a recruitment perspective We know that there was likely to be less employment options for school leavers. So recruitment Um To higher education then becomes slightly more attractive Travel had stopped so gap years anyone considering gap years may not have been an option anymore Um, and we know that older adults may have been out of work because of the pandemic Um, so looking to reskill or react positively positively to the pandemic and looking to higher education for that So looking now at how higher education responded to the pandemic And I think broadly before the pandemic This was the split of course provision at a standard university So it was mainly on campus the lecture hall type experience with physical access to campus facilities support services social activities and so on There may be have been some kind of online provision mainly through the sharing of resources of online information and support Resources for learning So obviously this is a very general view for most universities and some universities would be more advanced than this Particularly institutions that had online courses. So really just caveat and this is a general view As we then went into full lockdown The sector pretty much went completely online and I think that we actually responded very quickly I know at the university of east london within a matter of days we transitioned to a fairly seamless online delivery that was consistent if not slightly different to the learning provision that our students have had prior to the lockdown as restriction has lifted that delivery shifted back slightly to on campus and that was for courses that needed access to facilities and had some level of practical element to them That was to challenge in to fulfill virtually But there was still a lot of online learning still happening because of the restrictions in in place I think a really important element of this is the blended element of it Of online and on campus And so taking the learnings of the previous months when we've been purely online delivery To then support that back on campus delivery to provide synchronous delivery model for those unable to access campus And given them access to a range of resources and interactions in the virtual space So I think despite huge concerns as to what such a dramatic change might mean to recruitment in higher education The sector actually saw growth in 2020 so participation and except both increased for the for for the sector And I think there's a few reasons for this. I think part of it is the demographic increase So, you know that there are more 18 year olds in in the uk in in the past year Also the lack of other opportunities that I um that I flagged earlier And also I think part of it is to do with the positive response from universities both in that interim solution And being able to provide that online option for students But also in the communications from the sector So I think we did a really good job in being clear about what as clear as we could be About what the future would look like and how we can support students and what the value and benefits were to students of continuing or Deciding to take up their study options in during the pandemic So what does the does the pandemic look like? What does higher education look like after the pandemic? And this is the the model that we just looked at and I think this is purely my view on it, but I feel that we're going to be in a place where we're going back to on campus in a slightly more Fuller way. So the reason I think that we'll be going back to campus is because we need those access to facilities students need social activities and a big part of the student experience is that that access to campus I think from a regional national international perspective as well There are reasons that a particular location is going to be important to to students And working for a london based institution as I do There's that real focus on london as a destination to for some of our students So it goes beyond just them having a qualification from a university. It's about the experience and the themselves immersing themselves in a particular location But whilst I think some universities will be able to trade off of their brand and their reputation and deliver completely online and to give students a Valuable degree Because of that, I think other students will be looking for that added value from being able to be immersed in a particular location And I also think value for money as well is is an important point about that return to campus because It gives students slightly more in terms of what they are getting and that perception of value for money But I think there is going to be this increased level of online Synchronicity so really taking what's been learned during the times of fully online learning And applying it to enhance and curate that student experience and allow for an improved product offer So it's going to continue to allow us to deliver remote access to classes and lectures For classes that don't necessarily need to be on campus given students choice and flexibility For people who can't make it onto campus for personal reasons and we've seen a lot of that During the pandemic and it could be that there are elements of that that carry on as we go into the future And also allowing students to revisit and review content as part of that online offer And obviously this will look different for different courses to some courses We rely a lot more on being on campus than others And allow them to flex between the two in a bit more of a synchronous way But probably I feel that this is what it's going to look like going forward It's also interesting to see how the pandemic has opened up a range of opportunities from a market in a recruitment perspective For higher education So having to do everything virtually has made universities more quickly To move more quickly into the virtual space for engaging with prospective students So whilst virtual tours have been a staple tool for many years now for universities I think the pandemic has accelerated the development of them And the integration of them with virtual experiences for prospective students And my prediction is is that as we go forward we will have a hybrid of physical and virtual events So I think students will still take the opportunity to visit campuses physically but also at the same time Use the opportunity to to expand their research to be able to engage with other institutions Virtually and I think this very much reflects that shift of consumer behavior and the advancement of digital literacy that we've seen In the course of the pandemic and I think looking at an example such as Santander They've had Mobile banking online banking as a core part of their offer for a long time now and it's definitely a growth area but The pandemic has really accelerated that in terms of how their customers are using Those options to the extent that they have recently announced the closure of over 100 physical branches in the uk Because their customers in the past 12 months have really Started to lean towards those more virtual and online product offers So just touching back now on the variations on new product development that we talked about earlier And how I think that these relate to higher education So we've clearly seen that renewing an existing product The pandemic has given us the opportunity to trial fully online and take learning And best practice and up-steal staff And introduce more robust capabilities and infrastructures to provide better products for our students So it's given them more flexibility and more support In terms of bringing in new products to market I think that it's allowed us to to think about blended learning when we're building new courses And building that into our products to take to market rather than trying to retrofit it as we have over the past 12 months And in terms of introducing a product to a new market I think this is a really interesting area because it's allowed a lot of institutions a lot of universities to explore online learning In a way that they wouldn't have before And whilst some universities will revert back to that on-campus model that I presented Some universities might take the opportunity to think about actually how can I get our products our courses To students that can't travel to a particular location and and do want to engage with us online So it takes that that product of the course offer to a much wider audience So just to sum up and I think there's been some really interesting examples here of how How businesses how organizations and how sectors have responded to the pandemic? I think that theme of acceleration of digital digital transformation and product innovation Has been a key one and the pandemic has clearly given us significant challenges But also that unique opportunity to focus on digital transformation by immersing ourselves fully in the digital space I think that organizations have had little choice but to invest in this area. So they've up skilled staff increased digital and virtual capabilities and infrastructures And I think that we've seen that in the growth of online learning in he that product Delivery in a virtual space for the hardest hit sector such as the restaurant industry and airline industry I think that consumers have become More accustomed to a more digital world and product research and person behavior has shifted But whilst I think that it's almost certainly going to swing back to some extent It's going to have opened up the virtual world to a much wider audience I think the products were forced to adapt to the new world and while these were generally Measures that are unlikely to fully replace that pre pandemic offer. I think elements of them will no doubt have extended The product offer going forward for businesses I think as a sector higher education has really risen to the challenge and shown that we can be agile and creative focusing on the needs of our customers And we've gone above and beyond to deliver in unprecedented times And I think we can all take this more courageous way of meeting our customers needs forward as we look at those more innovative ways to develop our product offer And I think marketing teams play a key role in that. I think by being strategic and identifying opportunities for growth and innovation By being insight driven and evidence based but also learning from the agility and the experimentation that the last 12 months has afforded us And given us that license to take calculated risks and do things differently And I think by remaining true to brand so ensuring that as we take new product development forward in the virtual world That we keep brand purpose at the core of our plans for the future So that's everything for me. I'll hand back to you now Judith Okay, that's great. Thanks very much David for a really good presentation So we're now going to have a short Q&A session. There's still time to submit questions if you wanted to And we'll try to get through as many as we can in the next 10 to 15 minutes And just a reminder if you're enjoying today's webinar and you want to post on social media You can use the hashtag CIM events So the first question I'm going to combine two of the questions that we've received Do you think that universities can continue to offer value for money while moving to a more virtual model? And then someone else has asked have you had to differentiate your prices from the physical product to the digital setting? Good questions. Yeah, a really good point. Um, so I think on the on the pricing point of it I think the answer is no for now I think that during the pandemic universities responded in the best way that they could considering the restrictions and I think that We managed to develop an offer that was an interim solution and I think that solution Served its purpose. I think going forward if we're talking about fully online courses For a long time for for the duration Of a degree, then I think that's something that a price of discussion could be had But as I said, I kind of see that my prediction is that we're going to go back to that more on on campus or more synchronous way of working and I think that the price will be less affected by that Apologies to use of what was the first part of the question Um, it was do you think universities can continue to offer value for money while moving to more virtual models? and and then it was About the differential in price pricing. So I think you probably could yeah Yeah, I think I mean definitely from a value for money point of view. I think that's the whole point really Of of the presentation. So, um, I think that it's really not about Um us taking anything away. It's actually us adding to that university experience So I think that what the pandemic has done is allowed us to experiment in that in that virtual space And actually add that on in the same way that coat have as well if you think about that kind of coat products offer Um, it's allowed that they will go back to opening up their restaurants But also it gives their their customers the opportunity to to engage with their brand in a different way as well Okay, um, and then another question and and accept that you've said that you've seen in the long term Moving back to the traditional more traditional model. But one question we had is in in the meantime How do you build trust with students that online courses are as good as bricks and mortar classroom teaching? Um, I'm sort of I guess they're thinking of people who may be looking at starting in this Coming academic year and they've got to make that decision now Yeah, I mean, it's a really good point and I think um, I touched on Communication as part of the presentation. I think that's been a key part of it for for us at the University of East London as well Um, I think just really being clear about what that's going to look like Um, I think that um being clear about where the added value is that we're not just Moving the teaching online and leaving it there Um, think about what else? What else students expect from their university experience? I'm really trying to build that into that Intrim offer so an example would be social activities on campus Obviously students have access to the to the student union the bar To social activities and so on. So how can we replicate that in the virtual world whilst these restrictions are in place? um, and you know, we we've put on virtual movie nights virtual quizzes and so on so I think that It's just being really clear about what the entire package will look like rather than just you're now going to be learning online instead of in a lecture theater or in a classroom Sure Next question, um, do you feel the level of involvement of marketing departments across the uk he sector in the npd process Is as extensive as it could or should be? Um, yeah, another really good question. I think the answer is is that it depends on the institution. So um, I'm lucky enough to to work in an institution where Um, marketing does have a voice on on the executive board. Um, and I think that's a really important distinction between the impacts that we can have as marketing and communications teams, I think um having that influence having that that voice at the very top level Means that we can kind of make a change and make a positive change um, I think that in the time that I've worked in higher education, there has been a real shift in the professionalism in in marketing teams and I I think that um We certainly have the skills and the passion and the courage to be able to do it. So Um, as long as we've got that process within the institution to be able to have our voice heard Then I don't see why not Okay, thanks. Um, and then um a comment followed by a question saying that I'm not sure that they mean it's great to see it But I think it's a comparator for the person similar challenges at uel because of the pandemic And they're wondering how big a team have been involved in delivering student recruitment campaigns during this time from developing the messaging To executing them because usually they're a lot of traveling involved, isn't there to um international student recruitment Yes Could completely yeah, definitely. I think I mean the presentation I mentioned that those um those kind of physical Recruitment events have been taken away. Um, I think broadly they've been replaced by Recruitment events and I think um Actually similarly to the way that our courses have kind of transitioned and pivoted to to be an online I think recruitment activities have done the same. So um, in some ways it's given us an advantage and This I think is reflected in a lot of different ways that um, that the pandemic and and remote Remote access has has really moved things forward in that. Um, we've been able to access bigger audiences So if you think about this um, this webinar, for example, if this was a physical webinar Um, not as many people would have been able to attend it and it's the same with our our recruitment activities Our our open days have seen much bigger numbers We can quite easily attend international recruitment events without having to physically travel there and incur the cost and the Time restraints and results of that as well. So I think there's been some some real benefits of the of the pandemic It's interesting though because I do think there's this um, this kind of paradox of the situation In that it's afforded us this this kind of greater flexibility and greater reach But at the same time, I think that um, there's this digital fatigue and a lot of people Um after 12 months of sitting in their bedroom as I am at the moment in front of a screen Do you want to get out there and start to have those physical and in-person interactions? So I do think that we will shift back to to some level of in-person Interactions, and I think the students will want to go onto campus or go to physical events Um, it's just the virtual side of it will support that and I think that that kind of fits with the overall theme that that I've been looking at Yeah, um next question. Um, what about long-term effect on recruitment and enrollment of students who may not like to return to classroom? Um, are you seeing any of that? I mean Overall, you you're feeling is that people will want to go back to more traditional way But what of people who aren't able to or perhaps there may be travel restrictions? um, yeah, definitely Yeah, completely. I think in the short term obviously any kind of travel restrictions You know our reconsideration and I think that that's something that Universities are preparing for and and will adapt for and Because we've got that experience of the past 12 months will be quite easily able to to to manage I think in in the the longer term um, I do think it's unlikely that There will be as much Want that but I think where where there is that type of demand then there will We will respond and there will be online courses. So um, and you know, they're already a lot of Online options as well. I think pre-pandemic there are institutions that solely focus on that Institutions that started to build that into their models So I think that the important thing really is us as as a sector listening to Our customers our students needs and responding to that and that that's really what new product development is about Right, um, and I think we've got time for one final question Do you think that big events and they mentioned UCAS which for People who are not in that sector is the central admissions system that we have in the UK for university admissions And higher education recruitment fairs. Will they pay a large part moving forwards? Or do you think that's more events on campus at universities and more digital events like you just described before? Will they continue to play a greater role? Yeah, I do honestly think that the physical events will continue to play a big role but I think that it will be In combination with those virtual events. So Yeah, it will give people that still want to physically Visit a university or to go to one of those kind of big fairs the opportunity to do so But also then have that kind of wider audience that can't or you don't have the appetite to To be able to engage virtually because of the the various different Kind of infrastructures and practices that we've developed over the past 12 months Okay, excellent. Well, thank you very much David. That's brilliant. We've had some really good questions there from our viewers And just to just to recap as a reminder CIM is a qualifications body as well Um, and we've had to respond with our offering in response to the covid pandemic as well Both with our study centre partners who have adapted their teaching methods and and our assessments But we also have around 90 plus partner universities who we work in partnership with Mapping their marketing degrees so that their students can then go on if they wish to to gain exemption from the CIM qualifications later on And we've also developed things as well as this webinar express series We have our marketing club events which are now online to help students develop their skills Which is webinars and student newsletters and articles that you can register for Obviously the exemptions that we mentioned from qualifications new modules And we also have the annual pitch competition that you may want to look out for So you can find more information about that on the CIM's website And if you want help as a as a an HE institution in getting involved in working with CIM in that way We can put you in touch with our colleagues who can support that So that's all we have time for for our webinar today I'd like to say thanks to David for today's presentation and the CIM and higher and further education group for organising the event We do hope you found it interesting and worthwhile Our next webinar express is shifting perceptions of B2B It's on thursday the third of june at 1 p.m. And it is hosted by CIM northeast You'll find further details listed on the events page on the CIM website where you'll also be able to register for the session So on behalf of CIM thank you once again David for a really good presentation and thank you for joining us We hope you enjoy the rest of your day. Goodbye


In August 2020, we interviewed Scott Reinhard, a designer at the New York Times. He was one member of a team publishing COVID-19 data. The team worked in continuous shifts, like in a hospital, but from the isolation of their homes and apartments. This is an outbreak that started at zero cases, right? And it started with literally a Google spreadsheet where they were just starting to track each individual case as it came in. So when I showed up in March and it was less than a thousand, it was like it was a Google spreadsheet. And there was just four of us in New York, London, and Hong Kong updating this tracker 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And so I just like went into it and it was like a month and a half straight of work, no time off. And as those cases are scaling, you know, eventually it broke the Google spreadsheet because we're like at 60,000, 70,000 cases.  So as we were building this, or, you know, starting to maintain and update these trackers in the background, they had a development team that are building more robust databases that could actually handle the amount of data being piped in, as well as, you know, at that time, they're building a data collecting team. And that includes people tracking, you know, all of the press releases from health departments, but also there's a really, really robust team of developers that are working at scrapers so that we're constantly, constantly scraping data from everywhere as much as we can. You know, I'm 36 now and was working as a graphic designer, I don't know, last 15 years. And I've kind of like dropped into this other world that's like graphic design adjacent, but not, you know. And so, so deeply close to these numbers and they haven't really become abstract to me. You know, it's not like I'm just hitting a script and publishing and it hasn't become automatic.


Right, so here you see a Product map. Yeah, so these are our main products we offer and those are you know the the top two lines show the symmetrical horns or a symmetrical radiation pattern than tennis and The gain is increasing from left to right. Yes, so you have like seven different gains and being with of the symmetrical horns and Then there's ultra horn and bunch of relationships Right, so and then we have also antennas with asymmetrical radiation pattern in the third line and on the bottom line are Twists for the doctors and those are actually something I want to I want to talk about first because Just to clarify how how the radios connect to our antennas Yeah, because it's not a standard thing that an antenna has a weight guy So twist for it's our proprietary weight guy connector And that has two essential advantages compared to the to the pigtails. So first of them is a Extremely easy installation now. You can really install the radio as you can see you just insert twist done. It's very fast Very robust and mechanically. It's extremely robust. There is no We still didn't figure out or still didn't get any report that have what the amount of the of the Connecting disconnect cycles for it to fail, right? It's that robust It just lasts I mean the horns are on the market since 2014 and since then we did not hear about the twist for breaking So it's extremely robust mechanism and the second that biggest advantage Is it's low loss as compared to their cruxio cables. It's lost. It's 10 times smaller. Yeah, and Meaning that it's virtually zero If something is so small you can't even measure it because we can we can't we tried But the loss is so small that is negligible yeah, and The way this works, yeah, so that's the traditional radio you used to we took that radio and You know in integrate the transition from the radio to the antenna directly into the PCB And that really enables that's what really enables that that little loss to actually really be in place. So that really makes We sport or we sport it really like very a Very good connector for for the radios in this industry because the cables can often Introduce loss as high as even three decibels. Yeah, which is half of the power. Yeah, you would you just wasted the cable So that was the best solution. Yeah, when the transition was directly Interrated in the radio PCB, but of course We don't sell our radio yet. So we have to we have to support the brands that are out there And for that for these radios, we have to export adapters And the twist for the doctor it basically changes the coaxial output of the radio into twist for the male It's a simple step. Yeah, so on that you see what's inside a typical twist for the doctor You might be like wait, but did you say there are a class in cables, right? Well, yes I did but in the in the adopters there are kids and those are semi-rigid coaxial cables and Semi-rigid means that you know you bend them and they keep their shape Yeah, you can bend them a few times before their break they break But anyway, they're there and since we control the manufacturing process and quality assurance of these adapters Then we of course want to deliver the best possible performance Well, we ensure that the cables that are there that are really have a minimum noise I mean minimum minimum loss and because they're very short as well and On top of that because those cables are enclosed in the plastic body Yeah, the users don't need to handle them at all You know, you don't need to screw the connector in you don't need to handle the cable at all, right? So you virtually do not come into contact with those cables at all in normal use case, right? So which really extends the life-side of this adapter to pretty much infinity Because of some mechanical issue or whatever but nevertheless, you know, it's using twist for the doctor is very simple You just stuck the radio in Like each radio has separate separate adapters so you can click it in, you know Until you hear a click and then all it takes to install the radio is you know, as you see in the in the animation is very It's very simply just insert twist and to disconnect the radio You just turn the outer ring on the antenna and reverse the movement. That's it It's very very easy and simple and We have three types of between sport adapters So first of them is like this. Yeah, it's that's for for ubiquity Prison radio, so you just Push it in click and radio disconnect. Yeah, the second type of the adapter We have is for for the for the wave cut radios.  So that's so though is that example and for the micro thing radios, which are open just bare-bone PCB And we have this type of adapter where you insert PCB directly into the adapter and connect the the pigtails Of course connect the TCP cable And then put the enclosure on so that it's protected. Yeah So those are the three types of the adapters we have and it's It's an important point to emphasize that actually every twist for the doctor works with every food sport antenna We have so it doesn't matter, you know, you can use the twist for the doctor with any antenna we offer So any twist for the doctor can be plugged in any of these intense and These are the adapters we offer for the manger Grants in the industry. And so this way the liquidy can be a micro tick and both So we'll have a short look at those so the candy networks is not so interesting for Any ways here as far as I understood so we don't need to talk about that, but just know that we have adapters for those radios to And then we have four adapters. Yes, or the TPA path the top left corner one Connects to five different radios. Yes, so both generations of rocket Let's So the first the doctor works with the both generation the rocket prison Yeah, the fight AC and the gen two then that the same adapter works with the air fiber five eggs and five six HD and actually also within US LTU rocket and so It's actually pretty cool. We can because we can still, you know Let you use one adapter with five different devices. Yeah, so you don't need to buy separate separate adapter for each of those and Then we have also TPA arm five in the right upper corner, which works with the rocket and five It's one of the older radios, but of course, it's still widely used.  You have the prison station and the ISO station and for that We also have a have an adapter and actually we also have an adapter for the rocket five AC light as well So for mimoza, we also have three adapters, but again, I hear it not so popular here So I'll just conclude again that we have a doctor for the C5C C5X and the A5X as well And for the micro-dig radios, we have two adapters So the top one the TPA RBC is the one you saw in that animation before it's a full Aluminum enclosure and so it not only it protects the radio from the outer elements But also from the from the interference to the grid The Then the TPA RBP is a it's a similar thing except it's made of plastic Plastic material and all of these support actually the boards you see this so then to the nine nine series and m11 series and seven and four So all of those are are fitting in that adapter and actually for The radios that we don't have an adapter for we have the TPA SMA And which is a simple SMA adapter, you know, you plug it in the antenna and then you have to Two pigtail outputs you can connect And it's a lot to remember all this information. It's just like it's too much Of course, so on our web page you can actually download this which is the the twistboard compatibility issue It's in our download section on our rdevelopments.com if you slide all the way down to the bottom footer of the page you'll see you'll see a download section And you can download this this compatibility in a as a pdf for your reference Cool. So going to the horror technology. We've already seen this animation again. I'll just repeat that okay the the patch erase they Regulate everywhere. We don't want that Instead the horns on the left. You see they really just cover the The area you point them at sort of like a flesh like yeah, if you think about it some more real-life example, you know, like when you point a flesh like it on the You know, you create this put like on the ground and that's that's similar way how horns work Inefficiency we've gone through that so I will not I will not Talk about that again Again same thing in a comparison and so Only that's a symmetric example of a symmetrical horn with 94 percent of that The typical patch area cannot do which has 31 percent of the energy going to the side of and receiving and transmitting bonds so This is the list of the symmetrical and asymmetrical horns we have you see there the efficiencies are On the scale from 90 to 99 percent You show me an antenna with better efficiencies than I'd be curious to see but I dare to say that Our efficiencies are the highest on market and As you see we have seven different symmetrical horns and so from 90 degree Be with 9.6 dpi gain all the way to 30 degrees 18.4 So and of course with Increasing gain from left to right and decreasing being less because that's how that's how That's working Then on the bottom we have the asymmetrical horns. So there the radiation pattern is asymmetrical and we'll talk about that So with the horns The colocation is just It's easy as that right. I mean with the patches Not so easy and do it but it's very unstable Not to manage but with the horns no problem at all And here again, uh, bunch of bunch of examples from our customers and how definitely you can co-locate for us It's like really cool picture anyone on the left was like a very Very neat installation We can see stability. We talked about that too already. We'll skip that Again, the patch erase instability. We already talked about as well the gain The stability of horns. We also mentioned that before and I'll just stop at this slide for a moment and to Really emphasize the fact that the the horn tool set is actually very wide and that's Uh, that's great because in case you options to basically optimize your network coverage as you need you don't need to compromise anymore, right? We can Deliver what you need and use the right tool for it Right and and the horn technology because there are so many the properties we talked about about voice suppression It really lets you grow. You know, it's as simple as that, you know, but it lets you grow sustainably Right, of course, you can grow an effort even with patch rates, but You know, there's a point where adding adding even one more sector to the tower will make the whole thing collapse And but with horns, that's not the case and just keep going and going So your growth is actually sustained and future proof too because That will hold the property So here's a short small animation comparing the use of the antennas That's on the left is the typical patch array sector with its very narrow wing width in the elevation plane And in the middle is the symmetrical one here symmetrical means that when looking from the front, it's a circle That's all that it means nothing else And with the asymmetrical is a little bit different So you see that there's on the right side and you see if it's a little bit squished from the from top Which kind of resembles the traditional sector, but it's not as narrow. It's not as narrow And again, that's the different shape of the beam that's advantages and specific scenarios So you're looking from the side and you see how the coverage of the patch array sector looks like But the symmetrical horns because of that symmetrical beam You know the the areas near the tower are very easy to cover And the asymmetrical horns a little bit less so obviously because of narrow work in the elevation But still much better than the patch array sector But of course it all depends right because sometimes you really want that spotlight or spot Coverage right so sometimes the The patch array sector coverage pattern can be advantageous too, right if you don't want to cover the areas near the tower Right and if you can do with the noise they receive, of course It's all a matter of all all kinds of conditions, right? It's not just One tool for everything Regarding the down tilt so here you can see on this animation how the coverage changes when using a patch array sector When increasing the down tilt. Yeah, so with the traditional patch array sector You know that the down tilt is very sensitive thing. Then you set it to some two three degrees Yeah, and you you fix it Don't move. Yeah, because obviously when you when you go with the with down tilt higher Gone dead in the water and the coverage is gone. Whereas with the horns As you can see The coverage, okay. Now this is the this is the patch array sector. Yeah That's 10 degrees down tilt Done. Yeah, right with the horn. You can see that the coverage going from 0 to 25 degrees Is just a smooth shrinking of the coverage. Yeah, it doesn't disappear out at all It just smoothly decreases. Yeah, and that's actually another tool in in your hands Yeah, because it really enables you to avoid collecting the noise, you know from far away So if That's the situation you're pointing the horn as a noise source. You can use the down tilt to mitigate Which is really something that's not possible with those patch arrays So in terms of the size, I mean, that's an obvious thing, right? The horns are very small Getting that I don't know how you guys have it here. Do you pay for antenna or per Like the amount of the tower you you all keep flying Per antenna. Okay. Well, unfortunately, that's okay for nothing But then Exactly, that's a great point Yeah, I was about to say that Right, yeah Right, you can see a lot more options in terms of where to place the access point, right? So you don't have to Yeah, that's actually a good one. Thank you Our 30 degree asymmetrical horns has a beam switch feature So this is the radiation pattern as you see by default and when you flip the position of the bracket and the handle You also flip the radiation pattern. Yeah, so you can go from 30 degrees in azimuth to 20 degrees in azimuth And so it's kind of like two antennas in one, you know in terms of the in terms of the beam with anyway so which is Another cool feature So in terms of the mounting our antennas are really also So we really try to do our best in this area too. And so our mounting mechanism is actually super robust It's really like a huge massive That's really ensures that the antenna bites into the pole really well that it holds and you Can also notice those black Black bolts and that's not a coincidence the color actually I mean the material of the bolt is stainless steel But the cover the surface coating is actually black and that that coating Decreases the friction between the between the screw and the track It really decreases the friction meaning that you don't see you can keep tightening those screws Virtually forever, but of course not only until you break the bracket You know, that's a actually, you know, it's a protection for you because oftentimes It might happen that you're tightening the bolts until it's easy to get it right. That's it. You can maybe drill through right But with these bolts it will not happen. That's the that's another great advantage of that And the mounting is also also like very simple. You just have these two parts Two bolts and that's it. Now you're done. It's actually again very simple And which really makes makes it it's something makes the installation very very very quick User friendly. Yeah, so you adjust the elevation The azimuth you have two bolts To secure dot and then also also the elevation And again two bolts to secure dot It's as simple as that So the materials we use Again, we try to use high quality materials so that the antenna lasts In all kinds of environments and especially of course where where, you know, there is More corrosive climate like here, for example, right because there is a lot of humidity so uh The bracket itself is made from aluminum, which is not corrosive by itself and the antenna as well and we also try to high quality UV resistant plastic so so that even the the radon other parts last Well, depends of course, I mean we had uh, you know, we have people who deploy them at the seaside and they can still last for years too For years We don't have a definite number to give you because of all the conditions that has maybe deployed it but uh, I think I mean check our check our facebook Facebook page So use a facebook group and you'll see, you know, people people reporting um their experience with that but Again, I can ensure you they last much longer than anything else that's out You know that I can tell you a question Right, so multiply that two or three times and Yeah, I would say somewhere two times for sure Because we all seen those images of like really rutting and falling apart you think we're in here, right? And Obviously that's something we try to avoid using the materials And just a few examples again. The image in the center is a good kind of Showcase on you know where to use which antenna that the question that he asked as well So the top antenna in the in the middle area, it's a 30 degree symmetrical horn And that's for that dense sector with customers Because it's a narrow beam and that provides you really the isolation you need To isolate the customers from everything else. Whereas the antenna in the middle is our patcherous sector is actually this antenna And that's for those lower density areas where there are not so many customers because obviously It's still a patch array with why you have an an arrow and so the coverage you use And then on the bottom is the is the 60 degrees asymmetrical horn here, which is like for the cases somewhere It was two And here again just a few few more examples Oh, this I think the middle picture is somewhere in Mexico Uh One on the right with the ultra horns Some people are wondering like is ultra horn a pointed point or points of point antenna, right? And the answer is well, it can be both Right because that narrow beam is just two in your hand like anything else So if that narrow sector is what you need and distance obviously because of the higher gain Perfect. Ultram can be a great sector antenna as well So we don't only have the twist port option of our intent. So we also have Okay, let's start with the twist port. So these are all the antennas with the twist port Actually, there is also the dishes that I'll mention. So anyway, we saw this picture already before So you have what is seven four Plus one 13 But we also care of classrooms and these have as you see the The end of the the back of the antenna has this red cap which provides you and female connectors If that's uh, if that's the interface If there are cases or the operators that use a lot of radios with end connectors We might get For which is better or better I wouldn't say better. They're they're an option because in terms of our performance the twist port and the cure of questions and as I Right. We also have point horn bracket, which is This bracket you see and what it lets you do is Let's you install two symmetrical horns exactly the same alignment. So you can sit right here And that's regardless if it's the twist port horns or the or the carrot passports And the advantage of that is that you know when you want a super dense sector Now you have to have a one sector with two antennas Then that's what between our bracket is ideal for And obviously it also enables you to install the you can be pretty talented and Then the mosa 85c and radios by default and there are like metal profiles in the package We are there in the package So then on the on the bracket itself So we also have a part about addition Obviously this is our area to learn useful as well and Our ultraday series are three antennas. So it's going to 1.4 and 0.7 guide gain They come in two packs And they also have have the twist port And these antennas are part about additions and their radiation pattern has been optimized for minimum cycle Unfortunately because of the physics of the part of the dishes you can't avoid the silos completely But we are our engineers that they Invest a great deal of time into optimizing these antennas so that their cyber performance is really as good as it gets And again, if you're interested how good then I encourage you to check our social and channel us and you know Our channel makes a pretty short or even with talk. Have you know that group, right? Where you can search for full tradition cc how people How people look at the performance And there are advantages that Their useful spectrum is it's very wide. It's a 5.1 to 6.4. You guys covering the Well, I don't know how it's the spectrum here. Like you guys have opened all the way until 6.4 Or how is it? So how is it now with the frequencies? It's within that right You said to 5.5 or Right In terms of game stability also dishes have as you can see the game of all three dishes is very stable And also over both polarizations and because again those those curves are overlapping for each of them And these dishes are actually ideal for cd application So the traditional for example the sxt. Yeah, it's radiation pattern. It's like that. It's like a hedgehog Radiating pretty much anywhere right and that basically makes them connect and see All kinds of other other devices around again the same story for choice nothing different here, but you know with the with the old traditions you can effectively avoid jobs by simply because of their radiation pattern being optimized for these kind of applications And also the old traditions have for either the same robust bracket I called we call it ubr now, which really It's just the way it tells you everything chunk of material that you can really trust And for the 27 ebi old tradition, we also have a radon And which you can which in the file if you want if there is a lot of wind Then of course the radon helps to decrease the the window a little bit that obviously protect the antenna from from environment I'm here just a few examples of the deployments. So again, the traditions can be a cpe antenna Or three point appointment And now we come to the starting points So these are all the starter antennas They include they're also designed for five different networks and include the starter one, which is a very difficult symmetrical heart And three starter dishes like one for the four and 27 ebi game. So as I mentioned before The connectivity options of the starter starter products are more limited Right because they don't have to export what they have got that way got important. So you can either Use the rpsi adapter to connect anything with the cables Or some of the radios In the risk industry already But it got in which are those ubiquitous stations or the new ones have safely see from the X's So as I said, the starter heart is a it's a 50 degree symmetrical heart And again just to emphasize the way here our performance is Almost as good as this as the twist port Uh, but of course the price is a lot more Uh a lot more effective, of course if you're looking to increase Or you know, these starter products are meant for for the wisps are that are you know, maybe starting with the art balance part Because you might not be sure what it is how it works. Okay Presentation seems okay, whatever But you know, eventually of course you you want to try the thing And that's where the starter products are good for If you're not sure about this, but still feel like you feel like trying The third degree starter horn is a is an access point attempt same story here, right replacing that noisy Patch erase sector with a with a few of one starter horn You'll you know, you'll notice the difference now the story is all the same Dark performances great very similar to the twist port horns in terms of the connectivity options the starter horn has That adapter you see in the animation in the package Like so so you don't have to buy any additional adapters to connect any and it's in the package or you can obviously Think from the animation you can take it down and connect the ubiquity we've got radio directly without And also with the starter products, we definitely don't compromise this on the materials Will be to use aluminum or stainless steel and UV UV resistant And we also try to try to decrease the amount of plastic for for the packaging Obviously, we also care about the planet and not just the outfit so Hold or most of our antennas are packed like this in the cycle cardboard So the starter dishes are three as I said 21 24 dbi game and similarly here the starter dishes are ideal for cb applications and in the high-nose areas Where the traditional or directive patch rates are might be failing because of the amount Mounting mechanism of the starter dishes is very simple to the starter horn a simple bevel bracket And I've got with the two parts obviously depending on the on the pickings of the hole, but also those those Nuts are Also have that light colored and that's this This color and so that they're also protected from from this And the starter dishes So Connect directly to the osa and the peculiarity There is also the optional starter adapter This adapter with two SMN connectors And that one is not part of the package with the starter dishes only the starter horn So If you want to use it with the starter dishes, it's uh, it has to be purchased separately And then we also have a actually And that's this antenna And Yeah, it's already sale it's for the five people. It's a license spectrum and it has so-called backshifts which Which is our proprietary proprietary Frequency selective service what it does is basically suppress the side modes in the azimuth plane. So in the azimuth plane Uh, this back shield effectively suppresses the side of the And our performance really well With our sector antenna the performance Of both the horizontal and vertical polarizations is actually identical to it. We also put a great deal Of effort into ensuring that again Um, so that you can rely on the performance you see regardless of which polarizations And this uh is a graph of the key Of the of the array sector And it's quite It's quite unique actually. It's quite good if you look the the gain is flat over from 5.9 to 5.1 to 5.9 degrees Which is really something that's not so common on other antennas of similar class not to say that also, of course, the difference between the horizontal and vertical very very small and In terms of the radio connectivity this uh, this array sector connects to all these all these radios you see so including the Oh, so other TP then Also And we also have a few integration platforms which are Boxes like this one the station box all the meaning which is similar to that adapter for the micro degree But it's adapted to basically fit the electronics boards inside So if you have some iot application Yeah, some other application you need to get some enclosure The station box all the meaning it's a pretty good option for them Now the mounting you can mount it on a wall you can mount it on a pole It has a person for the options you have the mounting very very simple But we also have the station box out which is a bigger enclosure It's one of our older products, but it's it was very popular It's a similar thing here It's a metal full metal body enclosure That really lets you degrade all kinds of all kinds of boards That they were used in that section of those you see that red lining along the perimeter out the enclosure is Provides there at the IPC Right so at our moment, we're really trying to do what What's best for the customer? Yeah, just something that serves us, but actually to really make a difference Or for the wisdom itself Part of that of course is our ongoing effort to improve our staff as well because we didn't have those like coated Bolts before but of course we listen to the customers we send their feedback and try to adjust If And of course the the package Also Right I'll leave you with this slide which Again, if you ever wondered how You know to see how our antennas can perform before you actually find them on the Our link calculator on a web page Check that And so again, you were a tennis there said all the parameters of the CD device It will show you the performance Uh that would conclude my presentation and we'll put the we put the recording on youtube and then we'll share it with uh Which is definitely over the to you If you if you will follow us on facebook or somewhere else We'll post it there too. All right, so if we're good. I would like to thank you for your attention Thank you. Bye. Bye


Okay problematic question today on the virginity issue get lots of people writing in about she's no longer a virgin She's lost her virginity. I want to understand from you. What is this sentence? She has lost her virginity mean to you. Does it mean that it's somebody who's had penetrative sex? They're no longer a virgin. What about if she's fingered herself down there? Is she still a virgin or what about if her partner a male partner has fingered her down there?  What about if she's used sex toys, but all by herself? Is she still a virgin?  You know, there's so much angst so much pressure so much weight put on this idea of a girl being a virgin I think it's important that we first figure out what that word means in our own head


In the fall of 2018, Microsoft, a giant in the tech industry, released its highly anticipated gaming console, the Xbox Two. Gamers around the globe were eager to bite into the next generation of gaming. Little did they know that this cutting-edge console would become the harbinger of a neary and otherworldly experience. The Xbox Two promised unparalleled graphics, immersive gameplay, and a revolutionary gaming experience. However, as players delved into the virtual realms of this advanced console, they discovered that something was terribly wrong. Unexplained glitches and bugs marred the gaming landscape, turning what should have been a seamless experience into a chilling nightmare. Players reported strange occurrences within the games, characters behaving erratically, distorted graphics, and ominous whispers that seemed to emanate from the depths of the virtual world. As the glitches escalated, some gamers even claimed to have glimpsed shadowy figures lurking in the background of their screens, their eyes glowing within a natural intensity. Rumors began to circulate that the Xbox Two was more than just a faulty gaming console. Whispers of a malevolent dimension, a dark parallel world, being accessed through the glitches started to spread among the gaming community. It was as if the console itself was a gateway to anotherworldly realm, and those who dared to play were unwittingly stepping into the unknown. The situation escalated when a player named Alex uploaded a video to a popular gaming platform, showcasing the bizarre and unsettling phenomena he had encountered while playing on the Xbox Two. The video quickly went viral, catching the attention of both gamers and Microsoft. During a PR disaster, the tech giant hastily recalled all Xbox Two consoles just a week after their release. However, the damage had already been done. The cursed video game console had left a trail of haunted memories in the minds of those who had experienced its glitch-ridden nightmares. As players returned their consoles for a refund, the chilling stories of their encounters with the malevolent dimension continued to circulate, creating a dark legend around the ill-fated Xbox Two. Years later, the Xbox Two became a rare and sought-after collector's item, with some believing that the cursed consoles still held a connection to the malevolent dimension. The legend of the Xbox Two persisted, a cautionary tale whispered among gamers, reminding them that not all advancements in technology come without a price, and some gateways should remain firmly closed.