Today I am giving a full 3-hour seminar on “Business in Virtual Worlds” where I cover two not-so-simple things in a simple way:
What’s happening in Virtual Worlds (and why should I care)?
What do I do now?
If seeing how businesses are taking advantage of virtual worlds seems tough to you, make sure to be here!
In just one 3 hour seminar, you’ll gain a special advantage only a few have had the massive resources to acquire. Face it: technology is confusing, and just getting started is hard. Imagine if it was easy. Imagine if, when a golden opportunity to take advantage of new technology came along, you were already prepared and ready to go.
***DISCLAIMER (please read): I am in no way officially or unofficially affiliated with the good folk of SL Business Association, but it seemed like a good cause so I thought I'd pass the news on. Official press release follows.***
On Saturday, August 23, 2008 the SL Business Association will be holding its monthly event. The event will take place at 8am SLT, and will be held on the Alviso sim (161, 153, 64). Our August host is Graceful Aeon of Lauk’s Nest. Attendance is open to the business men and women of SL: owners, entrepreneurs, and freelancers alike. The event will last about 2 hours and is a great time for people to making connections and contacts. For continuous updates on the SL Business Association please join our in-world group. Enrollment is open, or you can IM Darcy Earnshaw for an invite.
For any questions about the event or the SLBA please contact Darcy Earnshaw in-world or through email at darcyearnshaw@gmail.com.
About SL Business Association
SL Business Association is a group for the business people of SL to come collaborate, network, and learn from each other. We have seen quite a few groups of this kind in SL, but most have failed to meet the expectations of its members. SLBA is dedicated to providing the business men and women a group to help them accomplish more with their Second Life business pursuits.
About Lauk’s Nest
Lauk’s Nest received its name from its creator Laukosargas Svarog. She used it as her home until she left to build Svarga. Fallen Anansi purchased the land and preserved it as one of the unique and artistically beautiful places in SL. It is now the host of many cultural events. If you would like more information on Lauk’s Nest please visit Alviso (161, 153, 64) or contact Graceful Aeon in-world.
Tateru Nino posted a thoughtful piece at Massively entitled “A Second Life corporate grid: When, not if“. A specialized “for-business” version of Second Life has to happen eventually for 3 basic reasons:
It’s easier (meaning cheaper) to manage than an “anything goes” space. Security on all levels is a snap.
It could still be connected to the main Second Life grid, giving employees an excuse to log in on their spare time and remain engaged.
Creations there are sure to be clean, sanitized, and professional, making it a real showcase for what makes the technology important.
Of course, that’s just what makes it important to one world-builder. What about the average business? Why should you care?
Picture it: a large 3D space that your company stake-holders can wander around, dedicated to the business sector. They come here to work together for a lot of reasons:
Integrated voice makes talking to people you run into easy, and groups are no problem at all – and it’s free!
Distance issues are a thing of the past – meetings are a click away (instead of having to deal with airport security).
Sharing ideas is easy – use slides, play video, paste a link to a file in chat. Collaboration is a piece of cake.
So here they all are, going about their business. It costs very little, and companies everywhere are saving on office space as well as a dozen other things. Now, for the best part: it’s a shared world. People wander down the street to check each other’s buildings out and see what they’re offering.
You’re now open to a whole new audience. From a marketing perspective, there’s a difference between this and a website: these people can ask you questions live, and you can answer. Better yet: you can take them on a tour of what you’re all about. Brochures and websites gave people information, but instead you’re giving them an experience. Which do you think they’ll remember?
Fast-forward a bit, and very quickly you’ll discover that there are only two kinds of business in the world: those that have an online 3D presence, and those that don’t. Consumers, prospective employees, and even investors make decisions about who they want to deal with accordingly.
Just in case you weren’t already aware of this most worthy project, here’s an update on the One Laptop per Child project.
http://www.ted.com Nicholas Negroponte talks about how One Laptop per Child is doing, two years in. Speaking at the EG conference while the first XO laptops roll off the production line, he recaps the controversies and recommits to the goals of this far-reaching project.
These are some headlines just from the past week about business activity in virtual worlds. This will appear here weekly.
All of the promotional work being done in kid/teen worlds is cut out, so apologies to everyone looking for justification for spending eight hours a day playing with digital paper dolls. I have, however, included notes from higher education facilities because most of what they do can apply directly to business use. My summary and commentary follows each link.
Disclaimer: As with everything on my blog, the opinions expressed here are mine and do not reflect on Clever Zebra, the vBusiness Expo, my friends, my local book club, the guy I bought my car from, the people who make that shampoo I like, etc etc etc… k here we go:
Virtual Worlds Training for Corporate Leaders
Warning: it’s a press release. But hey, it’s nice to see another one out there joining the ranks of corporate trainers in virtual worlds. Welcome AHG!
IBM Launches Eco Data Center in Second Life
In addition to the dozens of other things they’re doing in virtual worlds, they’re now also promoting their green initiatives. Worth a gander for the eco-minded.
15-20% of Second Life Activity is for Work or Education
That number is low, but at least it’s there in black-and-white. Captain Obvious is quoted here as saying: “Inworld collaboration is going to be a killer application.”
