United States Congress Enters Second Life. 100:00 Hours and Counting.

As an American, watching the opening of the 110th Congress, the election of Nancy Pelosi to Speaker of the House, and joining in on a chat with Representative George Miller (D – 7th District, CA) while sitting in a replica of the House Chamber in Second Life earlier today was a remarkably moving experience. 

Virtual Capitol Hill was opened today, coinciding with the start of the 110th Congressional session and the "first 100 hours campaign” toward achieving the agenda of six major Democratic political initiatives.  Streaming video of the real world event was available to the invitational audience in the sim throughout the morning, and an in-world discussion with Rep. Miller after the swearing-in ceremonies wrapped up the virtual event.  Rocketboom’s Joanne Colan in the guise of avatar Joanne Canto conducted the interview with Representative Miller in his distinguished-looking avatar. 

The genesis of the Second Life Congressional presence was the idea of Rep. Miller and some members of the SL community to broaden the public’s access to policy makers, according to avatar, Justin Cannonball, spokesperson at the event.

Sun Microsystems' Chief Researcher in the persona of John Gage explained that Rep. Miller also sits with him on the George Lucas Educational Foundation Board.  At a recent board meeting the two Georges (Miller and Lucas) and Gage “flew around a number of sites” that merged classrooms and Second Life.  Gage said, “I'm here as an SL member, interested in building continuous discussion areas.....the Berkeley cafe version of democracy and because of the power of the visual metaphor, this environment can be used by anyone, in any language, from any culture so we can link schools in Kenya or Rwanda with schools and teachers and students in Palo Alto or Lucas Valley.”  Sun Microsystems is underwriting the Virtual Capitol Hill project.

The project came about very recently, says Cannonball.  “It's amazing not only how much we can do with this technology but so quickly. I think that as people become more familiar with this space, the enthusiasm for what it can accomplish grows.”

Rep. Miller said the six individual pavilions, located on the sims behind the main Chamber building, will become information and discussion hubs, each around one of the six items on the Democratic Party agenda for the 110th Congress.  He also indicated his hope is to bring other members of Congress into Second Life to engage in conversation with resident voters and constituents, likening SL to real world town halls representatives routinely hold in their real life districts.

In my opinion, the six pavilions are the real heart of the sim – and encompass the Democratic campaign strategy here.  They are the more simple structures, but they communicate the promise of this session of Congress and underscore the determined unity of message for the Democratic party (not traditionally known for their unity).

Marketing firm, Clear Ink brought the project to life with support from Blue Practice.  It was quite a feat of coordination among numerous entities, including Linden Lab. Rep. Miller joked about the interesting challenge of presenting the idea to Pelosi to approve this rather unorthodox way to open a Congressional session.

This virtual event was well-managed - as the traditional decorum of the House would suggest.  /clap and kudos to Clear Ink on that account.  Communicators take note:  A greeter was watching as people dropped in all throughout the several hours of the event and Clear Ink folks were stationed around the sim, clearly identified by their avatar names.  The main chat was used to greet arrivals without worrying about disrupting the on-going conversation.  Each person was directed to a notecard as they arrived that held all the particulars about the event with clear directions on how to ask questions of Rep. Miller.  Attendees were kept appraised of timing and happenings, and it was obvious someone from Clear Ink was watching the chat for any confusion, questions or issues.  When it seemed some SL newcomers were having trouble using the IM feature for submitting questions, Clear Ink was able to go with the flow quite seamlessly and pick up questions from the main chat for relay to interviewer Canto.  Clear Ink avatar power was present and efficient - and it made for one well-run event.

There are two mirrored sims, Capitol Hill 1 & 2. They were originally scheduled to open tomorrow, but they are now open to the public as of this afternoon.  Stop by.  The design communicates a theme of “openness” and accessibility: no roof on the House Chamber and a line of trees branching out on an angle away from the main building creating an ever-broadening pathway fronting the six initiative discussion pavilions.  I’d like to think that is a metaphor for the things that will happen there.

Virtual Capitol Hill is located here.

[update 1-5-07:  Avatar and in-world spokesperson at this event, Justin Cannonball, is Danny Weiss, Rep. Miller's Chief of Staff.

Rocketboom's coverage of the event has been posted here.]

January 4, 2007