SL Business Communictors and members of the Orange group were hosted by international telecom company, Orange on their Second Life sim. With light snow falling, Stephane Adamiak (aka Sarn Aska) of Orange's gaming division, dialed us into the Orange SL project. Stephane gave us an overview of how it came together inside Orange. Adri of Metaversatility, metaverse developer for Orange, weighed in a bit on how they translated the brand into 3D representations.
Great insights - and we thank Orange and Metaversatility for being so generous to share their experience with SL Business Communicators and the community at large.
I'll be following up with Adri on the topic of translating branding into 3D spaces next week and will post more on that shortly.
The transcript of the meeting follows.
Introduction to Orange's SL initiatve:
[9:04] Znetlady Isbell: Hello, Everyone!!!
[9:04] Znetlady Isbell: As you get settled, I'm going to just
[9:04] Znetlady Isbell: give a little introduction and a suggestion for running the meeting today.
[9:05] Znetlady Isbell: First, welcome and thanks for coming over to Orange.
[9:05] Sarn Aska: Greetings, everybody !
[9:05] Znetlady Isbell: And a big thank you to Sarn Aska of Orange and Adri of Metaversalitity for
[9:05] Znetlady Isbell: being so gracious to meet with us.
[9:06] Znetlady Isbell: And for hosting us here - snow and all!
[9:06] Sarn Aska: It's a pleasure.
[9:06] Adri Saarinen: We're happy to have you, and honored to speak to the group.
[9:06] Sarn Aska nods.
[9:06] Znetlady Isbell: Sarn is with the gaming unit or Orange, business development.
[9:07] Znetlady Isbell: He was instrumental in doing the internal legwork
[9:07] Znetlady Isbell: of bringing Orange into SL.
[9:07] Znetlady Isbell: He was on the team that sheparded the process internally and...
[9:07] Znetlady Isbell: headed up the RFP prcess to find the developer...Metaversatility.
[9:08] Znetlady Isbell: I've asked him to discuss their reasons and strategies and process.
[9:08] Znetlady Isbell: We will stop often for questions throughout - so we will take your q's in chat...but please wait until we pause for q's to keep it
[9:08] Znetlady Isbell: from getting too confusing.
[9:09] Znetlady Isbell: So, with that, I give you Sarn Aska.
[9:09] Adri Saarinen applauds!
[9:09] Znetlady Isbell: Sarn, please tell us about Orange in SL!
[9:09] Sarn Aska bows before the audience
[9:09] Ima Ideator: clap clap
[9:09] Sarn Aska: This is a very borad question...
[9:09] Sarn Aska: All this adventure actually began a bit more than a year ago
[9:10] Sarn Aska: Some people in Orange asked what was this Second Life craze
[9:10] Sarn Aska: And it happened that I was asked to study this platform
[9:10] Fab Outlander: Welcome everybody you re just in time
[9:10] Sarn Aska: I realesed this study on december 06
[9:11] Sarn Aska: and a large meeting followed in january 07
[9:11] Sarn Aska: Many people were involved
[9:11] Sarn Aska: Content Division, Strategic Marketing, Brand management, R&d, etc
[9:11] Sarn Aska: All were wondering what to do in SL and if it was meaningful to step in
[9:12] Sarn Aska: The first reaction was skepticism and people were a bit concerned with all the bad press
[9:12] Sarn Aska: You know the sex industry, gambling, etc.
[9:12] Sarn Aska: However, our recommendation was that SL was a spearhead for a something bigger
[9:12] Sarn Aska: maybe the next big thing
[9:13] Sarn Aska: And even if this is not the right time to consider it viable for business, we had to step in to learn and experiment
[9:13] Sarn Aska: To be prepared for the next wave
[9:14] Sarn Aska: Then, a transverse team was set up in order to define a project which ended up with the RFP you mentioned
[9:14] Sarn Aska: The greenlight came on may 07 and we selected MV as our developer
[9:14] Sarn Aska: The island design and development happened during last summer
[9:15] Znetlady Isbell: So, lets' see if there are any questions?
[9:15] Znetlady Isbell: Did the idea start with marketing?
[9:15] Sarn Aska: No. We didn't want to approach SL for a communication coup
[9:16] Sarn Aska: and we don't have any product to sell here
[9:16] Andy Evans: Could describe your company's services in RL?
[9:16] Sarn Aska: Our goals is more to understand the platform and its potential and to experiment with new ways to interact with users who could become customers
Orange's RL services
[9:17] Sarn Aska: yes !
[9:17] JfR Beaumont: What is your aproach with contents coming from SL are you interested with partnership with contents producer and broadcaster
[9:17] Sarn Aska: Orange is what we call an integrated telco
[9:17] Sarn Aska: menaing that we offer services for internet, mobile and tv over adsl
[9:17] Sarn Aska: I encourage you to visit <http://Orange.com>Orange.com for more details
[9:17] Sarn Aska: The company is quite complex
[9:18] Andy Evans: ty, will do
Will Orange partner with content developers?
[9:18] Sarn Aska: regarding partnerships
[9:18] Sarn Aska: Our idea is to develop relationships with people who are invested in SL
[9:18] Sarn Aska: who look for innovation
[9:18] Alanagh Recreant makes a note to look for any links between Orange and Africa... on the website :)
[9:19] Sarn Aska: If we could achieve to build a strong network of developers and innovators, we would be successful
[9:19] Sarn Aska: We also want to encourage such ventures. people may have ideas but not the right connections or skills
[9:20] Sarn Aska: Our idea would be to supprot and facilitate such projects
[9:20] Alanagh Recreant smiles
[9:20] Cybergrrl Oh waves
[9:20] Sarn Aska winks to Cyberggrl
Orange's developer choice:
[9:20] Znetlady Isbell: What was it about Metaversatility that you chose them as your developer?
[9:21] Sarn Aska: Interesting.
[9:21] Sarn Aska: It appeared that MV made a strong proposal which matched our sketchy vision
[9:21] Ludmilia Zapedzki: :)
[9:21] Basil Wijaya: I think you are on a good way. Building core team in SL is hard but among the first steps to success
[9:21] Tynan Clary: /waves to neighbor Cybergrrl
[9:21] Sarn Aska: The team's dediaction and expertise were a key for the decision
[9:22] Cybergrrl Oh sends good vibes to Tynan
[9:22] Sarn Aska: Mv also showed their understanding of the whole virtual worlds phenomenon
[9:22] Znetlady Isbell: Did they help you form your strategies?
[9:23] Sarn Aska: Sure. I have some experience in SL myseld, but...
[9:23] Sarn Aska: MV's expertise is incredible
[9:23] Sarn Aska: Dealing with communities is not easy
[9:23] Sarn Aska: And SL has a strong established culture
[9:24] Sarn Aska: We relied on MV to tune our vision
[9:24] Sarn Aska: I also have to mention that since the beginning...
[9:24] Sarn Aska: We intenede to come in with a ...
[9:24] Sarn Aska: very humble and respectful attitude
[9:24] Sarn Aska: All the stuff accomplished here is amazing and we have to tell it and to support it
[9:25] Adri Saarinen nods
Orange's community building activities:
[
9:25] Znetlady Isbell: Can you talk a little bit about your activities here - you built an island....
[9:25] Znetlady Isbell: but you have mae a huge commitment to keeping things lively here.
[9:26] Znetlady Isbell: Can you tell us about the community builidng you are undertaking?
[9:26] Basil Wijaya: i agree. All these talented 3D designers and scripters and managers did a beautiful jod and continuer
[9:26] Sarn Aska: more details ?
[9:26] Sarn Aska: sorry : lag...
[9:26] Sarn Aska: Sure
[9:27] Sarn Aska: Building a compelling sim is a challenge but only a beginning
[9:27] Adri Saarinen: (Thank you, Basil :) )
[9:27] Sarn Aska: It doesn't make people coming back
[9:27] Sarn Aska: GOA has some experience in online environments and community management
[9:27] Sarn Aska: and we quickly understood that...
[9:28] Sarn Aska: events and relationships are the true values of such environments
[9:28] Sarn Aska: We're not in World of Warcraft
[9:28] Nber Medici smiles
[9:28] Basil Wijaya: heheh
[9:28] Sarn Aska: It's much more relying on human interactions
[9:29] Sarn Aska: So events appeared one of the keys
[9:29] Sarn Aska: and user generated projects is another one
[9:29] Sarn Aska: However all this requires a lot of work
[9:29] Sarn Aska: Building a sustainable community is a long term effort
[9:29] Znetlady Isbell: Indeed!
[9:30] Sarn Aska: We are happy with our results so far but we know that the road will be a long one
[9:30] Nber Medici: I have a question.
[9:30] Sarn Aska: We're here to learn, experiment !
[9:30] Znetlady Isbell: Go Nber
[9:30] Nber Medici: Building a community means that you need a common theme or something to tie folks together. What is your theme?
[9:30] Sarn Aska: And we have our management's support for doing it.
[9:30] Sarn Aska grins
[9:31] Sarn Aska: Interesting question, tricky one also
[9:31] Nber Medici: hehehe
[9:31] Kay Levasseur: how do you see sl in general benefitting the business community? general public?
[9:31] Sarn Aska: Orange is a lifestyle brand
[9:31] Sarn Aska: And it doesn't offer a unique focus
[9:31] Sarn Aska: We have some values which we may try to translate here
[9:31] Nber Medici: Yes that makes it very tricky.
[9:32] Sarn Aska: and we felt first that creativity, collaboration, innovation were some kind of pillars
[9:32] Basil Wijaya: good
[9:33] Sarn Aska: So far, we welcome a bunch of partners on Orange island. It's very early stage
[9:33] Sarn Aska: But this could illustrate our vision
[9:33] Znetlady Isbell: Why do you think it is worth it for Orange - obviously they have allocated a substantial budget - how will/are you defining success?
[9:33] Pebbles Hannya: Will you be using this place for internal purposes (meetings, training, etc.) too?
[9:33] Sarn Aska: We will make announcements early next year reagrding this plan
[9:33] Nber Medici: Thank you Sarn
Success measurement:
[9:34] Sarn Aska: regarding success
[9:34] Sarn Aska: Again, SL is not the web
[9:34] Sarn Aska: and we have to define and invent the tools to measure success
[9:34] Sarn Aska: We may include trafic analysis, buzz tracking for example
[9:35] Burhop Piccard: buzz tracking?
[9:35] Sarn Aska: but we will add some more
[9:35] Sarn Aska: Yes, keeping tracks of Orange Sl island on blogs, websites, etc.
Internal use of SL:
[9:36] Sarn Aska: Regarding interabl usage, it's a very interesting direction
[9:36] Nber Medici: It is easy to get people to come ONCE... to get them to come back many times is tricky.
[9:36] Sarn Aska: So far, the platform appears to be too limited or clumsy for a proper usage
[9:36] Sarn Aska: But again, I feel that SL has great potential. (other platforms too..)
[9:37] Sarn Aska: We we need to experiment, prototype and learn. And we would like to see the users involved
Convincing Orange internally
[9:37] Yesterday Demain: Sarn... can you tell us about the efforts it took to convince Orange internally that Second Life was a great learning ground for what might become mainstream in the coming years - and thus maybe part of services Orange might provide to its customers in the future...
[9:37] Sarn Aska nods
[9:37] Sarn Aska: Well...
[9:38] Sarn Aska: We had to make people see beyond the media hype, first
[9:38] Sarn Aska: to give accurate numbers, to debunk myths and point the true gems hidden behind all this
[9:38] Sarn Aska: To point out the eco-system
[9:38] Sarn Aska: how it fits with web evolution
[9:38] Sarn Aska: how it complements web 2.0
[9:39] Sarn Aska: But describing all this would require a whole discussion in itself
[9:39] Sarn Aska: feel free to react
[9:39] Sarn Aska: Basically, the idea was to draw a long term strategy
[9:40] Sarn Aska: and I am convinced that virtual worlds will develop tremendously
[9:40] Sarn Aska: SL is only a beginning.
[9:40] Sarn Aska: Understanding it is a key for the next generation which could include SL or not
[9:40] Burhop Piccard: How do you keep momentum going with relatively little traffic (relative to web pages)
[9:40] Alanagh Recreant ponders how all of those have been so difficult to convince potential corporate partners of...here in Africa... (will look for it in interest)
[9:41] Sarn Aska: We will ceratinly have to invent some ways to welcome more users, sure
[9:41] Alanagh Recreant agrees though!
[9:41] Sarn Aska: This actually one of the first learnings here
[9:41] Sarn Aska: Scalability is the key
[9:42] Sarn Aska: And it will be a key point to find the right platform for more commercially orinted usage
[9:42] Sarn Aska: SL is definitely limited so far
[9:42] Sarn Aska: But we may come up with some interesting experiments
[9:43] Sarn Aska: We have a whole R&D department excited with this direction and MV has certainly some ccoll projects
Will Orange use SL for conducting customer business?
[9:43] Taliesin Silverstar: are you looking into such things as....being able to open an account, pay my bills, change my services, all inside SL?
[9:43] Sarn Aska: We considered this approach at some point
[9:44] Sarn Aska: However, Orange is a mainstream brand and SL is not mainstream yet
[9:44] Sarn Aska: Orange can't afford to fool people
[9:44] Sarn Aska: And it would also require a much bigger budget
[9:44] Sarn Aska: Custom client, support staff, billing system, orientation island, etc
[9:45] Sarn Aska: But business will be part of the equation at some point
[9:45] Sarn Aska: We just need to understand the users needs
[9:46] Sarn Aska: for focused services and properly evaluate platforms for a broader service
[9:47] Sarn Aska: I also have to mention that we're currently investagating emerging virtual worlds
[9:47] Adri Saarinen: There are lots of virtual worlds platforms out there with a more business logic and workflow (especially distributed workflow) focus than SL. It's important to use the right tool for the right job.
[9:47] Sarn Aska: and we also have an open source project coming from the R&D
[9:47] Sarn Aska: The name is SOLIPSIS
[9:48] Sarn Aska: It's not meant to be commercial, more about experimentation and research
[9:48] Sarn Aska: I encourage you to google this. Documentation is public
[9:48] JimmyJet Fossett: Interesting Sarn that you are looking at alt. virtual world offerings. Will check out your stuff.
[9:49] Sarn Aska: However, I confess that SL is very fascinating because of its plasticity
[9:49] Sarn Aska: However, big brands tend to prefer more closed environements for more control
Translating the brand into SL:
[9:50] Znetlady Isbell: Sarn, could we talk a little about how you translated the brand here in SL? Maybe Adri could weight in a little too?
[9:50] Sarn Aska: It's my point of view, however
[9:50] Kay Levasseur: It seems that eventually, business is going to want to be where the end consumers are thought
[9:50] Kay Levasseur: -t
[9:50] Sarn Aska: Sure, Adri will certainly have interesting stuff to share
[9:51] Adri Saarinen laughs
[9:51] Sarn Aska: Especailly regarding our involvement ^^
[9:51] Adri Saarinen grins at Sarn
[9:51] Basil Wijaya: Yes Adri, Which virtual plateform do you think have better business logic and workflow than SL?
[9:51] Adri Saarinen: Basil, I'll be happy to answer that question, but let me address the branding question first
[9:52] Adri Saarinen: One of the biggest challenges we had in designing and developing the physical (virtual-physical) aspects of Orange Island was translating both the brand values of Orange and the brand style guides and 'look' to a 3d platform
[9:53] Adri Saarinen: Orange has an exceptional amount of brand recognition in its core countries, as well as throughout most of Europe, and there is a lot of expectation as to what is and is not "Orange"
[9:53] Natty Foggarty: bye bye evryone !!!
[9:53] Nick Rhodes: bye Natty :)
[9:54] Adri Saarinen: we did several concept designs and spent two months just on the pen-and-paper and prototype phase working to develop something that would be both beautiful and functional
[9:54] Adri Saarinen: Working closely with Orange brand management, we ended up with this design, something natural in a virtual environment, but open and, we hope, inviting social interaction.
[9:55] Sarn Aska nods
[9:55] Adri Saarinen: But adapting guides meant for either real life or 2d web applications was difficult-- how much orange-the-color to use, for instance, what type of soundscapes, music, etc
[9:56] Sarn Aska: Actually, i like the idea of localisation, not only trabslation but adapting to a specific local culture
[9:56] Adri Saarinen: (we ended up using the icon guide for color, actually! up to 30% orange-the-color)
[9:57] Adri Saarinen nods to Sarn. "There was also the quesiton of usability and what would translate poperly to SL people, not just the 3d environment"
[9:57] Sarn Aska: Usability is indeed a key too
[9:58] Sarn Aska: We didn't want to offer the umpteenth corporate building surrounded by palm trees
[9:58] Znetlady Isbell: lol
[9:58] Nber Medici smiles
[9:58] Sarn Aska smiles. "private joke, here"
[9:58] Sarn Aska: The MV proposal was striking in that sense
[9:58] Adri Saarinen shakes her head. No palm trees.
[9:59] Znetlady Isbell: So, have new 3D "style guides" been developed?
[9:59] Sarn Aska: Working on landscape, open environment was central. Even e=including seasonal changes as you can see
[9:59] Znetlady Isbell: multimedia style guides?
[9:59] Sarn Aska: We will have to collect all the learnings from this experiment and share it with the whole group
[9:59] Sarn Aska: Sure
[10:00] Adri Saarinen: I'm not sure we've developed style guides at this point so much as best practices for Orange in SL. Itw ould be up to brand management to develop a style guide, which I'm sure will happen in the future.
[10:00] Sarn Aska: Absolutely and this project was very refreshing for the brand team
[10:00] Znetlady Isbell: Shall we wrap up with Basil's question about other vws?
Other VWs for business
[10:00] Adri Saarinen: Sure, and maybe Sarn can chime in as well.
[10:01] Basil Wijaya: he
[10:01] Sarn Aska nods
[10:01] Znetlady Isbell: Adri, Sarn?
[10:01] Adri Saarinen: Part of Metaversatility's company mission and goals has always been to be 'versatile' or 'platform agnostic'
[10:01] Adri Saarinen: My virtual home in in SL, and I spend my time here, but Metaversatility works in <http://There.com> There.com, Multiverse, Qwaq, and even some flash-based worlds
[10:02] Sarn Aska: Club Penguin ??
[10:02] Adri Saarinen: While I think that SL is hands down the best platform for reaching the most people in a social situation, or for a community project like Orange
[10:02] Adri Saarinen: (not yet Club Penguin!)
[10:03] Adri Saarinen: in terms of closed business collaboration projects, I'd actually recommend Qwaq, which is an API over the open source project Open Croquet
[10:03] JimmyJet Fossett: Right, and we saw where Coke will form a presence on There
[10:03] Adri Saarinen: lots of aspects go into making decisions like that: can you run the platform behind a corporate firewall, does it import standard models if a client already has 3d assets, are you trying to reach a youth markert, etc
[10:03] Adri Saarinen nods.
[10:04] Sarn Aska: Sun projects for business sound promising too
[10:04] Adri Saarinen: I haven't read the Coke announcement so I'm not sure how much I can say, but they are moving their virtual thirst world to <http://There.com>There.com
[10:04] Ima Ideator: will they still be in SL?
[10:04] Sarn Aska: Doppelganger's platform looks cool for teens, also
[10:04] Adri Saarinen: There are also grassroots projects like OpenSim, which allows the SL client to connect to other servers
[10:05] Adri Saarinen: Yes, Doppelganger runs the Lounge and also the licensed world, Tyra Banks Studio
[10:05] Sarn Aska: And I'm very interested by Metaplace, even it's more game oriented first
[10:05] Adri Saarinen: there's a lot of growth in this market, and we, MV, do a lot of evaluating of new and emerging platforms, as Iknow Orange does as well
[10:06] Adri Saarinen grins at Sarn. "WE'll have to talk more about metaplace later."
[10:06] Znetlady Isbell: :-)
[10:06] Sarn Aska winks
[10:06] JimmyJet Fossett: Hmmm, I think I would like to hear any discussion of Metaplace :-)
[10:06] Basil Wijaya: Do I understand that Orange explore and build in all these places or only here.
[10:07] Adri Saarinen: JimmyJet, I think RAph would put a hit out on me if I said anything publicly
[10:07] Sarn Aska: Only here so far. It's very demanding, you know ^^
[10:07] Znetlady Isbell: LOL
[10:07] Basil Wijaya: yes
Wrapping up - and more info on Orange in SL
[10:07] Znetlady Isbell: Well, we have run up against our one hour time frame.
[10:07] Basil Wijaya: what about SOLIPSIS
[10:08] Kay Levasseur: thank you for the information!
[10:08] Znetlady Isbell: Let's thank Sarn and Adri and Orange for their time, and for hosting us!!
[10:08] Znetlady Isbell: Thank you!!
[10:08] Alanagh Recreant claps
[10:08] Ima Ideator: Ty Sam and Adri!
[10:08] Yesterday Demain: Thank you for very interesting views...
[10:08] Basil Wijaya: thanks a lot
[10:08] Nick Rhodes claps
[10:08] Maryrose Mariani: Thank You Sarn and Adri
[10:08] Znetlady Isbell: You may stay and socialize of course....
[10:08] JimmyJet Fossett: Thanks Sarn and Znet
[10:08] Alanagh Recreant: thank you very much....
[10:08] Sarn Aska bows again. "Thanks a lot. I hope that it was worth the teleport"
[10:09] Adri Saarinen can stay for a bit longer to answer questions. "Also, Orange Island has a permanent staff, our wonderful Orange coaches, Fab Outlander and Moe Anderton, as well as a virtual worlds community manager, Fandango Milena."
[10:09] Pebbles Hannya: Thanks -- this has been interesting as always :)
[10:09] Znetlady Isbell: It was very interesting!!
[10:09] Adri Saarinen: So the island is staffed from 6am-3pm SLT every week day-- they would be happy to show you around at your convenience.
[10:09] Sarn Aska: Thank you, Znet !
[10:09] Znetlady Isbell: There is always lots of Orange people around...
[10:09] Znetlady Isbell: Thank you So much Sarn!!!
[10:09] Fandango Milena salutes everyone.
[10:10] Yesterday Demain: Time to go skating on the thin ice of modern life...
[10:10] Znetlady Isbell: Fandango can help you to other areas of the island if you want to check it out.
[10:10] Basil Wijaya: I'll visit the island. Although it is Orange, I love the blue trees. Au revoir.
[10:10] Alanagh Recreant: thanks for inviting me Movies!
[10:10] Yesterday Demain: We have a great skating rink
[10:10] Fandango Milena: I can indeed!
[10:10] Adri Saarinen: if you'd like to keep up to date with Orange events and community announcements, I've put a group/reminder invite sign up behind Znetlady :)
[10:10] Znetlady Isbell: Enjoy the snow and the skating!
[10:10] Znetlady Isbell: Yes, join the group!!!!
[10:10] Fab Outlander: If anybody need ice skating shoes, let me know!
[10:11] Znetlady Isbell: Thaks Adri...
[10:11] Adri Saarinen: And you can check out the Orange Island blog
December 7, 2007
Double Happiness Jeans are real world custom-made jeans that are "manufactured" virtually – and then delivered to your local Kinkos or Double Happiness Jeans express store location. The jeans are the product of the Invisible Threads, project that explores telematic
manufacturing through Second Life. 
The project is virtually replicating a RL assembly-line manufacturing facility, with ten manufacturing stations each correlating to a specification of the custom jean order. The physical “just in time” inventory system allows customers to place an order for one of several styles of jeans with a live factory representative at a terminal. The process then enters Second Life. 
Customers can watch their jeans being created in real time in the virtual factory via projection screens. At the end of the manufacturing process the jeans are output on Tyvek material to a large-format printer in physical space. With simple assembly the jeans are ready to
wear. The manufacturing process takes about 20 minutes. "At the start of each workday, workers will need to clock-in. The worker will then be assigned to a specific department and workstation and given a specialized task to perform. Just as in a real life factory, workers will be monitored by a department supervisor and be held accountable for their speed and efficiency and any production errors. The erratic flow of supply and demand and extenuating circumstances such as equipment failures and irrational dispositions may result in docked pay, layoffs and overtime."
Project collaborators and Double Happiness Jeans co-owners, Dr. Stephanie Rothenberg and Jeffrey Crouse of Eyebeam also hope to shed light on the politics of outsourced labor and the role of “play” in cultural production, according to Adam Elenbass over at Reality Sandwich.
How might this disrupt the clothing manufacturing industry?
Are you at least considering how practical virtuality might impact your business? 
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