Business Communicators of Second Life®

A Second Life Cautionary Tale via Text 100

Second Life Insider blogger, Caliadris Pendragon, calls out Text 100 but in the process teaches a couple of really important lessons for PR and business people entering Second Life.  The big one – take time to learn the culture.

September 30,2009

New "The Infinite Mind" Second Life Radio Series Available

Drew Stein CEO of Infinite Vision Media was kind enough to email me today to let me know that The Infinite Mind public radio show has produced a new series of three one-hour radio shows about Second Life.  The series is titled Through the Looking Glass: Virtual Communities.  The radio shows will be available in-world in The Infinite Mind listening rooms as of tomorrow; and will begin being broadcast then on public radio shows across the U.S. and on Sirius radio.  You can listen to Part 1 now on the ICMedia site.

If you've ever listened to The Infinite Mind you know the material they produce is consistently high-quality and thought-provoking.

Part 1 of the series, Exploring Virtual Communities, is easy listening yet a fascinating set of interviews.  Philip Rosendale, CEO of Linden Lab and creator of Second Life, shares his thoughts on the concept of “presence” which is a vital characteristic of Second Life and he explains why presence makes SL the immersive experience it is.  He also discusses “persistent identity” which is a feature that distinguishes Second Life from other types of virtual communities or games.

Dr. Thomas Malaby, anthropologist, with a grant from the  National Science Foundation, did a yearlong on-site research study at Linden Lab.  He tells us what distinguishes Second Life from a game – yet what certain elements of “game” it retains that make SL so compelling. He has observations about the parallels between Linden Lab as a corporation and Second Life as its creation.

Bill Lichtenstein of ICMedia and Drew Stein provide some commentary on the possibilities of Second Life.  The show also reprises an interview with futurist Howard Rhinegold.  Interviewer John Hockenberry always asks insightful questions, and it is refreshing to hear a truly thoughtful discussion toward finding the meaning of these virtual worlds.

The other two radio shows in the series are scheduled to begin broadcasting on October 4 and October 11.  Try to catch them.

You may also purchase copies of the show or transcripts here.

Photo credit:  Taken from the Lip Flap machinima, by David Laundra

September 28, 2006

Leo Burnett Second Life Creative Department to Launch

The land grab for agencies moving into Second Life is officially on.  Leo Burnett London announced today that they are opening The Idea Hub for its 1,600 global creative personnel to collaborate in Second Life.  This follows the announcement earlier this week that advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty is setting up shop.

While the two are using their virtual spaces for very different things, the one thing they have in common is both have the attitude of "we don't quite know what we're doing, but let's see what happens."  IMHO I think this is a splendid attitude and exactly what is needed!  I'm especially pleased to see Burnett using the space for creative endeavors.

Quoting from Brand Republic:

"The hub is then free to grow and develop into whatever. I don't know what it's going to become. We will judge commercial opportunities on their merit when they appear." --Jim Thornton, the executive creative director at Burnett

Apparently Burnett's "Music Artists in Residence" program will also be brought into the in-world space where staffers who are members of bands will have a virtual audience, as well.

Ad agency, Bartle Bogle Hegarty's early plans are to open virtual agency offices for client meetings and seminars. Read more about BBH at 3pointD.

Photo Credit:  kylerroth

On the Media Does Second Life

This past Sunday I heard the tones of Second Life coming from my real life radio. Brook Gladstone of On the Media had two segments on Second Life.  In the first, called "Second Chances", she talks with former Virginia Governor, Mark Warner about why his presidential campaign will include Second Life; and in the second segment she talks with Jane McGonigal and Edward Castranova.  McGonigal is an “immersive play” expert and Edward Castronova is author of Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games and blogger over at Terra Nova.

The segments are fun to listen to – the transcripts and audio are available here.  In the "Second Thoughts" segment Castronova said something in fun that is probably worth thinking about seriously:

Let's look at this Iraq war as a game designer would. Let's say we're making a part of the game environment of our people, and we want them to be happier. And then you might think, gosh, that's why Iraq I was more fun than Iraq II. Iraq I had a victory condition. You know, it was limited in time. It didn't go on forever, [LAUGHS] and so on and so forth. And I'm not suggesting that we really should do policy this way right now. What I'm suggesting is that over the next hundred years, as more and more people grow up familiar with game design as a part of their policy environment within these games, we will see increasing pressure and new insights in real-world policy, where people go, hmm, now, is that the funnest inflation rate that they could have designed? Don't we want a more fun one than that? And we're going to have to deal [LAUGHING] with this.

As we move into immersive environments for learning and work, they will have a naturally profound effect on the way we deal with real world problem-solving and our expectations of our own world control/experimentation.  This will bleed over into what we expect of our work and public policy environments.  And "play" and "fun" may be assigned a higher value and become far more essential elements than they are now - because well, we can.

On The Media is produced by New York Public Radio and is available on local public radio stations.

Photo credit: Lizbeth Marlowe

Second Life Business Communicators Reminder

A reminder that if you join the in-world Business Communicators of Second Life Group, you can easily connect with other group  members when you are in-world.  You will be able to see when other group members are online and can IM them or transport yourselves and meet-up.  For those new to SL, this is a terrific way to meet people and explore places other people know about and frequent.  And, it is often a great way to get into the culture - just like going to the gym, it is a whole lot easier and more fun to do with someone else.

Also, from time to time we send out communications or special attachments via the in-world group - although you can keep up with announcments here as well.

A note about business avatars and personal worlds.  Many people/avatars in Second Life do not wish their real names revealed - and it is considered "bad form" to ask for Real Life (RL) information, a RL name - or even to use a RL name if you know it for an avatar when using public chat.  However, in SL business environments, while we may feel it necessary to reveal who we are in RL so that our RL business reputations come into SL with us for that particular setting, this is not the usual practice.  Keep in mind that many group members may not wish to mix their Second Lives with their real lives.

This opens a whole can of worms about reputation management in SL, in general, but we'll be discussing that topic in an upcoming BCofSL meeting.

If you wish to communicate with another Second Lifer outside of SL, you may email them via "SL Mail."  If they have their preferences set for email, any IM you send them in-world will be delivered to their regular RL email box if they are offline.  If they have not set their preferences to receive IM's via email, they will get your message as an IM the next time they log in.  Any emails sent or received this way will not reveal your RL email address. 

To join the in-world group, log in to Second Life and click your Search button.  Click on the Groups tab at the top of the search screen. Enter "business communicators" into the search box and click search.  "Second Life Business Communicators" will be listed in the results.  Hightlight it and click on Join Group in the dialog box that comes up. You're in!
 

I'm online nearly every day - feel free to IM me:  Znetlady Isbell

Text 100 and PR in Second Life: A Long Way to Go

The thing that finally pushed me over the edge was the last line – “you'll find us on Text 100 Island.” 

That’s the last line of the recently released Text 100 “Machinima News Release” (Gary Goldhammer and I landed on the phrase over the weekend), about their presence in Second Life.

I respect this PR agency hugely for making the leap into Second Life.  They have taken the risk, put it out there for comment and discussion, and are the ones with the arrows in their backs (from people like me).

The “problem” I have with the Text 100 piece is point of view – narrow. Sadly, Text 100’s machinima simply encourages clients to do the same things differently instead of opening minds to the expanded expectations “our publics’ have in virtual spaces.   It echoes the hollow spaces of the web left by brands that (still) fail to connect with their publics in that “old” 2D virtual space.

So, our publics have gathered elsewhere and played with our brands without us – on their own websites, chat spaces, blogs, mashups, video cameras, social networks – and on into SL.

Second Life is an immersive environment – content is 360 degrees with height and width and depth and texture and emotions that are capable of reaching the very depths of our hearts and brains in ways no 2D “media” can. It is “simulation” not “duplication.”

Our brands cannot be an “island” where we create an “immersive environment.”  We need to BE the immersive environment.  To further the geologic analogy - the coral reef – where life teams in the nooks and crannies and the creatures that live there become the infrastructure.   From Wikipedia:  “where there is mild wave action, not so strong it tears the reef apart yet strong enough to stir the water and deliver sufficient food and oxygen.”

Web-3D challenges us to define PR – indeed our organizations - within this context.  Not within the context of doing the same things in a different way.

We must think of Second Life and other virtual spaces far more deeply.

Photo credit:  Phinn Boffin

IBM’s Second Life Press Briefing: Transforming Business Through Virtual Worlds

IBM’s vice president Dr. Irving Wladawsky-Berger, held a press meet-up in Second Life last week while in London – and in the process brought IBM’s “secret” Second Life island out of the shadows.

The purpose of the press meet-up was to discuss why IBM considers Second Life so important.  IBM has been researching and experimenting with virtual worlds to understand, among other things, the importance of visual imagery to convey information - and a vast range of other aspects of human interaction with visual and virtual spaces. IBM believes virtual worlds and gaming will have a huge impact on IT, business, society and our personal lives in the very near future.

According to Wladawsky-Berger, the cutting edge of "visualizations" is taking place in MMOGs (massively multiplyer online games) and video games. And IBM is committed to being right there with them for business applications.

The IBM meet-up in SL last week was certainly not a first for IBM.  IBM’s Hursley Park Lab has been blogging about Second Life and related projects over at eightbar for a while.

Depending on how closely you follow Second Life “gadgets” you may know that there is an in-world interface with Amazon.com's database, making it possible to search for and purchase books in-world.  There is also a very recently released in-world language translator for use with the Second Life chat feature.  Both of these have been contributed to Second Life by the research teams at IBM.

Read Dr. Wladawsky-Berger’s blog entry for some fascinating insight into what IBM has been up to and get his take on why Second Life and virtual worlds have IBM’s attention.

Read the article in the UK's Register about IBM's press meet-up as well as for a peak into IBM’s present and future in Second Life that came out of the press meeting.

While I'm on the subject, a couple more IBM notes:

Roo Reynolds, one of the contributors at eightbar (and Second Life IBM researcher) announced today he will be speaking at an upcoming conference in the UK, My So-Called Second Life, sponsored by the UK non-profit New Media Knowledge (If you are in the UK October 24th you might consider attending – the fee of  £50-80 is a steal).

Finally, read in the Telegraph about IBM’s Innovation Jam – an electronic brainstorming session open to all 335,000 IBM employees aimed at developing a list of ideas for moving the company forward, and to which IBM has committed $100 million to develop. The process generated 37,000 comments from employees.  The online brainstorm was informally combined with IBM's Virtual Universal Community and 3D Jam on the New Media Consortium Second Life campus.

Update:  Michel Leblanc has posted some snapshots.

Photo credits:  eightbar;
IBM Blog: Adventures in Gaming

Virtual Laguna Beach Prototype Available in Second Life

You probably already know that last week MTV officially launched its Virtual Laguna Beach.  But, The Electric Sheep Company has posted today that the prototype for VLB was built in Second Life – and is now open to the public there.  Check out the Second Life Virtual Laguna Beach prototype here: secondlife/laguna beach/43/215/23/.

I recommend the you also drop by MTV’s “sneak peak” beta site  and at least take a look at the promo video on the home page and click in on the VLB Central page (Events page wasn’t working for me).  MTV is showing this Tuesday’s (tomorrow’s) Winter Formal episode in VLB before it airs on TV, and inviting everyone to join in on the “first ever” VLB Winter Formal. 

They’ve done a nice “Visitor’s Guide” – which will give you an idea of the features. But, hey, go all the way and register!  I'll be checking it out.

Tracking this one, but my hunch is, if nothing else, it is going to be a very interesting experiment in "socializing" a tv show and may be beating one path through to the next generation of tv.

Wall Street Journal Reports on Fashion in Second Life

Raz Schionning, American Apparel's director of Web services, tells the WSJ that they have sold 4,000 virtual items since opening their Second Life store in late June 2006.  But, that is actually subtext to the fact that WSJ Marketplace (free) is featuring Second Life’s fashion scene in the first place.  Pretty legitimizing.

The story’s essence however, is the growing competitive fashion scene in Second Life – and the importance of Second Life media to driving sales.  Designers gain attention using advertising, websites and blogs – and Second Life style magazines are a key PR tool, as well.  The story cites the Second Man and Fashionista blogs which are now part of Second Style magazine as key media.  (If you haven’t yet checked out Second Style – wow seriously beautiful – you forget you are looking at virtual fashion.)   The Second Life newspapers such as The Herald and the Metaverse Messenger also frequently feature style-related stories, as does the excellent SLATENight Magazine.

Of course “word-of-wearing” is also just as important in-world as in RL.

But what should perk up the ears/eyes of anyone paying attention is the age of the “consumers” quoted in the story, the amount per month in real dollars they spend per month on virtual fashion and the buying motivations that peak through. 

Be sure to take a browse through the WSJ’s fashion slide show that accompanies the story.

Photo credit:  Dow Jones & Company Wall Street Journal Online

Fleishman-Hillard’s Next Great Thing Initiative Looking for Avatar Manager

YPulse , a GenY trend and news publication, posted a call the other day on behalf of Fleishman Hillard’s NGT initiative for a “manager of virtual world avatar.”  The job description includes managing the avatar, interacting with players, sending blast emails to members, and being able to “handle in-game requests with the interest of the client in mind.”

Tony Walsh over at Clickable Culture has an amusing response to this career call for an “advertar-puppeteer.”   

On a more serious note, if companies are going to explore virtual spaces, they need to “staff” them.  It is a criticism I’ve made of the W’s Aloft hotel property – there is no one there to interact with.

In fairness to FH, the tasks listed are exactly what educational institutions are doing in “staffing” their virtual spaces…someone to meet and greet, ask questions of, and provide information both in-world and out (via  in-world IM, or via SLMail).

Now, execution on FH's part is everything - and training their avatar managers is key. But if creating community is the new marketing/communications paradigm, then we are going to see more calls for avatar managers.  And we communicators are going to have to learn some new skills ourselves.

Photo Credit: © Roland Csuhaj