Business Communicators of Second Life®

San Jose Tech Museum Opens in Second Life

"The Tech," as The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose is lovingly called, today launched a virtual replica in Second Life - kind of.  The building may look familiar, but the mission is to encourage the re-thinking of museums, exhibits and to explore the next iteration of "the museum."

The grant that made the virtual initiative possible mandates that it be a service to the museum community, according to Nina over at Museum 2.0.  To that end, the project is actually both a web space and a Second Life space to prototype exhibits, collaborate, or propose exhibit ideas.  As an incentive to get collaborators collaborating, there is a $5000 award being offered to an exhibit deemed "spectacular" enough to be carried out in the real world museum.  The exhibit must be in the "Art, Film, Music and Technology" category and created during the incentive period which ends in June.

The initiative is a combination of a web community site, called the Museum Workshop and Second Life, tightly integrated.  The web site allows members to post a proposed project and recruit others to join the project.  It allows collaborators to have a project wiki, share project assets and publish a project task list.  Second Life is used to build, co-create and prototype the exhibit projects.  There is an idea area for those who aren't creator-types.  The accompanying blog is an update and conversation space.  Everything is made available under a Creative Commons license.

Nina says the space will have a full slate of programming such as classes, design reviews, Q&A sessions, and tours.    There is a tutorial on  interactive exhibit design (business communicators this is a great opportunity to learn about interactive design!).  Tours are every day at 11:00 a.m. SLT, and scripting and building classes every Thursday at noon SLT.

The space is not populated with exhibits, as the hope is it will be filled with the collaborative projects in progress.

This is a project that certainly has an awful lot of the right ingredients, and one that is on the radar to watch the progress.   

The project was funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Involve, Inc. developed the virtual version of The Tech.

For lots more information, read Nina's post about the project.

The Museum Workshop is on the web here.
The blog is  here.
Visit The Tech in Second Life here.

Read the official press release here.

December 11, 2007

Playing Catch-Up: Business News Briefs

Manchester Evening Star has a nice follow up article on the launch of virtual Manchester, UK last February.  According to the story the Manchester International Conference Center has plans to offer virtual exhibit space to compliment exhibitors' RL installations.  In addition, the UK consortium behind the Second Life Manchester initiative is in talks with RL property developers to showcase apartments in SL so RL buyers can take a tour of their new homes before being built. 

Government agencies and developers are no strangers to joint ventures in RL, but I don't think there is another such initiative between two such entities that extends into the virtual world.  The consortium who brought Manchester to SL is made up of Manchester Digital Development Agency, the Urbis Museum and consultants, Clicks and Links.

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Recruitment
Business & Decision,  a France-based international consulting and systems integration company, is launching a recruitment campaign in Second Life.  They hope to connect with and recruit IT professionals across France.  According to their announcement:

"When connected on the site http://recrutement-secondlife.businessdecision.fr the candidates schedule a meeting with the recruitment team and access detailed information on the various positions offered by Business & Decision. After registering and creating an individual avatar, candidates are then able to connect to Second Life, attend their appointment, and discover the world of Business & Decision.

3 candidate meeting sessions:

Monday 5 November, 18h - 20h
Tuesday 6 October, 12h - 14h
Tuesday 6 October, 18h - 20h"

...
The state of Missouri's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (US) has launched an SL presence aimed at expanding its IT recruiting efforts.  They say it was the demographics of SL that attracted them, and they will be experimenting with a worldwide job fair in SL in the coming months.  They are on Eduisland at EDUISLAND 3 (137,95,23).

...
Kelly Services launched their phase II Second Life presence on Friday with in-world festivities.  Kelly will be offering public seminars, conferences, job fairs, interviewing, job scenarios and general job-placement related activities.  Although Kelly initially launched in SL earlier this year, their in world services are not unique to Kelly alone.  Kelly joins numerous individual corporate recruitment efforts and TMP Worldwide has been a leader in 3rd party recrutiment services and activities in SL.

...
Wipro Technologies (India) plans recruitment via their soon-to-be-launched Innovation Isle.  The firm has also set up an Offshore Development Center (ODC) model campus with a client engagement centre, learning centre, 3 floor ODC set-up with cubicles, security desk at the campus entrance gate, amphitheatre, press announcements hall, basketball and volleyball courts, admin, data centre and library. It will be regularly staffed by Wipro’s own avatars.

“Our upcoming Innovation Isle will showcase Wipro’s innovation initiatives to our stakeholders and how they deliver increased flexibility and predictability, lower cost and faster time to market for our customers,” said Jessie Paul, Chief Marketing Officer, Wipro Technologies, in a release.  This will also be a virtual forum for customers, partners, and other like minded people to collaborate with Wipro in the area of co-innovation and business transformation.” 

--  via Business Line, Sify Walletwatch

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TV Beams Into and Out of SL
If you missed the press or the show, The Office ran an episode on NBC this week featuring a plot line around Second Life.  Says character Dwight, he loves his first life so much he wanted a second one.  Rumor has it SL will be weaved into future episodes with Dwight's co-workers perhaps going in to play virtual pranks on Dwight. 

CBS's CSI:NY debuted a storyline on Wednesday that continues in SL until February when the show will unveil the plot's villan.

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For Fun:  Social Media SL Mashup
I know I keep banging the drum... but you don't need a Facebook, MySpace or Twitter tactic - you need to think broader into a social network strategy.   Daden Limited (UK) illustrates why one site/technology can't be the focus with a little mashup of Twitter and Second Life in which Twitter posts float into SL like bubbles in a fountain.  It is located in Halo's Garden on Daden Prime 207, 95, 24.

October 27, 2007

The Republic of Maldives Opens Embassy in Second Life

A tiny country undergoing huge reforms, the Republic of Maldives has opened an embassy on a corner of Diplomacy Island in Second Life.

The Maldives, a developing country with limited resources within the global arena, sees Second Life as a method to extend its diplomatic outreach beyond the opportunities the “real world” affords them and a way to boost its international profile.

The space prominently displays information about the Maldives reform agenda.  The Republic is currently engaged in sweeping constitutional, human rights and democratic reforms, including enhancing the role of the media in Maldivian society.

Unlike Sweden’s plans for their SL embassy, which is slated to open May 30, visitors to the virtual Maldivian embassy will be able to conduct some diplomatic business such as talking to virtual diplomats about visas and trade issues.

Pay them a visit at Diplomacy Island 209, 99, 23.

Read more in The Local from Sweden, or Australian News.com.

May 22, 2007

Tuscany Comes to Second Life on March 30

Fondazione Sistema Toscana, the official tourism foundation of Tuscany, Italy announced today: 

a new way of living Tuscany, of knowing its territory and beauties: Tuscany is now born on Second Life.

Count me in.

The construction is underway, with the official opening of Toscana Island slated for March 30.  A mixed reality evening is planned at the island's disco that night in which real world and virtual will be present to the other via video screens.

Toscana Island will recreate a public square for social gatherings with some of the most significant spots of the region:  the Tower of Pisa,  the Piazza del Campo and the Piazza Grande, the Ponte Vecchio and the Duomo in Florence.  There will be audio features for each monument, aimed at educating visitors about each one.   "One will have the feeling of plunging in an ideal city created around the most precious works of art of the ten Tuscan provinces."

A typical Tuscan village is promised with the hills, cypresses, vineyards and olive trees reminiscent of the Chianti region and the Sienese hills.

Italian commerce will be there as well.  The Intoscana store will allow residents to buy  real world Tuscan specialties while in world. 

Italy's film commission is partnering with the tourism foundation in this initiative. They have plans to collaborate with other Italian spaces in Second Life, such as Parioli (a personal SL favorite), in order to present and communicate the beauty and travel benefits of Tuscany.

Tourism  is a near ideal application for virtual social worlds like Second Life.  Galveston. Texas and Sweden's embassy are early entrants.  The visual and immersive characteristics are a perfect foil.  Especially when the space is staffed with avatar-puppets, as intoscana plans.   Many existing brand focus on events instead of sustained social connections.  Events can be an accelerator for communications in /with these spaces and are a key component, but what if MySpace were only "alive" between 7:00 and 9:00 twice a week?  Social worlds require social commitments.

Hopefully the famous embracing Italian hospitality will extend into the virtual world as well.

March 13, 2007