Lee’s Second Life - “Finding the key”

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Greg Verdino, chief strategy officer at social media consulting agency Crayon, argues corporate brands should integrate social media and community capabilities rather than simply creating branded spaces. For instance, he pointed to successful interactive corporate applications by book publishers involving virtual author tours and readings with authors.

So says Enid Burns (Mr Burns’ sister?) over at Clikz in an article about corporate brands and how they have so far got it wrong.

Of course, Enid talks about a report but there’s no actual link to it. Bloomin’ frustrating that! Perhaps ClikZ might like to listen to the blogosphere and discover that we really detest that ‘old media’, ‘mummy knows best’ practice!

The report, "Serious Games for Marketing: Learnings from Corporate and Amateur Efforts in Second Life," from One to One Interactive’s T=Zero research division, compares the efforts of corporate- and user-built locations in the virtual world based on aesthetics, popularity, and marketing to analyze why user-built sites seem to gather more visitors than name brand counterparts.

You can find the report here at the One to One Interactive site.
[note: important info about the report at bottom of this post!]

Overview

"Serious games" refers to the use of games and game technologies for non-entertainment purposes. Traditionally, the education, health, and military sectors were the primary actors in this domain, but in the past few years, marketing has arisen as a major sub-domain of this area. Examples range from the selling of advertising inside video games to dozens of small, experimental corporate-sponsored spaces in virtual worlds such as Second Life, to the fully realized first-person shooter America’s Army, developed as a recruitment tool for the U.S. Army. The results have been uneven, as most of these early efforts have had an experimental edge. This report releases findings that compare player engagement in some of Second Life’s most successful user-generated areas compared with some of the more ambitious corporate-sponsored efforts in Second Life.

In making these comparisons, particular attention was paid to:

• Production Quality
• Publicity and Advertising
• Social Infrastructure
• Role of Commerce
• Population Density

From this analysis, we learned that the top corporate builds are as good as or better than user-created builds in some areas, while lagging behind in other areas. Based on our findings, we offer five insights for the design of future branding and marketing-oriented builds in virtual worlds, such as Second Life. Download the full report, free of charge, to learn more.

For which, of course, you will be required to hand over your email address, name, birth-date of first child and naming rights of your next SL island…

For a tech company supposedly on the leading edge of VW and web2.0, why does their marketing have such a heavy web1.0 stench?

Downloading the report — important info!

Colleagues: here’s how you get around it — feel free to enter any ol’ details because you then get taken to the pdf itself, no matter if you enter ‘Mickey Mouse’ or not.

One To One: just let us have it without the heavy-handed marketing guff and search the blogosphere for mentions of it; you will then find your target ’sneezers’!

"We do not see things as they are; we see things as we are."
The Talmud

"I know Kung Fu."
Neo, The Matrix

Ok - here’s where you can read a whole lot more about this, but this new series in production at Fox in the US sounds well cool.

Just a sneak:

Twelve astronauts onboard Earth’s first starship, the Phaeton, are on a ten-year expedition to search for a distant solar system. To stave off boredom the astronauts spend time in the self-created worlds they experience in virtual reality modules. The crew are faring well until someone downloads a bug into the system — is one of them the saboteur?

from tv.com

And with that we meet Francis "Frank" Pike or at least according to the virtual reality simulation he’s experiencing, Colonel Pike of the Union Army, circa 1863. He’s leading a surprise attack against a platoon’s worth of Confederate soldiers transporting supplies - only to have it backfire as a trap. And in an even stranger twist - one of Pike’s own men, a green-eyed corporal, pulls out a gun and kills him. A surprised Pike awakens in the real world as he’s about to start another day as commander of the Phaeton, Earth’s first starship.

…

From here we begin our introductions to the crew as Pike makes his way through the football field-sized ship - there’s nuclear scientist/engineer James "Jimmy" Johnson, a slightly bitter paraplegic; happily married exobiologists Alice Thibadeau and Kenji Yamaguchi, who have "christened" most of the ship’s compartments; microbial ecologist Rika Goddard, who’s having a "virtual" affair with Pike; life partners Manny Rodriguez, a mathematician, and Valentin "Val" Orlov, a Russian geologist, who always seem to be bickering; Dr. Eyal Meyer, the ship’s medical officer; Billie Kashmiri, the ship’s computer specialist; Sue Parsons, the Phaeton’s co-pilot and resident surfer chick; Dr. Julius "Jules" Braun, an ex-NASA scientist/college professor/New York Giants fan; Roger Fallon, Rika’s husband, who serves the dual roles of psych officer and - oddly enough - on-board media liaison; and last, but not least, Jean, the ship’s onboard computer who’s always just a chirp away.

from TheFutonCritic.com

Go over to The Futon Critic for the whole inside goss!

Mind you, I hear the name ‘Pike’ and I still get carried back to Dad’s Army… I wonder if there’s a script link?

Now that my ace rival for the hearts and minds of Australia’s business communicators — Trevor ‘Hamster Juggler’ Cook — has joined the ranks of the idle rich (aka PhD students) I was scouring the web for an image of a PhD floppy hat and came across this image from PhDCentral.com (a full-size version is here):

What I find interesting, hence why I have enlarged this particular part of the image, is the earnings a ‘typical’ PhD holder can expect to receive and his/her unemployment rate (1.4% compared to 1.7% for Masters Degree holders, and 6.8% for those who left high school before completing it).

If it was a figure from a recruitment agency or jobs board I might have some doubts, but the source seems credible, albeit based on 2006 figures. I wonder what the stats are like for Australia…

But then again, why bother struggling and straining and sweating with all this reading and research an’ stuff?

An email arrived in my inbox today that promised to relieve me of the heartache that normally accompanies such a long and lonely path as a doctorate.

Genevieve Gaston kindly let me know of the existence of a coveted ‘inside track’:

Fast online degree from your home or office
Obtain an accredited degree in under 30 days
Call 24/7 on….
For US: 1-419-735-9250
Outside US: +1-419-735-9250

I’m just putting aside some of the 20 cent pieces I’d normally put in the electricity meter to save and make that call…

Gary is well-known to the VW (Virtual World) community; as developer/creator of both the ABC and Bigpond Islands in Second Life (Bigpond Island is the most visited location in Second Life) he has the street cred to capture the ear of the VW devotee.

If you then look at his digital media background (ground-breaking work at the BBC inter alia) you begin to realise just why the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) got him onboard to guide the Laboratory of Advanced Media Production (LAMP) initiative. He’s also the head honcho at The Project Factory (one of those ‘I would kill my own mother to work there’ sort of places). The man’s no fule, as Nigel Molesworth would say.

Gary recently presented at the Trilateral KANZ Broadband Summit in Seoul — Korea, Australia and New Zealand — and spoke about the opportunity for co-development and cross-training between the three countries (and, I would suggest, within the larger Asia-Pacific region in time).

Gary suggests that it is the bricolage nature of today’s ‘amateur’ digital creatives that threatens to undermine and overthrow the ‘professional’ creative from their throne (and job). He argues persuasively, with slides [smile*], that in a hard-wired and wi-fi’d broadband world creativity can extend and inform itself both within and across borders.

He goes on to present examples from various LAMP projects, including projects that have found their way into the ‘real’ creative community, informing such entities as ABC TV here in Australia.

Gary is someone to watch and follow (as I assuredly do). Not only does he have a brain that could power a city the size of Sydney for a month, but he also is a genuinely nice bloke: self-effacing, humble and eager to engage in conversation with those who show genuine, informed interest (but naturally and quite understandably not the ‘tyre kickers’). He also has a very deep understanding of the various virtual worlds that includes but does not stop at Second Life (which is my failing — so far I have only investigated Second Life, although my research is pulling me into Habbo Hotel; a presentation to the Habbo management team is in the design-finalization stage.

Here’s his slideshow, and you can read the transcript of the presentation over on Gary’s blog.

| View | Upload your own

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* a reference to one of my all-time fav movies, "Addams Family Values" when Debbie Jellinsky has the family tied up to electric chairs and prior to ‘throwing the switch’ offers to educate them (in the manner of all the best evil mastermind criminals) as to her motives and her underlying psychology:

I don’t wanna hurt anybody. I don’t enjoy hurting anybody. I don’t like guns, or bombs, or electric chairs. But sometimes people just won’t listen. And so I have to use persuasion - and slides.

So says the TampaBay.com article.

Welcome to Kidz Connect, an innovative summer camp program at the Patel Conservatory that has Dutch and American kids combining theatrical talents through video streaming and a virtual world.

More than just a high-tech program for pen pals, the students from both cities are working together to create a show featuring live theater and online performances. At the core of the effort is the virtual world they’ve created through Teen Second Life, a three-dimensional online society.

"By creating something together, they’re learning about each other and in the process, they’re having fun," said Josephine Dorado, creator and co-artistic director for the project.

More of the article …

John Chambers, CEO of Cisco, avatared into a press conference today in SL.

Dressed in his business suit, Chambers poo-pooed ideas circulating in the mainstream press that SL and other virtual worlds are facing a downturn in interest.

"I disagree with that overall commentary," he said. "We are at the very, very beginning stages" of virtual world uses.

Says Computerworld:

In his summary at the end of the 25-minute press conference, Chambers said that all kinds of virtual interfaces, including YouTube, wikis and virtual reality, "will forever change business models and entertainment. … We may disagree on the time frame. It’s not a question of if, but when."

…

Chambers claimed that Cisco is the most advanced of any company in using virtual interfaces. He said that employee usage of wikis doubled in the past six months, while the use of YouTube video content for business applications had quadrupled in four months. Such technologies can improve workplace productivity, he claimed.

Cory reckons that VW kids are doing alright

SL co-creator Cory Ondrejka, now senior vice president of digital strategies at EMI Music, reckons that VWs like SL are ‘proving’ themselves.

"Virtual worlds are already entering the boardroom in Vermont, said Ondrejka, where the nations first "virtual corporation" law was approved earlier this month. Until now, U.S. law required most corporations to hold board meetings with all members in attendance. Under a new Vermont law, board meetings may be conducted "virtually" through the use of video conferencing or Internet chat rooms."

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After trades in excess of 70 million Linden Dollars in the first half of 2008, euroSLEX announces plans to expand beyond Europe, and also beyond Second Life. As part of this growth strategy, the service is renamed from "euroSLEX" to "VirWoX" (for "Virtual World Exchange") according to a press release.

The service is operated by Virtual World Services GmbH, a real-world company registered in Austria with the mission to bring a new level of professionalism and trust to Second Life, apparently.

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Metanomics, allegedly the web’s premier program about the business and policy of virtual worlds, begins an exciting second season on Monday, June 23rd at Noon PST on SLCN.TV.

For the kick-off program Metanomics host Robert Bloomfield (Beyers Sellers in Second Life) features USC’s Second Life and the Public Good Community Challenge, with guests Douglas Thomas (Doctor Ludovico In Second Life), Associate Professor at the USC School of Communication, and Rik Panganiban (Rik Riel in Second Life) from Global Kids.

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From the "Have your avatar call my avatar" Department

Computerworld reports: "Many think it’s just a matter of time before being "in-world" becomes as important for business as having a Web site and standard teleconferencing equipment is."

A great comment from an anonymous commenter:

Let me see if I’ve got this straight.

People create cartoon characters to represent themselves. Said characters "live" on some web site. But, instead of being just for recreation, these "beings" represent you as you conduct real-world business. And if you don’t join in, you’ll be left behind as a dinosaur.

And Computerworld are also asking ‘leaders’ (that’s you and me, I guess) to join them in a virtual webinar.

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Three steps to encourage corporate investment in virtual worlds

Computing SA (that’s ‘South Africa’, not ‘South Australia’) has an interesting article on Gartner research.

"Despite understandable concerns about investment during a time of growing business uncertainty, we believe that the internal deployment of virtual worlds offers most enterprises significant benefits in cost savings and improved productivity," says Steve Prentice, vice-president and Gartner fellow.

Gartner recommends a three-step, incremental approach to virtual-world investment in which costs are constrained and benefits are clearly measurable to help gain the funding and approvals needed.

Stage 1: Virtual worlds as training environments

Stage 2: Project-based avatar-enhanced collaboration

Stage 3: Non-specific social collaboration

Useful article if you haven’t read the original Gartner report.

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IMVU reckons it’s onto a winner with 3D avatars

According to a press release:

IMVU, the free online destination where young adults meet new people in 3D, announced today the world’s largest catalog of virtual goods with over 1.5 million items. IMVU also announced its achievement of reaching 20 million registered users, primarily through viral growth.

Founded in 2004, IMVU Inc. (www.imvu.com) is an online destination where young adults meet new people in 3D. Still in public beta, the company has already reached major milestones, including 20 million registered users, 100,000 registered developers and $1 million in revenue each month.

Yar boo sucks, then!

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think3 to give 3D edge to VTU students

An Italian software company is giving away CAD software to engineering graduates at an India uni.

Why is this important to us? Because 3D modelling will be very important when SL starts to become a major test bed of 3D products, that’s why.

Says the article:

Simply put: If an automobile engineer has conceptualised a car, he can modify the design using CAD solutions any number of times without having to start from the beginning every time he thinks of improvising on the concept. The students, in turn, would shift from the traditional engineering tools of paper and drafter to latest software applications.

Now, if that engineer then decides to test his/her creation in SL, eliciting feedback from users on issues such as visual design, ergonomic layout of cockpit, etc., … get my point?

Mark my words: the importing of hi-res 3D models (via whatever software is chosen) into SL will become a key element to SL’s future. If Linden Lab don’t allow it, or are too slow to implement it properly, LL could find a very important development and engineering community heading off to a product that can (built, perhaps, by Microsoft or IBM or similar).

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Gary Does Melbourne: has he no Seoul?

Gary Hayes ("we are not worthy!") is down in Melbourne town on 25th of June to, as he says, help Underbelly meet the virtual world. With a talk entitled "The Sex, the Violence and the Dirty Money: The Truth about Social Virtual Worlds" you can be sure that the man whose brains could light a city for a month will have plenty to make you think!

His talk in Seoul at the Digital Content Session at the Trilateral KANZ Broadband Summit on 19 June 2008 is now online. He looked at Australian successes of the collision of animation, online games, film, mobile, broadband web and social media applications and the potential for co-development and cross-training between NZ, Korea and Australia.

There’s a slideshare embed, too.

"An nyoung" indeed.

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George Carlin dies; Twittersphere implodes in grief

You get that.

Never found him funny, myself. Must be a North American thing. Mind you, I found the late Bill Hicks hysterically funny!

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Virtual Private Equity is a step closer to reality

Actually nothing to do with SL, but a fascinating article on fund management and equity holdings.

VPEs: The equity you hold when you’re not holding any equity (only other Aussies would get that joke, sorry)

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Courtesy of the rather fetching site geeksugar: If you can’t get enough of Second Life or Sims-like games where you’re challenged to create an avatar and personality that succeeds in a virtual world, AND you also happen to be obsessed with one day running your own beauty product factory and company, then I’ve got the ultimate niche video game for you: Beauty Factory.

Says one commenter:

"i would totally play this! i am always making marketing and product suggestions to my fav cosmetic company — the homies at maybeline!"

I’ll get Penny and Isabella onto this in the morning.

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I’m wondering if anyone knows how to solve a particular problem I have:

I want to track avatars that I might send to a business, and then track any transactions that avatar might make.

Anyone?

It’s taken me 20 hours of non-stop vision and revision (and two bottles of finest Aussie and Kiwi vino) and editing to get to something half decent to present.

That’s just the presentation. In Director (because it STILL whips the arse off PowerPoint, even in 2007, much as I love PPoint07!)

The paper that’s supposed to go with it is still to be written…

Unfortunately you are going to have to wait until after the presentation on the 19th to see it {.swf format} but I will add my voice over so it makes some sort of sense

Courtesy of the ever-vigilant Stefan Didak:

"The Pentagon is running an artificial intelligence program to see how people will react to propaganda and to government-inflicted terror. The program is called Sentient World Simulation:

"U.S defense, intel and homeland security officials are constructing a parallel world, on a computer, which the agencies will use to test propaganda messages and military strategies.

Called the Sentient World Simulation, the program uses AI routines based upon the psychological theories of Marty Seligman, among others. (Seligman introduced the theory of ‘learned helplessness’ in the 1960s, after shocking beagles until they cowered, urinating, on the bottom of their cages.)

Yank a country’s water supply. Stage a military coup. SWS will tell you what happens next.

The sim will feature an AR avatar for each person in the real world, based upon data collected about us from government records and the internet."

It’s an old story from mid-2007, but keep an eye out for the smoking man…

More details here.