Virtual Worlds Conference

I got to go to the 1st annual virtual worlds conference in Manhattan in 3/28-29. The coolest part was seeing people in rl that I'd met in sl. I got to meet Greeter Dan from CNET and Adam Reuters from Reuters. I met a couple of LIndens, a couple of folks from Electric Sheep, saw Aimee Weber. Exciting!

Then there were a ton of panels - some got repetitive (maybe a one day deal?) maybe it will take a bit of time for the market to grow to include more companies, more builders,more folks with cool projects that they're willing to talk about (that was an issue this time - companies were like we have this cool projects but we can't tell ya how much it cost or the traffic - talk about aggravating!)

One thing to consider is the variety of virtual worlds - they have different target audiences, different concepts of openness, different economic models. Gotta understand the range better before recommending any one to a client (that was one big take away message)

I'll be writing up my notes - trying to make some sense out of all the talking and projects.

first griefer attack

on our island. What a jerk.

He built way way up - like over 500 meters. The only way i could get up there was with my jetpack. THen he was throwing out self-replicating items. That made a really awful noise.

I had to call for linden help. They showed me how to ban him from all the estates (property) I own. And how to return all his crap. Good to know for future disturbances.

To be on the safe side I turned off building and scripting for awhile. Hopefully he will get bored and go elsewhere (he = male avatar)

This is why I love SL

SXSW (a conference about music and new media down in Austin Texas) has a track this year on videogames and virtual worlds. I can't go in person. But I can go in SL. The folks over at Electric Sheep Company are streaming it live on their island. So i get to sit in a comfy auditorium, talk to other interesting folks, and watch the panels. I've taken a lot of notes to bring the info into class. The only thing we don't get to do is to ask questions - but it's so crowded at hte real world panel that the odds of getting to ask a question are pretty slim too.

Check out the big sheep - that's the log for Electric Sheep Company - look at hte feet. It's such a cool logo.

Here are a couple of pictures:

classes in sl

my audience research class had a guest speaker today - in SL. It went very well - took folks about 15 minutes to find the amphitheatre and get seated but considering that was their first time as a group on the island, that wasn't too bad.

Smiddy Smalls from Text100 was our speaker. The company works with many technology companies such as IBM adn Xerox. They help the customers know where their customers are and where they're having conversations by looking at peer to peer media. Text100 sees SecondLife as the next big thing in peer to peer platforms - they've been in world since August 2006. He sees companies using SL to solicit feedback on new products. It's good for education and thinking/communicating in 3D. It's even good for group meetings. He mentioned that the Rochester office met in SL when they were all trapped at home in a recent snow storm.

Companies are in SL for a variety of reasons. One is to get included in press coverage of SL. ANother is to connect with their customers. Text 100 wants to help their customers get into SL for hte long haul - planning events, not just one shot deals.

He offered some advice to the students as they think about their futures. He encouraged the studnets to become well-versed in new media and consumer generated content. he said it was vital to know about wiki's and blogs and lots of social networks.

Here are some pictures of the event. We are sitting in the outdoor amphitheatre on the Park island.