Last week I participated in a “virtual forum” sponsored by TPMA, an industry group focused on trade promotion practice.
Being the techno geek that I am, I was familiar with Second Life (www.SecondLife.com), but had never researched it. Intrigued, I accepted the invitation to the forum, and then signed onto Second Life and created my alter ego: Thomas Roxley.
The majority of the TPMA membership consists of middle-aged business executives, many of whom are from the financial discipline at major CPG companies. Not the kind of folks who you would expect to see on Second Life. However, I visualized potential application for training and unique communications, so I remained intrigued, and decided to see how this new technology could be applied in business.
At the appointed time, I logged onto Second Life and followed the signs to the conference. The area approaching the venue had a number of “booths” attended by sponsors (i.e. Hitachi, O4, etc), where you could stop to chat or ask questions if desired. The meeting itself was held in a giant mesh dome next to a beach, complete with rock outcroppings, palm trees, and a smattering of beanbag chairs. Very cool! An “in the round” riser was in the rear near the palms, allowing the speakers to address the virtual crowd and at the same time move around on the stage. I strolled into the dome (after running into the mesh covering several times before I figured out where the entryway was), and joined the 25 or so other attendees.
Operating with VoIP or text messaging, one could communicate to the group as a whole, or click on a specific individual and conduct a conversation directly with them. Everyone’s virtual identity (i.e. Thomas Roxley) floated above their head so you could address them by their name, and could “recognize” those you had met while networking before the session started.
As the speakers presented their material, attendees could ask questions from the floor, as well as move around to get a better vantage point, if desired. This functionality created a few issues, however, as some attendees --- unfamiliar with the operation of their avatar --- were bumping into the other attendees, tripping over things, and occasionally walking onto the stage. A few used the “jump” or “fly” functionality and zipped around the meeting dome like flies, and one attendee obviously had activated a function that caused him to constantly move his hands and arms like he was playing a piano. He did this throughout the 60 minutes of the session.
Overall, it was an interesting experiment, though perhaps not the most productive way to conduct a forum. The speakers had to talk in generalities since there was no way to create or show multimedia visual aids (i.e. PowerPoint). But if the objective was to introduce this new technology to business, they succeeded.
Second Life is primarily populated by Gen Y (born after 1980) users. After seeing it in use, I can visualize the expansion of its use in business over the next few years. In addition, the Second Life site is actively reaching out to the business community with groups, networks, and a “conference facility” already in use for ongoing meetings and training in some high-tech industries. Since the session, I have already received several invitations to networking groups who are assembling “tribes” of like-minded individuals to meet once a week on Second Life.
I encourage you to investigate this new tool. When I logged on this morning, the SL welcome screen indicated that there had been over 1.6 MILLION users in the last 30 days. Now that’s something to ponder…
NOTE: Be careful in personalizing your avatar as you get started. After the aforementioned conference, I decided to select alternate clothing for “Thomas.” Being unfamiliar with the process, I clicked the wrong button and DELETED all of Thomas’ current clothing…so he was standing outside the conference venue completely naked. (Though not anatomically correct, it was still obvious that Thomas was naked from his prominent butt crack and gloots.) It took me a while to figure it out, but I eventually got Thomas dressed again.
Be careful out there or you, too, will be caught virtually naked.
“Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can."
--- Danny Kaye, actor/singer/dancer