Click here to subscribe to the BMA Marketing Mirror RSS Feed
5/1/2008 - Virtual World Makes Meetings Fun Again
by Anders Gronstedt
Worn by the drudgery of staring at your phone while talking to disembodied voices on a conference call? Tired of slogging through PowerPoint during a webinar?
You’re ripe for rebirth into the virtual world. Here, you are “seeing” the meeting and participating within an immersive 3-dimensional space.
Second Life the Virtual Pioneer
The pioneering 3D virtual world is Second Life®. It consists of a dynamic environment of inhabitants, locations and interactions created entirely by its Residents. Opened to the public in 2003, Second Life today is inhabited by millions of Residents from around the globe engaging in social, artistic, entertainment and business activities.
Once you’ve gone “inworld” on Second Life, you’ll find that it’s never been so much fun communicating and collaborating remotely with your sales team, partners and customers.
See Yourself in Virtual Reality
Picture yourself In a virtual meeting. You move a figure of yourself called your “avatar” around three-dimensionally. You interact with other people through their avatars by talking straight into your computer via a headset. Even the sound is in 3D! Green waves radiate from avatars that are talking and they start gesturing.
You can chat or IM, gesture and change appearance. It is an immersive environment that keeps participants completely focused on the task at hand. Besides, if they drift to other desktop activities, their avatar would quickly slump over and fall asleep, an embarrassing reminder to everyone that his mind and fingers have wandered off.
A Total Media Convergence
Virtual worlds like Second Life represent a "perfect storm" convergence of social media, simulations and gaming. If the latest Gartner Group research is correct, 80% of active Internet users will be participating in non-gaming virtual worlds by late 2011.
Take Your Avatar Inworld
You’ll best understand the promise of virtual worlds by experiencing one yourself. In the words of Morpheus, "no one can be told what the matrix is, you have to see it for yourself.” One way is to open a free Second Life account at www.secondlife.com. Then download the software reader, and create your own avatar.
Start your exploration by visiting a serious meeting. They are listed on Second Life’s website and also you’ll find them inworld when you hit the “Search” button.
One meeting you can try is hosted by me every Thursday between 10:00 and 11:00 AM at Gronstedt Group's "Train for Success." It continues to grow as we attract more expert speakers and participants with each passing week. Just get a good headset and come as you are -- whether that's as Darth Vader, a giant spider or an enhanced digital version of your First Life self.
Anders Gronstedt, Ph.D., aka “Anders Wildcat” in Second Life (see his avatar at top), is a BMA member and president of The Gronstedt Group. Based in Broomfield, The Gronstedt Group helps companies like Dell, Jamba Juice, Ericsson, and Volvo Cars improve sales and marketing performance with podcasting, virtual worlds, simulations and other innovative approaches.
Read These Other May 2008 ArticlesIndustry News and Views, May 2008
Virtual World Makes Meetings Fun Again
Web-Rich Marketing Tools Coming to the Desktop
Nuturing Warm Leads into the Sales Funnel
Sixteen Tips for More Effective Networking
May Rearview Mirror: How They Succeeded
Question of the Month, May 2008