Dr. Neil Hair

Just finished a cracking session with four teams that are building their own businesses using the Second Life platform. If youre looking for creativity in the brave new world of web 2.0 - look no further. I had previously checked my enthusiasm and expectations of excellence at the door so as not to die of disappointment (not that this group was ever going to disappoint). I sat at home, pulled up a coffee and an HD Flip camera and so the experience began. The first team had a few issues with technology and so we moved to the second without delay. A roof top presentation that made use of a teleporting system from ground to roof. Great concept - because of the experience (and noise of being teleported Star Treck style). Great practical presentation that demonstrated the progress being made - the competition being assessed and the concept and value proposition of their business - came to life. Quite the treat seeing fellow terraformers sat listening, learning, and enquiring. The second presentation added a unique feature that impressed me as much as the experience of the first - a virtual brand avatar to help launch and promote the business. Whist I cant tell you much about the companies (some are planning on launching these ideas as commercial entities after the course) I can pick out some of the highlights of their unique pitches. The third presentation offered the class a wonderful amphitheatre setting for their presentation. Again - plenty of creativity on display as they danced through their slides. Finally we moved to another roof top meeting space of the 4th team - Corbusier LC2's to sit on none the less! Another unique display that saw all members presenting and animating their avatars whilst speaking. Im so proud of them as a class - its not easy building a business from scratch in any case - but doing so in virtual worlds under unique constraints is all the more impressive in my book. Thanks guys, truly impressive stuff today and HD video snippets and youtube videos to follow.

On Wednesday I delivered a live lecture at the RIT Amph- itheatre on RIT island to a number of guests and my 20 virtual terra- formers. The session was extremely successful and reminded me of the advances virtual worlds have made in recent years in terms of stability and functionality. The event contained the usual mixture of work (asking questions, taking notes) and play - (I’m not sure who brought the huge watermelon cannon to class). It continues to surprise me that organizations don’t make best use of these immersive worlds. Many just don’t get it - or thought they got it in 2007 and then subsequently shut shop when the crowds disappeared (not realizing they disappeared because the value offering of those traditional brick and mortar companies in Second Life was NON EXISTANT). Of course the economic issues haven’t helped - companies always tend to cut the most valuable resource available to them - creative marketing types. First tactics to go are usually those that are the most innovative yet fail to demonstrate performance (again because they don’t understand the metrics). I do though predict a whole hearted return to these environments in the coming months and years. Just as social media has opened up a great deal of opportunity for marketers - so too has virtual worlds that enable deep interaction with customers and other valuable stakeholders. As with social media though – virtual worlds need a plan of action, a strategy, understanding of purpose and tactics – and a heavy heaping of understanding performance metrics of these plans. Which is why I am enjoying this class so much – we aren’t dodging this tricky subject, were tackling it head on. Our terraformers might not always carry watermelon cannons, but I can assure you – they are armed and dangerous in this new brave world.

Next Friday (29th January) morning during Webster Chamber of Commerce's regular breakfast briefing event I will be providing attendees with an overview of social media. The focus will be on how it has impacted business and what role it is playing for advanced users. Should be a great event and I would encourage any interested parties to attend. Event registration can be found at www.websterchamber.com/ . The event starts at 7 and ends at 9am. Hope to see you there!