Dr. Neil Hair

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.