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.