Metaversed has CLOSED

Thanks for dropping by, seems like you missed our announcement and move to Clever Zebra, our new company. Don't worry though, all the old content is still here and you can catch up on the details in the original announcement below :)

~Nick Wilson

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For many, the announcement that Metaversed is evolving from a company that comments on others products, to one that creates products people want to comment on, is old news. I did a small promo video that went from something to show a few folks inworld to being a pretty hot topic among virtual worlds commentators last week. If you've not seen it, take a few minutes to watch, it'll give you the thumbnail on the new direction.

When I started this blog in early 2007 it was because I had recently discovered virtual worlds, and was convinced that this was what I wanted to do. I'd recently sold shares in a previous venture and was not enjoying my decision to run a social media consultancy one little bit. I was so convinced that virtual worlds were important, really important, that I quit the consultancy within a month of discovering Second Life and focused all of my energy on learning as much as possible as quickly as possible.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, or what I could do. I was just soaking up knowledge and (as I'm wont to do) blogging about it as part of the educational process. As a result of that we've made many friends, and built up a great readership here at Metaversed. I'm very grateful to all of the people that have emailed, commented and just skimmed the headlines here over the last year.

Along the way I met Caleb Booker, who first wrote for Metaversed, then later became the Operations Manager for Metaversed's inworld events and pretty much everything else we've been doing. We plan to continue producing events in 2008 under the banner of Clever Zebra, and are also looking to take the next step in the evolution of the company.

Hello Clever Zebra

Recently I had the chance to work with Josh Eikenberry, aka Lordfly Digeridoo. A little while before Christmas I talked with him about an idea I'd had to lower the barrier to entry in Second Life by producing an Open Source development kit for corporations (see the video if you didn't already..) and found that he'd had a similar idea a few months back, and that our thoughts were very much in line. The next day, Clever Zebra was born. We're still working out some of the details but the new company has already gained the support of some prominent members of the architectural, technological and business communities in virtual worlds (announcements later in the week) and is making partnerships on an almost daily basis. The idea to produce a free, open source solution for corporations in virtual worlds has inspired some great speculative debate, and I'm looking forward to putting meat on the bones of this idea in the coming weeks.

Josh joins us as Chief Creative Officer. Between the three of us there is now very little we can't accomplish and with new found friends we're set to kick off the DOING part of Clever Zebra today. Join the Clever Zebra group in Second Life for details.

So Long Metaversed

Metaversed is a great name for a virtual worlds blog. We've not done any actual blogging here for a little while though and the brand is far to well established to just uproot it and switch direction. No matter what I did, a good portion of people would always think of the company as a virtual words news blog, and well, we already have a pretty good one of those don't we?

So, Metaversed the blog will close. We will redirect to the Clever Zebra blog, so there's no need to change your RSS feed settings. Though if you'd rather not follow our event and product announcements you should unsubscribe now. We'll report on our events inworld, our products and initiatives, but we won't be reporting news. We'll leave that to others.

Change is never easy, it is inevitable though. I hope that the freinds (that's you, dear reader..) we've built up over the last year will continue to follow our progress in 2008. I've not learnt everything there is to learn about virtual worlds. Far from it. The more I learn the more I realize how little I know in fact. I have learnt enough to decide what is is I want to do in virtual worlds though. The basic principle remains the same: To promote business and education in virtual worlds. The manner of doing so is evolving.

We will redirect the site on Wednesday. So again, if you don't want to follow our new site, please unsubscribe now.

If you have comments or questions, please drop them below and I'll answer them as soon as I can.

Thanks everyone, and a happy new year to you all!

Join Us Today For Metanomics With Robin Harper

Join us today at 11AM PST for Metanomics with Robin Harper (known in Second Life as Robin Linden), Marketing and Community Development VP for Linden Lab, to talk about the Second Life community. She handles communication between users and Linden Lab on social and technical issues, making sure that users' creativity can mesh with the current technological obstacles.

Robin's specialties include brand development, marketing communications, online community development, and customer support. In 2006 she was named one of Gaming's Most Influential Women by Next Generation magazine.

The event will be on Zebra HQ and viewed across the Second Life grid via video broadcast from SLCN.tv. If you'd like to be a part of the audience at the island itself, please make sure to arrive early as we fill the island to maximum capacity. Meanwhile, you can select from several Official Event Partner locations below.

Event Partners

Metanomics events are viewed simultaneously at various locations around the Second Life grid. Participants at all locations can join the Metanomics group for an ongoing conversation as the event continues. The complete list of event partner locations is also distributed weekly via group notice to the Metanomics group. As this is a new year and many things are being shuffled around, today we'll give you a complete list here as well:

  • Rockcliffe University
    Host: Lovely Encore
    Notes: Coffee & pie; free gift for the holidays
  • Colonia Nova Amphitheatre
    Host: Rose Springvale, Public Information Officer, Confederation of Democratic Sims (Michel Manen, Praetor, assisting)
    Notes: The Colonia Nova sim is a low lag sim, modeled after Cologne, Germany under Roman rule, about 53 BCE. The Amphitheatre seats up to 80 avis. Colonia Nova is one of the sims governed by the CDS, Confederation of Democratic Sims, the oldest functioning democracy in SL. Members of the CDS include many lawyers, bankers and experienced SL trendsetters who participate in the discussons following Metanomics presentations in a relaxed atmosphere. Refreshments provided!
  • The Ginny Business Center - Conference Hall
    Host: Carly Meads
    Notes The Ginny Business Conference Center, an Conference hall able to seat as many as 65 avs is available for conferences and seminars. The Ginny Business Center provides businesses and organizations the oportunity to meet and network. Located on Ginny a low lag business sim that provides office space, meeting rooms and facilities for conferences, conventions and other corporate events.
  • MetaPartners Conference Area (Grieg sim)
    Host: Frans Tomsen
    Notes: Grieg is the home sim of MetaPartners, a Belgian communications company. Join us after the event for a tour of the UniPartners sims (Chopin, Vivaldi Spring and Vivaldi Winter). UniPartners NV is a belgian ICT and financial services outsourcing specialist.
  • Mal Burns' InfoHub
    Host: Mal Burns
    Notes: Informal viewing and discussion, generally lag-free.

Statistics, Privacy, And SLMetrics

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Metaversed video archive at SLCN
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Hilary Mason, an Assistant Professor in New Media and Computer Science at Johnson & Wales University, joined us last week for "Virtual Business Innovators" to talk about her in-depth statistics gathering system "SLMetrics". We learned quite a bit about statistics, how they can be used, and how the Metaverse might be completely reshaped by their influence.

You can watch the video or listen to the MP3 via the links above. This session's synopsis comes courtesy of Sloan Skjellerup of Rockliffe University. Her overview follows:

Synopsis

Mason’s first Second Life project was “Virtual Morocco”. In collaboration with the ministry of tourism for the Country of Morocco and a group of undergraduate students willing to volunteer their time, the team set out to research ways of using technology to help promote tourism in Morocco and develop a space to encourage cultural exchange. The group in Morocco loved it so much Hilary’s Immersive Media team was granted funding and support to develop a “Virtual Morocco”, Casablanca. (need SLurL here)

SLMetrics was born from the Virtual Morocco project. Once the team had completed the build, they discovered it would be necessary to develop a unique system in Second Life to accurately define their progress. SLMetrics is a suite of tools enabling in-world sensors to gather data. The collected data is backed up to the MySQL database and accessible on the website allowing the team to analyze and visualize the collected data.

With SLmetrics landowners can see the number of unique visitors, their entrance and exit paths, know how long they lingered and what objects they interacted with. This information gives a landowner a clearer “picture” of how their space is being used rather than just a stream of static numbers. We can answer a number of questions from this combined information:

  • How can we design spaces from the ground up that encourage people to engage in particular actions?
  • How can we take an existing space and “redesign” it to encourage people to engage in particular actions? What can stay the same?
  • How does Second Life relate to real word business, training and education?

The basic SLMetrics system tracks unique avatars as they pass through an area. It records the time spent in the whole area, specific locations they spent the most time in, and the paths they walked. Mason is working on integrating an ‘Action Stream’ data model. Her team has already collected Action Data information across commercial sims, marketing sims, cultural and educational sims and is just starting to do the analysis to build more generalized models.

Surprisingly, privacy concerns were hardly mentioned by the meeting attendees. Onder Skall briefly addressed the subject. Why not have the individual landowners inform an avatar upon arrival that they are using the SLMetrics system and offer the avatars a link to the “Opt Out” site, or, a pop-up allowing them to either “accept” or “deny” participation. Mason in-turn suggested it would be possible for her to create a Kiosk where people may register to “Opt Out”. Currently SLMetrics does have a privacy policy in place and right now, there are two ways to opt out:

  1. Ask Hilary Mason for an attachment from SLMetrics to wear that broadcasts a code so that the sensors will never record you.
  2. You can opt out on a website form requesting that your name be automatically deleted from the database.

Linden Lab’s TOS already gives landowners the right to track who comes to the space and how they use it. A person can not place the SLMetrics sensors on land they don’t own. Mason encourages people to have privacy policies in place on their sim/s.

There is a movement among Academics to define “Open Standards for Metrics Data” enabling us to share data between different systems. Mason has been working on this concept with Eric Hackathorn (of Maya Realities (http://www.mayarealities.com), known in Second Life as Hackhaven Heartford. Masons’ team will be giving a presentation on Open Standards for Metrics Data January 12, 2008, in Boston at the Immersive Education Symposium, Boston College.

Meanwhile, Mason’s team needs more data! If you would like to set this system up on your land, go to http://www.slmetrics.com/slmetrics.php and sign up.

Today On VBI - Leveraging Statistics

Join us today at 11AM SLT on Metaversed Island where we'll be "Leveraging Statistics" with Hilary Mason of Johnson & Wales University. This is a great way to see how we can work smarter in every business in Second Life, and to hear about her truly innovative SLMetrics system.

Hilary Mason is an Assistant Professor in New Media and Computer Science at Johnson & Wales University. She has wide research interests, from web applications to social media and virtual worlds. Hilary directed the Virtual Morocco educational experience and the NSF/NASA funded Virtual BLAST projects in Second Life, where she is known as "Ann Enigma."

Arrive early to secure a seat before the island fills, and prepare some hard questions for our expert about how you can make your business more profitable. See you there!

The Foundations Of The Metaverse

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Metaversed video archive at SLCN
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This week's guest on Metanomics was Dr. Yesha Sivan, an Israelean entrepreneur and senior Lecture at Afeka Tel Aviv College of engineering. He's the founder of Metaversed Labs (MVL), a think-tank that's helping to design the standards upon which the future Metaverse will be built.

Sivan feels that, for now, virtual world platforms are mostly for entertainment purposes. He suspects, however, that in 2 or 3 years 3D virtual platforms will develop and serve as practical venues for everyday business collaboration, like creating and developing products. “The Metaverse will be big.”

15 years ago Dr. Sivan got his first internet connection and was using the first available browsers. He recalls thinking that the technology he was experiencing for the first time was going to bring about “fundamental change” impacting the way we are communicating, doing work and learning. Looking at Second Life for the first time invoked a similar sense of anticipation and interest forming the question “How can virtual world simulations unite to more effectively interface with real world business and enhance communities?”

Dr. Sivan feels we are just starting to develop what he calls "the full Metaverse”. Right now there are limitations on graphics, concurrency, and how easy things are to use - all elements that will need to be overcome before Dr. Sivan's "full Metaverse" can be considered a reality.

Current technology has about as far to go as GOPHER (a menu-based information service) did. The leap to full web browsers made the difference. By incorporating graphics, people suddenly started to recognize the potential of these technologies, which formed momentum and took technology further. The difference was in the definition of new standards.

Defining standards makes it easier for companies to develop the core technologies available to support millions of users. A much larger set of developers and companies can then enter the business, and real progress can be made. “It took Google 10 years to become what it is," said Sivan, "We used to have Alta Vista and that was it for search." Innovation will drive things further, but without proper standards Google wouldn't be possible.

In his analysis of various platforms, Dr. Sivan developed a "3D3C" theory; a summary of what it takes to become a “true Metaverse." He displayed a cross-section of various worlds on a chart, and gave each a rating in four categories:

  1. 3D Environment - How sophisticated are the graphics? How smoothly do they load? How useful are the camera controls?
  2. Community - Is the world populated? Are there tools to aid in community-building efforts? How sophisticated are those tools?
  3. Creation - What types of things are possible to create by the users? How easy is it to create those things, and how accessible are the tools?
  4. Commerce - Is commerce encouraged? Is it integrated into the world itself?

Using the 3D3C model as a premise, several major firms spanning 8 European countries are on-board with standards development of the Metaverse. "The Metaverse 1 Initiative” starts in April 2008, but already governments are getting involved with the funding efforts and work is underway. A formal website is coming up.

Next Session In 2008

Metanomics will be taking a short break and starting up again on January 7th. Guests in 2008 will include Robin Harper of Linden Lab and David Wortley, Director of the Serious Games Institute (SGI) at Coventry University. See you then!

Video Network Of The Future

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Metaversed video archive at SLCN
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In the 8 months that SLCN has been streaming video they have revolutionized the way we think about media in virtual worlds. We had the opportunity to speak with Wiz Nordberg, CEO of SLCN, to find out more about what is fast becoming one of the most influential forces in Second Life.

Below is a general summary of what we discussed, but I strongly urge everyone interested in the topic to review the video or MP3 via the links above.

The Birth Of SLCN

When first discovering virtual worlds, Wiz took some time experimenting with different occupations. Then it hit him: "I should become a big media executive in Second Life."

In real-life Wiz Nordberg is Gary Wisniewski, and he has quite a bit of experience with organizing the large-scale streaming of video. With the diverse range of skills necessary at his disposal he was able to assemble dozens of technologies into a cohesive product. SLCN now broadcasts video to the web and into Second Life 24 hours a day.

The Business Model

While Wiz used the term "toy television network", the model is no different than mainstream media. Ultimately you're monetizing large numbers of viewers. Working out how to do that isn't purely SLCN's problem, but the one that network television has faced for decades.

While there aren't yet enough viewers to adopt the business models of the large networks, Wiz feels that the current number of viewers are a tenth of what they will be a year from now. In the meantime, they're prepared to ride out the slow time and closely monitor the statistics.

That doesn't mean they aren't creating new products. Through SLCN.biz they do corporate work, producing high-end professional content that can be remixed by a studio editor and rendered at television quality.

In the long term, the main profit arms are expected to be in advertising coupled with some producer-paid content.

Biggest Influence: Ted Turner

When I asked Wiz who his biggest influence was, he didn't hesitate in naming media mogul Ted Turner. When a large station syndicated their content across the nation, showing lots of reruns and appealing to a wider demographic than HBO, it changed television forever. Wiz grew up watching "Shark Week" and "Bond Week" on stations like TNT and TBS, and they changed the way people thought about television. Ted Turner wasn't afraid of humiliating himself in front of his audience. He did what he thought would be fun, and it made for great television.

The Metaphor Of Television

Current television looks at the market as a large statistical demographic rather than as a people product. In order to be successful in Second LIfe, however, he's run SLCN more like television was in the 40s and 50s when the metaphor of television was about people.

Viewers watch SLCN casually, letting it run while they do other things like adjusting prims around the house. This is very much like the "watching TV while you're cooking" model, which is very much unlike the web. For this reason SLCN has not been run like a website, as it just isn't absorbed like one.

What's Not On The Air - Yet

Wiz would love to see more narrative fiction, but it's difficult to produce. In order for someone to put together a show they would need to arrange for sets, costumes, writing, and of course actors. There's a lot of planning required, and as of yet nobody has been able to pull all of the elements together.

The only limit at SLCN is "is that produceable"? They've never had to censor, and they're actually considering adult content if someone can put together a production of high enough quality.

Even though there is quite a bit of machinima out there that SLCN could air as dramatic content, generally they are just one-shot shows rather than a series. Shows that don't have a production commitment often fail, but those that air regularly grow a following.
Among the more popular shows: "That S'Life" has 66 episodes, "Tonight Live" has 22, and the hockey games are now up to 20. The first 5 are never the ones that get the audience. It's once people understand that it's going to be there every week that people actively look for the show.

"The biggest failing of online media is the unpredictability of its availability," said Wiz, so they need to package the show properly.

On Advertising

It's almost a certainty that someday SLCN will be selling advertising on the shows it airs. Producers are invited to do so now, but the question is: "does the advertising add to the show?" Ed McMahon on the Tonight Show used to advertise Alpo dog food, and somehow it enhanced the show. Advertising should do the same thing.

"I don't think putting people on display in a fishbowl like reality television is a good way to touch your audience," said Wiz. Yet advertisers need to touch the audiences somehow, and making the ads enhance the show could do that.

Shopping SL works

SLCN has multiple streams, one of which is dedicated to shopping. It's actually quite popular because people like to hear about how the creator came up with the product. In the end, the channel isn't about products as much as it is about the people who make them. Obviously this is much more effective than a banner.

Do you have a creative idea for SLCN? Their application page makes the process easy. Who knows, you might find yourself making a living working on a virtual world television show someday.

Today 11AM PST - Metanomics And Metaverse Labs

Join us on Metaversed Island today at 11AM PST for Metanomics with Dr. Yesha Sivan, founder of Metaverse Labs (MVL). We'll discover where his research in the Metaverse has lead him and what the future might hold for virtual worlds.

SLCN.tv will be on location at the island taking video and broadcasting it live to the web as well as across the Second Life grid.

Event Partners Around Second Life

Metaversed Event Partners across the Second Life grid will be hosting their own events today and syndicating the video at their venues. At all locations you can join the conversation by chatting in the "Metanomics" group chat.

Check the official Second Life Events Listings for a list of venues. If you're a member of the Metaversed or Metanomics groups you'll also receive notecards today with landmarks to all locations. Also we'd like to give special thanks to three venues that are hosting Metanomics sessions today:


Amphitheater at Colonia Nova

The Colonia Nova sim is a low lag sim, modeled after Cologne, Germany under Roman rule, about 53 BCE. The Amphitheater seats up to 80 avatars. Colonia Nova is one of the sims governed by the CDS, Confederation of Democratic Sims, the oldest functioning democracy in SL. Members of the CDS include many lawyers, bankers and experienced SL trend-setters who participate in the discussions following Metanomics presentations in a relaxed atmosphere. Refreshments provided!


MetaPartners Conference Area

Grieg is the home sim of MetaPartners, a Belgian communications company. Join us after the event for a tour of the UniPartners sims (Chopin, Vivaldi Spring and Vivaldi Winter). UniPartners NV is a belgian ICT and financial services outsourcing specialist.


ComMeta Convention Center

The www.ComMeta.CC website hosts a large community of business-minded people interested in virtual worlds. After the lecture they offer a discussion for all participants.

Would you like to be an official Metaversed Event Partner? We've created an overview page that has everything you'll need, including promotion tips and instructions. Get in touch!

Meanwhile, we're looking forward to seeing all of you at today's event!

Join us on Monday for Metanomics With Dr. Yesha Sivan

This coming Monday we will be joined by Dr. Yesha Sivan, founder of Metaverse Labs (MVL). A pioneer and leader of technologies for knowledge infrastructures, Dr. Sivan's professional experience is in the development of innovative workplaces. Currently he is teaching Metaverse related courses in Afeka College of engineering, Tel Aviv University School of Computer Sciences, and Bar-Ilan University Executive MBA Program.

Dr. Sivan has been very interested interoperability problems like being able to take avatar clothing from Second Life into There. He's also been looking into how virtual world simulations can interface with the real world. We'll be talking with him about defining what virtual worlds are, and how competing companies can develop common standards for virtual environments.

We'll be changing the venue this week, but the location of the event will be announced on Monday morning right here at Metaversed.com.

Today - Interview With Wiz Nordberg

The CEO of SLCN, Wiz Nordberg (Gary Wisniewski in the real-world), will be at Metaversed Island today for our latest session of Virtual Business Innovators. We'll ask straight-up questions about the network's business model, what place push media has in the age of interactivity, and whether branding the station "Second Life Cable Network" will restrict his growth into future virtual worlds.

We'll be starting at 11AM PST and the event will be broadcast live through SLCN.tv. If you'd like to be a member of the live audience, however, please arrive early as we have limited space available.

Virtual World Journalism and Entrepreneurship

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Metaversed video archive at SLCN
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Originally scheduled to be a discussion with Daniel Terdiman about his exciting new book "Entrepreneurs Guide To Second Life", this week's session of Metanomics took a dramatic shift as Robert Bloomfield managed to book two last-second additions: Hamlet Au of New World Notes and Urizenus Sklar of the Second Life Herald. The discussion ranged over a wide variety of topics, from what kind of mindset an entrepreneur should have to what kind of journalism is needed in a virtual world.

One of the audience members, Kronos Kirkorian, created a great gallery of images and not only covers the event from Metaversed Island but from several of the Event Partner locations as well. All images found there (including the one above) should be credited to Kronos Kirkorian if used elsewhere.

Below I've summarized the main points of focus in the discussion, but it's worth listening to the event in total via the links above.

Daniel Terdiman

Terdiman spearheaded the efforts that made CNet the first mainstream news organization to create a permanent Second Life presence. He has also recently released a new book entitled "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Second Life: Making Money in the Metaverse", which details how to identify, develop, launch, and profit from your own business in the virtual world.

The biggest mistake new entrepreneurs make when entering Second Life is that they can just come in and start a business right away. He recommends that people spend several months in Second Life and really work out what genre of business they want to get into. "Becoming part of the fabric of the world", said Terdiman, is critical. The biggest surprises and challenges involved in running a business in Second Life can be overcome by becoming a part of the culture and community.

Wagner James Au

Also known as "Hamlet Au" in Second Life, he was Linden Lab's official "embedded reporter". Currently he runs New World Notes and writes for GigaOM, as well authoring several books: "Second Life", "Second Life: The Official Guide ", and an upcoming book "The Making of Second Life: Notes from the New World".

He offered up some history on Second Life. The old revenue model was to tax residents based on objects created in addition to monthly charges. Under this model, growth rate stagnated and residents revolted. Linden Lab brought in experts to think this through: Julian Dibbell, Edward Castranova and Lawrence Lessig. It was Lessig that suggested that people be allowed to own the content they create. This simple suggestion became the basis of residents retaining the IP rights of their creations, and also of buying and selling Linden Dollars for US Dollars. It also led to a new revenue model: selling land and charging monthly land fees.

This was around 2004, and Second Life has been expanding ever since. The companies only really got interested in 2006, but the economy was already booming by then.

Peter Ludlow

Known in Second Life as Urizenus Sklar, in the real world he is a Philosophy Professor at the University of Toronto. While they weren't mentioned during the session, he has written several books of his own including "High Noon on the Electronic Frontier" and "Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias", and most recently "The Second Life Herald: The Virtual Tabloid that Witnessed the Dawn of the Metaverse".

Ludow challenged what we really mean when we're using the term "entrepreneur", and also asked the question about what percentage of people in Second Life are in fact selling things. While a third of the population are creating things, maybe half of those are selling what they make. While there are numbers that show that 50,000 people draw more Linden Dollars out of the economy than they put in, he'd like to see a comparison of that to how much those people could have made babysitting.

From the backchat, JenzZa Misfit pointed out that people who get paid directly in US Dollars aren't showing up in any current statistics.

Journalism In Second Life

Terdiman's take on journalism in Second Life is that it is financially viable as an enterprise. He reports that Cat Congo claims she makes a full-time living via advertising dollars from the Metaverse Messenger. Au echoed this sentiment, saying he could make a full time living via blogging if he didn't live in San Francisco.

We were also reminded of the hazards of reporting from virtual worlds. In an interview with Anshe Chung last December they were heavily griefed in what has become known as the "penis incident" (Warning: video contains graphic content.) Terdiman wasn't able to get future interviews with that particular person as a result.

In Ludlow's opinion the business model for journalism in Second Life is probably a non-standard one, in that you aren't going to make as much from banner ads as you might in future consulting work or book deals. He also feels that not only is there room for many different styles of journalism, but that a wide variety of levels of credibility and accuracy enhance what everyone learns.

The Future

Since the year is ending, Robert asked what the new year might bring. Terdiman expects a world technologically superior to Second Life that will still be incapable of catching up for a few years because they won't have the several years of content built up. Hamlet Au disagreed, saying that critical mass in another place like HiPiHi, Metaplace, or one of MTV's new worlds may be easier to achieve since Second Life's growth may have plateaued. Ludlow mentioned Ogoglio, but said it doesn't matter since it's about the people who came to Second Life in the first place. A lot of the people he knows in Second Life came here from The Sims Online, and he expects a mass migration to come again.

Metanomics With Daniel Terdiman and Wagner James Au - Today at 11AM PST

Daniel Terdiman, a reporter for CNet, will appear on today's Metanomics session at 11am PST to tell us about his new book "Entrepreneurs Guide To Second Life". He'll talk a bit more about people's perceptions of Second Life as a pyramid scheme, what it's like to be a reporter in a virtual world, and what the major trends are in the industry. This is a must-see event for all entrepreneurs looking at the virtual world.

We also have a late addition - Wagner James Au is going to join us as well. Originally Linden Lab's "embedded reporter", he now runs the New World Notes blog and is a regular contributor to GigaOM.

As usual the event will be recorded at Metaversed Island by SLCN and broadcast live across the Second Life grid. If you weren't able to get to the island before it filled you can still watch it on the web at SLCN.tv.

Event Partners Around Second Life

Transmission of the event will be aired live at a variety of Metaversed Event Partner venues across the Second Life grid. They are holding events of their own focusing on business in Second Life and helping everyone with technical issues so that we can all enjoy the event together. No matter which venue you find yourself at today you can still participate in the main conversation by joining the in-world "Metanomics" group chat.

If you're looking for venues your first stop will be the official Second Life Events Listings. We also send out notecards to all members of the "Metanomics" groups with landmarks to all locations. At this time we'd also like to give special thanks to three venues that drew the biggest crowds last week. Starting with the top site:


Muse Isle

Home of RDV Animations & Rendezvous Avatar Animators - is proud to be an Event Partner for Metaversed Island, www.metaversed.com & the Metanomics Series hosted by Professor Robert Bloomfield. We promote these events in advance through our island groups and on site promotions. It's always a lively group at The Arena here at Muse Isle and we are happy to participate.


Amphitheater at Colonia Nova

The Colonia Nova sim is a low lag sim, modeled after Cologne, Germany under Roman rule, about 53 BCE. The Amphitheater seats up to 80 avatars. Colonia Nova is one of the sims governed by the CDS, Confederation of Democratic Sims, the oldest functioning democracy in SL. Members of the CDS include many lawyers, bankers and experienced SL trend-setters who participate in the discussions following Metanomics presentations in a relaxed atmosphere. Refreshments provided!


The Ginny Business Center

The Ginny Business Conference Center, an auditorium available for conferences and seminars provides businesses and organizations the oportunity to meet and network.

Do you want to be an official Metaversed Event Partner? The overview page has everything you'll need to know, including promotion tips and instructions on how to become an Event Partner for our next session.

Looking forward to seeing you at today's Metanomics event!

Automotive IQ

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Metaversed video archive at SLCN
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December 7th 2007 - Metaversed held our second session of Virtual Business Innovators featuring Jody Devere (known as Patty Streeter in Second Life), President of AskPatty.com. A photo gallery of the event was provided by JenzZa Misfit, and you can screen the entire event by following the links above. Below I've summarized just a few of the main points, but it's worth hearing the event for yourself to cover the wealth of knowledge that Patty Streeter was able to share.

Statistics

Women purchase 62% of all new vehicles and influence 85% of all automotive purchasing decisions. Dealers are often surprised by this. Many of them are under the impression that men are the main car buyers.

That mistake in judgment could seriously impact how a dealer handles sales and hires staff. The percent of women working in dealerships is less than 20%, and overall the automotive industry is very male dominated.

Despite this, 73% of service customers and 80% of customer satisfaction surveys are completed by women. The disparity between the service providers and their customers is pretty big, and AskPatty.com exists to bridge that gap.

Business Model

AskPatty.com has a panel of over 50 women in professional automotive fields acting as advisers. They are everything from executives to auto detailing experts, and visitors to the Second Life build can actually send emails to these experts and ask advice.

The community at large, however, isn't paying anything to AskPatty.com. The company generates revenue by training and certifying automotive dealers in how to cater to women. They cover how to properly advertise, attract new customers, sell effectively, and retain long-term loyalty. They've also created a network of dealer websites that co-brand with the AskPatty logo.

They've enjoyed great success. Since September of 2006 they have signed up well over 200 dealers to the 12 month training course, and the course is soon to be taught in schools. Training has expanded to Northwood University, the premiere school for automotive study programs. Those seeking a degree in Automotive Marketing as well as after-market automotive studies will be required to take their module.

We were treated to a sample clip during the presentation that illustrated a bad customer experience, and how it might be improved, using machinima recorded in Second Life. The clip itself was created by hired Second Life residents, and was recorded at pre-existing locations. Using machinima, rather than real-world studios, has been a huge cost saver in the creation of training materials.

Community Building

Patty Streeter meets with her 15 employees (scattered across the US) in Second Life because "it's like being on a conference call on steroids." People feel like they're in the room together and make real connections via avatar.

Of course meetings aren't the only reason for the Second Life presence. They are able to reach women who are power internet users and influencers this way quite easily, as well as access the more creative community. This drives traffic to website, and also to the certified female-friendly retailers.

Many of the company's charitable events for United Spinal have been held in the virtual world as well. A typical example is coming up on December 15th: "Cruise 'N Chase" will feature user designs of cars on display and auto racing, with the proceeds going to United Spinal. It's also a great way to showcase the company's new island.

Industry Catching Up To The Market... Almost

Things are changing in the auto industry. Women working in the industry are enjoying recognition for their efforts, but that's not all. There's a recognition that catering to what women want out of a car matters, and designs are changing accordingly.

Partially this has boosted the development of new hybrid "green" cars, as surveys show women to be more ecologically minded. The internal design of cars is changing too. You now have places to put your purse and other storage spaces for the family. The design of the floor near the pedals has been altered to accommodate high heels so that you don't have to turn your foot. Even the materials used on the upholstery are seeing improvements in this area.

It's not all moving ahead the way it should, however. While individual dealerships are getting better with advertising, auto manufacturers themselves leave a lot to be desired. Most marketing of cars is irrelevant and some even insulting to women. As Patty Streeter put it: "Most of the advertising is aimed at the guys, and they need to clean up their act."

Next Week

December 13th we'll host Gary Wisniewski, CEO of SLCN.tv. "Video Network Of The Future", this is a rare opportunity to speak to the man behind the camera. What place does push media have in an age of interactivity? Do people really watch video filmed in virtual worlds? What is the business model behind SLCN anyhow? Answers to these questions and many more next week. Don't miss it!

Join Us Today For VBI And Jody Devere

At 11AM PST today we will have our second session of Virtual Business Innovators on Metaversed Island. Today we'll be hearing from Jody Devere, President of AskPatty.com. She'll be giving us insights into her truly innovative business model, showing us a machinima clip of their program in action, and talking about the experience of buying a car from a woman's perspective.

SLCN.tv will be there broadcasting live to the website, but if you'd like to join us there in person make sure to arrive early to secure your spot on the island. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Virtual Retail And Pushing The Technology

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Metaversed video archive at SLCN
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This week's session of Metanomics was focused on retail, and specifically featured two people who are doing quite well selling adult paraphernalia. Professor Robert Bloomfield quoted rule #34 of the Internet: "If it exists, there is porn of it." Certainly the adult entertainment industry is a major economic driver, and any examination of retail in a virtual environment would be incomplete without taking that into account.

You can view the event in its entirety via the links above, and I've done my best to summarize what was said below. When you're done, give us your thoughts in the Comments section.

Stroker Serpentine

His business is internationally known, partially due to lawsuits he filed against copyright infringers. His "Sexgen" bed has received several hundred thousand hits on Google, and he feels fairly confident that those hits aren't all coming from Second Life residents interested in his product line. He owns Eros Island among other locations around the grid, and earns well into a six-figure income USD from his products.

Stroker has 20 employees in real life. Some are paid in USD, some in Linden Dollars, but they are registered employees of the company earning regular paychecks. He also has 14 in world employees who are compensated in Linden Dollars or land.

For marketing he likes the new classifieds, but didn't like the old ones as they were heavily gamed. He sees most of his business coming from events and expansion of his in-world groups use of groups since they encourage interpersonal interactions based on his products. He believes that peer-to-peer marketing is the most powerful way to sell anything anywhere.

Stroker is cautious about new employees. He frequently has people sign contracts or non-disclosure agreements, and puts new scripters / representatives on a probationary period before determining how they might fit into his company. He sees customer service and customer interaction as cornerstones to his business, and so he watches for those things with his new employees.

To a large extent this has to do with the technical problems surrounding Second Life. With frequent lag and crashes there are big challenges in keeping customers happy, and customers in Second Life are much more impatient and demanding than in real life. They demand immediate results. "You can't script customer service," said Stroker, and put an accent on how important it is to reply to each customer in the face of a problem with, at the very least, a personal "we're working on it, thanks for your patience".

This, of course, was more in relation to Linden Lab's relationship with its customers than his relationship with Eros' customers. He feels that the JIRA is convoluted and complex, and blogs aren't doing the job for customer service since they push a single message rather than inviting interaction with the residents.

Stroker is far more interested in working in virtual worlds than on the web because they are focused on social interaction. Customers can develop a relationship with the product creators, and they can feel a sense of connection with the products themselves. This is all helped by the great sense of immersion that virtual worlds give that is completely missing from the experience of surfing a web page.

Temporal Mitra

His first business in Second Life, an escort club, wasn't turning a profit. While others out there seemed to be making it, he found that it was too easy to circumvent payment systems. Looking at the problems related to running these clubs he began to develop tools to help run them, and soon found that he was a much more successful tool maker. His "escort HUD", for instance, automates chat, tracks a client's whereabouts, hands out notecards, and even looks at an avatar's profile to see how likely they are to be a good client in the first place.

The Temporal Mall now displays a broad range of products that he and his staff have assembled, and he has observed that 50% of his sales come from people who have already purchased something else from him.

His employees are all paid a percentage of profits in Linden Dollars, the virtual currency of Second Life. They take care of their own taxes as independent contractors when they withdraw funds from Linden Lab.

While he comes up with the ideas for the products, his employees take care of the scripting, graphics and document creation. He also handles all of the marketing. Temporal uses in-world advertising companies for billboard ads and spends a lot on the Linden Classifieds to drive traffic to his stores.

Anonymity has been a problem for Temporal in the past. There were instances where he asked for a specific object to be created from a scripter, they would take his money, and then disappear. Some weeks later the idea would show up under someone else's name. Because of this experience he now divides projects up into small pieces and assigns them to individual scripters as a way of keeping things secure. He works with one other person who has access to all of the content, and he has the full details of that person's identity.

From a technical standpoint Temporal finds that Linden Lab is very slow to respond to any complaint, even when it comes to attacks from malicious users. As a result he tries to be self-reliant, but has noticed a direct negative correlation to his profits and the number of unplanned outages on the grid.

Still, he'd rather be here than trying to create products for sale on the web. This is where he sees the future of the Internet occurring. Business online will be avatar to avatar, not webpage to webpage.

New Grid, New VISA

When asked about legal jurisdiction with regards to adult content, Stroker was very forward about it. "Adult content is adult content," he said, whether it's a video, animation, or even a new skin for your avatar. This means that Linden Lab have quite a bit of content to account for, and it's extremely difficult for them to be sure of anyone's age under the current setup. He didn't see their future plans for "Identity Verification" as much of a step forward either: "Age verification is going to be an albatross for them."

It's for reasons like these that he has partnered with the Electric Sheep Company to create an entirely separate grid for adult content. This way they'll know that the client base has been properly age verified, they have payment info on file, and they're in compliance with the vast majority of international laws. They'll able to control content as well to keep things legal.

Stroker followed up these comments by also mentioning that he has been working with several European banks to create a VISA that will be able to offer merchant accounts to virtual businesses. These will be genuine VISA merchant accounts specifically tailored to accommodate micropayments; something Paypal has yet to find a solution for.

What did you think?

What questions would you have asked our guests? Is there anything you would like to add? Leave a comment below and join in the discussion!

Virtual Retail - Join Us For Metanomics Today 11AM PST

Owners of two of Second Life's more colorful and successful retail businesses will be today's guests on Metanomics at 11AM PST. Stroker Serpentine and Temporal Mitra will be joining us to discuss the challenges of managing virtual businesses, managing virtual employees, marketing in Second Life, adult entertainment, and intellectual property issues.

The event will be held at Metaversed Island and viewed simultaneously across the Second Life grid and on the web via SLCN.tv video broadcast. If you'd like to participate in the event at Metaversed Island, do arrive early to secure your spot.

Event Partners Around Second Life

Even when Metaversed Island is full you can still participate as if you are there! Metaversed Event Partners across the Second Life grid are holding events of their own displaying the SLCN.tv live feed. You can participate in the conversation from any venue by joining the in-world "Metanomics" group chat.

The official Second Life Events Listings has a good list of venues for today's event. We'd also like to give special thanks to three venues that drew the biggest crowds last week. Starting with the top site:


Muse Isle

Home of RDV Animations & Rendezvous Avatar Animators - is proud to be an Event Partner for Metaversed Island, www.metaversed.com & the Metanomics Series hosted by Professor Robert Bloomfield. We promote these events in advance through our island groups and on site promotions. It's always a lively group at The Arena here at Muse Isle and we are happy to participate.


Amphitheater at Colonia Nova

The Colonia Nova sim is a low lag sim, modeled after Cologne, Germany under Roman rule, about 53 BCE. The Amphitheater seats up to 80 avatars. Colonia Nova is one of the sims governed by the CDS, Confederation of Democratic Sims, the oldest functioning democracy in SL. Members of the CDS include many lawyers, bankers and experienced SL trend-setters who participate in the discussions following Metanomics presentations in a relaxed atmosphere. Refreshments provided!


MetaPartners Conference Area

Grieg is the home sim of MetaPartners, a Belgian communications company. Join us after the event for a tour of the UniPartners sims (Chopin, Vivaldi Spring and Vivaldi Winter). UniPartners NV is a belgian ICT and financial services outsourcing specialist

Do you have a great venue that holds regular events? The Metaversed Event Partners page has promotion tips and instructions on how to become an Event Partner for our next session.

Meanwhile, we're looking forward to seeing you all in the Metanomics group chat!

Platforms On Platforms

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Metaversed video archive at SLCN
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Thursday, November 30 2007 we held the first session of Virtual Business Innovators on Metaversed Island. Entitled "Platforms on Platforms", we featured three entrepreneurs who were building gaming platforms in Second Life.

To watch the event, use the links above. JenzZa Misfit has also made a gallery of photos available if you just want to take a quick peek.

Dimentox Travani - DCS2 (Creator)

The "Dynamic Combat System 2" (DCS2) is a gaming platform that can be installed on any island region in Second Life for free. The owner of the land would also retain a 10% commission on all sales made through the system. It's quite popular, having been installed on over 150 islands and been registered to tens of thousands of users

Configuration is done through a web-based interface, and the whole system uses standard SQL databases to manage things. New content is constantly being created through a network of licensed developers. They actively market their weaponry for use in the various platform implementations, driving even more traffic sims that use it.

An advanced advanced artificial intelligence system is planned that will run through actual logged-in shell accounts in Second Life. These "bot accounts" would interact with characters on a variety of levels, alternately helping them or hunting them down. This technology opens up several new possibilities, not the least of which is the potential for offering premium-rate services.

Crash Prefect - Darklife 2 (Creative Director)

Situated on a single island in Second Life, the "DarkLife 2" platform is a monster-hunting game where players can take the scripts out of the weapons they buy and put them in ones of their own creation. Crash tells us of one creative user who was able to take a sword they gave him and turn it into a chainsaw, complete with new animations and effects.

The flexibility afforded by this system has been a big draw, but in order to keep the game balanced they had to create their own currency called "gold". A brisk trade exists between players, some of whom pay large amounts of real cash through Paypal for the virtual currency.

While some money is being made here, for the most part this system exists as a "proof of concept" for the creators to use for future endeavors.

Xenius Revere - RIOT (Creator)

RIOT (click for screenshot) is a giant-robot combat system created in Second Life purely as part of a larger development cycle. While the game will be fully playable in the virtual world, it's being created here in order to test different game play concepts and get feedback from the existing users. He is a strong advocate of using Second Life for prototyping of new ideas because not only is it capable of doing almost anything, but there are always people around to test it out for you.

This was a central theme for the rest of the session. The overall message seemed to be that while Second Life had some technical advantages when it came to building a viable platform, it was the community that really made it worthwhile. The inherent feature in the Second Life platform of allowing users to make themselves look any way they want to and modify the tools they get to work in customized ways can give platform creators some great direction about what will be of mass appeal for others down the road.

Upcoming Session

Our next session will feature Jody DeVere, President of AskPatty.com, speaking about her company's amazing entry into the virtual world. They've been featured several times by the New York Times and were even in a spot by American Express for their community building efforts and ongoing education of women about cars. Their build in Pontiac Island has become a favorite. Join us on Thursday at 11AM PST to find out why!

Schedule

  • December 6th - Jody DeVere of AskPatty.com - Automotive IQ
  • December 13th - Gary Wisniewski of SLCN - Video Network Of The Future
  • December 20th - Hilary Mason of Johnson & Wales University - Leveraging Statistics

Higher Education Takes On The Virtual World

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On November 26th we held the latest session of Metanomics, focused this time on higher education. Our guests were Chris Collins of the University of Cincinnati and Benn R Konsynski of Emory University. (You can read more complete profiles about them on our previous post.) You can use the links above to review the event, and see the attached text file (below this article) to read the backchat.

Below I've attempted to summarize the discussion in brief, but the event was so rich in information that covering every topic would be beyond the scope of this article. The event generated a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and the full session recordings will prove to be valuable to all educators looking at entering the virtual world.

Chris Collins

Chris Collins (Fleep Tuque in Second Life) began with the MUD and BBS community in the mid-90's, eventually graduating to video games like WoW and Everquest. Most of her recent efforts have focused on Second Life.

In April / May of this year she was working with Nancy Jennings to build an island for their university. When trying to work out what form it should take, they decided to survey what other educators were doing. It took a long time to find everybody. Often land was named after mascots or local figures, so tracking everyone down was a challenge.

They started with SimTeach Wiki, and combined with the in-world Search tool were able to find 170 listings. Only 71 institutions, however, actually had land in Second Life. 70% of these institutions were physically located in North America, followed by another 20% in Europe. Many were dedicating space to student socialization in addition to galleries, auditoriums and libraries.

When they held the "Best Practices In Education Conference" in May, they got an overwhelming 1300 RSVPs. There was a huge contingent of individual faculty members doing work in Second Life without institutional presence. Since then the numbers have been growing, with a current estimated 200 institutions establishing formal Second Life presences worldwide.

Distance learning is really on the rise, but with the increase of interest in that area comes the discovery of hurdles. "One of the complaints that students of distance learning programs have is that they feel isolated," said Collins, "All of us who are involved in Second Life now realize how much of a benefit it is to be able to visualize another person. Even if it isn't an exact replica of the person you get that sense of co-presence. And that carries across to collaboration and research."

Benn R Konsynski

Benn R Konsynski (Rejin Tenjin in Second Life) has been monitoring emerging technology for a few decades. He was involved in virtual reality activity in late 80s and early 90s, and watched MUDs and the first virtual spaces (Imagination, The Palace, Larryland). In his opinion technology is very close to catching up to the aspirations people have had for virtual worlds over the years.

Currently at Emory he's putting together a new class entitled "Virtual Worlds And New Realities". They're interested in social norms, commerce, politics and law, and what the similarities and differences are between how those things operate in a virtual world as opposed to the real one.

Emory's island in Second Life is called "Simsim", and serves four purposes: display of branding assets, basic orientation and building / scripting tutorials, a center posting best practices for virtual business and government, and a space to look at emerging technologies in real life as well as Second Life.

In studying the way groups interact in virtual worlds, he's been able to discover what works and what doesn't. Very large meetings can work well, and so do very small meetings. Outside of these two areas, however, we can run into some trouble: "The historic classroom groupings don't often work well," said Konsynski, "especially if you try to take advantage of mobility. Moving groups from one place to another is a disaster waiting to happen."

Educational Hybrids

A question from the audience prompted a discussion on collaboration of external organizations and educational institutions. "Too often we think of the 20th century model of education separated from training and learning," Konsynski said, "I think that just as we mash-up in our web space we can readily see mash-ups that create new hybrid learning environments that involve both the historic institutions and other providers"

"I would definitely echo that as well," responded Collins, "There is a nice crossover between a lot of non-profit institutions and educational institutions. [...] As far as business education there are so many opportunities here. I think all of us are facing the same challenges with the platform itself and as we find something that works in one environment they're likely to work in another environment."

Internships are one possible area of expansion in this regard. A big box store opening an outlet in a virtual world would benefit from having some student interns staffing the space, and the students would benefit from the in-world experience.

Challenges

One big difficulty is that you often have students more comfortable with the environment than the teachers. "How does that affect your authority as a subject matter expert," Collins commented. A partial solution in that regard is to emphasize that this is happening in a larger context, and that the technology is only a small part of a larger concept at work.

The expense of getting upgraded machines to access the virtual world is a problem, as are the logistics of keeping a lab full of systems updated with the latest client. Students can't be expected to purchase the high-end systems they would require either, so what's the solution?

Discussion along these lines continued, bridging into subjects like multitasking, attention span, the lowest technological common denominator, and even a certain amount of criticism with regards to our previous session with Castranova. You can view the session in full through the links above.

Upcoming Metanomics Event

The next Metanomics session will be on Monday, December 3rd. Robert Bloomfield will host, and he has arranged for two in-world business people to come and speak: Stroker Serpentine and Temporal Mitra. We'll explore the challenges of managing virtual businesses, managing virtual employees, marketing in Second Life, adult entertainment, and intellectual property issues.

Rebooting the Virtual Worlds Podcast!

31:40 minutes (21.75 MB)

Join us for the reboot of the virtual worlds podcast as Nick Wilson and Caleb Booker discuss the week's virtual worlds business and industry stories. This week, HiPiHi in the news, and a look at Philip Rosedales promise of stability for Second Life in 2008.

New Series Launches Thursday: Virtual Business Innovators

This Thursday at 11am SLT on Metaversed Island we'll be launching a new series of events called "Virtual Business Innovators". The concept is to showcase the most innovative new businesses in the virtual world. While our pilot episode is going to be featured on SLCN.tv, for the time being we're just going to raise the maximum occupancy of the island and hold the event at the one location.

Our first session is entitled "Platforms on Platforms", and features guests who have helped develop platforms that run inside the platform of Second Life.

Dimentox Travani - DCS2
Dimentox has created the Dynamic Combat System, a platform easily installed on any sim in Second Life. It makes combat between characters possible, and supports a sophisticated non-player character system. Weapons makers are licensed through the system to create and sell DCS-enabled weaponry. At present it is used in well over a hundred sims.

Crash Prefect - DarkLife 2
DarkLife 2 is a complete functioning commercial MMORPG running inside Second Life. In addition to having custom weapons and artificially-intelligent monsters, they have a virtual currency of their own operating separately from the existing virtual currency of the Linden Dollar.

In both cases, the development of new platforms inside the existing platform (and in DarkLife's case a currency inside a currency) was the main business model. How popular are they? Is this a trend we'll be seeing more of in the future? Why build platforms in Second Life, as opposed to building from the ground up? These answers and more in the upcoming session.

Please arrive early to secure your spot. We'll be increasing the maximum capacity of the island, but there's only so many a server can handle.

See you there!

Join Us Today 11AM PST - Higher Education In Second Life

In today's Metanomics session we'll be taking a look at Higher Education in Second Life, exploring how Universities are using the virtual world to educate and do research. Our guests are Chris Collins, IT Analyst in the UCit Instructional & Research Computing department at the University of Cincinati, and Ben R. Konsynski, the George S. Craft Professor of Business Administration for Decsision & Information Analysis at Emory University.

We'll be holding the event at Metaversed Island, but it will be watched across the Second Life grid via SLCN.tv video broadcast. The audience at the island itself tends to fill quickly, so make sure to get there early for a seat!

Event Partners Around Second Life

When Metaversed Island fills, you can still participate as if you are there! Venues across the Second Life grid are holding events of their own featuring direct video feed of today's Metanomics event. People at all locations can participate in the conversation through the in-world "Metanomics" group chat. Make sure you join, it's free!

For a more complete list of event partners you can look through the official Second Life Events Listings, but for now we'd like to give special thanks to three venues that, for several weeks now, keep drawing the biggest crowds. Starting with the top site:


Muse Isle

Home of RDV Animations & Rendezvous Avatar Animators - is proud to be an Event Partner for Metaversed Island, www.metaversed.com & the Metanomics Series hosted by Professor Robert Bloomfield. We promote these events in advance through our island groups and on site promotions. It's always a lively group at The Arena here at Muse Isle and we are happy to participate.


Ampitheater at Colonia Nova

The Colonia Nova sim is a low lag sim, modeled after Cologne, Germany under Roman rule, about 53 BCE. The Amphitheatre seats up to 80 avatars. Colonia Nova is one of the sims governed by the CDS, Confederation of Democratic Sims, the oldest functioning democracy in SL. Members of the CDS include many lawyers, bankers and experienced SL trendsetters who participate in the discussons following Metanomics presentations in a relaxed atmosphere. Refreshments provided!


ComMeta Convention Center

The www.ComMeta.CC website hosts a large community of business-minded people interested in virtual worlds. After the lecture they offer a discussion for all participants.

Would you like to be an event partner for our next event? The Metaversed Event Partners page has detailed instructions, including promotion tips.

Looking forward to seeing you in the Metanomics group chat!

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