launches

Philips, the Dutch design and electronics firm, failed to impress seasoned Meterati when they held their launch party on Friday this week. Second Life blogger Veejay Burns wrote that the new Philips presence, located on the Our Virtual Holland sim, "makes absolutely no sense", and indeed, I found it hard to work out why a platform and a coffee table would be considered a worthwhile achievement. Companies have a hard time in the virtual world, they're damned if they do and damned if they don't in terms of effort, expense and design, but from talking to Veejay and others who visited the party, this was just a drop to minimalistic, and frankly, a little perplexing.

I spoke to Ingrid Bal of Philips some days prior to the launch, and she was full of genuine enthusiasm for the project, saying that they believed virtual environments such as Second Life were the future of the web, and that they had great plans for their co-creation projects inworld. I don't doubt we'll see more from Philips, but they're going to have to work a whole lot harder if they want to win over Second Lifers.

Yesterday, Intel launched a new initiative in Second Life. They held a virtual "press conference" which was well attended, but which failed on a number of levels. In fact, it was so bad, that today's story isn't about the launch of a new Intel Island, but about how press and blogger relations are handled in virtual worlds.

The launch of Intel's new island was mishandled. There was no single factor that could have been corrected, but a series of small problems that in isolation may have made little difference, but in concert, produced an experience and impression for those involved that left a lot to be desired.

So what was the problem? Lets run through the main points as I see it, then conclude with some thoughts on how it could have worked better.

What News?

Firstly, the news of Intel's launch was reported last week. The fact that an invitation to the press event yesterday was sent out, with plenty of detail, was enough to run with. I heard nothing in the live conference that would make me want to cover it twice, and have not seen much mention of it on other sources. Blogs move fast, what was news on Friday has long since lost it's appeal on Tuesday, making the press conference somewhat stale.

The People Formerly Known as the Audience

There was a bad vibe in the press room. I IM'd with a couple of others in the room that also felt it. A "them and us" feel if you will. The people formerly known as the audience refers to a shift in the balance of media and public relations that many large organizations are still coming to terms with. The overriding feel I got from attending was one of "we will talk, you will listen". Indeed, one of Intel's inept handlers actually told the audience to shush, and show some respect, for daring to converse. More on that in a moment.

Though there was a very brief Q&A section at the end of the conference, the whole affair was decidedly broadcast, which in such a social medium seems somewhat to be missing the point. Just because there is a trend in Second Life to produce unreadable "virtual newspapers" that mimic all the worst qualities of old media, doesn't mean we should all regress ten years does it?

Pay Attention at the Back!

One of the amusing things about the way real life companies handle press and blogger relations in the virtual world is the protective hand holding and gatekeeping performed by the development company that built the Island. We're at what I've come to think of as the "rockstar designer" stage in Second Life, where development has yet to become a commodity, and a handful of companies that build Islands, and handle events are still regarded in awe by we, the common peasantry. Typically, press relations are handled by the builders. We learn about new builds on their blogs, are informed of events through subscribing to their inworld groups, and more traditional press releases put out on the standard wire are often done with the real life company proudly promoting the development firm as a "partner". Perhaps this is so, friends of mine familiar with web development companies have speculated that many of the better known builds are being built for peanuts by developers hungry to grab the publicity, and benefit from the association with large, well known brands.

Whatever the case, it's only amusing, until it becomes insulting. Remember I mentioned the "them and us", broadcast feel of this event? It was compounded by members of the development firm Millions of Us, inserting themselves between Intel and the assembled audience. The atmosphere took on a chilly, unfriendly feel when one of the Millions of Us (MOU) team actually told the entire room to be quiet and "show some respect", and to direct questions to the MOU staff, where they would be relayed to the Intel folks standing directly in front of us.

What?

So let me get this straight. We can come and listen to a dry monologue about a new Island opening that was news last week, provided we don't actually talk to each other, or the Intel guys, and that we "show some respect" and direct questions through people that clearly need to go back to PR 101?

Whatever were they thinking? That we'd all comply without even a bleat of complaint or squawk of indignation? One angry PR guy in the audience said to me in private "I thought this was supposed to be a conversation!". Quite right.

Rethinking Virtual Press Relations

There certainly seems to be a lot we could learn from this. The entire experience was poor for Intel, Press, Public and Developers alike, and I think companies would do well to rethink the way they launch new Islands or campaigns of any sort in virtual worlds.

I don't have all the answers, but I do have a few thoughts that I think worthy of discussion for companies, press, public and development teams as we move forward.

Lose the Shades

The "rockstar designer" era is coming to a close. Just last week I encountered my first real life company who refused to tell me who built their islands. They simply don't consider sharing the limelight with their development team an option, and why would they? We did this back when the world wide web was young, but nowadays you rarely see a big brand company bragging about who built their website. Development companies that are working on the public relations side of their client builds need to be aware that people will only tolerate so much arrogance, and that the novelty of new islands opening in Second Life is waning.

What does this mean? It means that you're going to have to work a lot harder to make these things interesting to journalists and bloggers, and that it's you that need to show some respect, not the other way around.

This actually applies equally to brands in Second Life, and professional PR firms. The honeymoon is over.

Play to Second Life's Strengths, Not Weaknesses

There were fifty three people at the Intel press conference. You simply can't get any more into a sim before it crashes, or lags so badly that it becomes impossible to do anything. On the surface this may seem like a great turn out, but in reality I wonder just how effective it really was. I brought at least ten people from the Things To Do group with me, and only two of them were likely to write about the event. Besides that, as I mentioned above, the news had already broken the previous week.

A better approach, one that I think would have gained Intel better coverage, greater opportunity for meaningful engagement with press and bloggers and, helped them form better relationships with key individuals would have been this:

Instead of spending all day preparing to broadcast to 50 people, of which only a handful would have been in the target group, why not divide the day up into smaller sections and invite individuals, and small groups to talk with you? Have the PR people hand pick the people you should be talking to and then allow them to sit down and chat with you. That's right, have a conversation with you about your new project! Hell, why not go the whole hog and give them a virtual tour of the Island? Invite them to IM you with any questions they may have, ask them their opinion?

Really, how hard can this stuff be?

Second Life is about people. It's a communications platform. Unfortunately it doesn't scale well, but then neither does attention. Bloggers and journalists are far more likely to write about you if you take the time to talk to them, and Second Life is ideal for this kind of more intimate conversation.

Drop the Barriers

Dont impose a layer between press and source. On the 2D web, PR firms that do blogger relations really well understand that we're not actually interested in them, we're interested in you. We don't want to talk to someone from MOU, or Sheep, or Rivers or heaven forfend, a real PR professional. We want a conversation with the company execs responsible for the story. A good PR firm will go to extraordinary lenghths to arrange face/phone time between bloggers and the source of the story, because they know that it will get results.

If you must employ either your development firm, or a professional PR company to handle blogger outreach, then have them set up individual meetings as mentioned above. Anything less simply isn't good enough.

Hire a Professional

What makes large companies coming into Second Life think that the people responsible for building the meeting rooms, and choosing the carpeting should also be responsible for such a skilled and delicate task as press and blogger outreach is quite beyond me. There's no doubt these guys are skilled craftsfolk, but this is not their field.

The general state of public relations in the virtual world is simply atrocious. This isn't necessarily the design companies faults. I think the onus is on brands to make sensible decisions regarding PR on all levels, including the virtual. Either appoint somebody inhouse to liaise with the press, or hire a company or individual with experience in talking to bloggers to manage this side of things for you.

Join the Discussion

In conclusion, I'd like to invite the development firms, including MOU, Intel, other large brands and indeed small ones as well as PR professionals operating in Second Life to join the discussion. Im sure there will be some that think I'm insane for suggesting such things, and others that agree wholeheartedly.

Whatever your opinion, do speak up. Tell us what you think.

British Channel 4 Radio just opened up shop in Second Life. It's a fairly ghastly experience right now, with a lot of lag (though it's hard to tell if that's just me) and a horribly difficult layout to navigate. According to Mad, as well as the three seperate areas for news, music and comedy, you can get a "radio watch" so you can take Channel 4 Radio with you wherever you go. Unfortunately, by the time I managed to find the damn things, guess how to actually get one and put it on, then fiddle around trying to click my own wrist to access it's controls, I was far to frustrated to enjoy the music. Fortunately, there wasn't any. Like the Island itself, it appears broken.

Im sure they'll work out these teething troubles in time, but for right now, unless your british and have a keen interest in UK companies in Second Life (as I do) you're best off giving the new SIM a miss.

Recently launched virtual tourism business Scout-It [SLUrl] wants to show you the sights of Second Life, from the back of a flying elephant. If that's not your style, they'll be happy to help you explore underwater regions in the company of a friendly dolphin, or traveling in any one of a half dozen custom scout vehicles. It's not every day you get to fly an elephant, so I jumped at the chance to check out the new business at the invitation of Delphina Audina, who by day, is a business administrator for a mid sized company.

The dolphin I rode was great fun. By using the arrow keys, and up and down buttons on the keyboard, Dolphilina and I jumped and swerved and splashed our way around several of the small Islands around the Scout-It headquarters in Fishermans Cove. Delphina tells me there are whole underwater regions one can explore in SL, but i've yet to see them. Certainly a virtual tour by dolphin would be a great way to explore. And that's the point. Scout-It's mission is to show new residents and old, the sides of Second Life they might not normally experience, and to encourage exploration and outdoor pursuits in the virtual world. Dumbolina's controls (the elephant, who Delphina tells me can be a little cranky..) were considerably harder to master, so I opted to sit up back and be flown and walked around the neighborhood.

I was curious to find out whether Scout-It was actually making money. They're not, but Delphina isn't phased, it's a young business and is just starting to pick up customers and turn over real money. They have a whole stack of rented store space in areas with heavy walk through traffic, and have been exhibiting at several events I've been to recently in order to get word out, and certainly during the time I was there, a half dozen or so people were checking out the vehicles adn animals.

Creative, slightly whacky businesses like Scout-It are not uncommon in Second Life. An environment where one can fly, teleport, alter physical appearance at will and even carry a sword to business meetings without cause for comment, tends to breed pretty remarkable business ideas and quirky entrepreneurs. Certainly the effort put into Scout-It is amazing, and as a way to see the sights, and explore new spaces and expereinces, it's a great way to spend a little free time. As a business Idea, I'm not so sure, but then I get the impression that money is very much secondary to having fun at the Scout-It HQ.

Good for them.

Late last year, Robbie Kiama, who heads up a four man team of developers working on the Metaverse Mart HUD released the first version of their shopping tool. He admits it sucked. It was slow, cranky and under populated with products. This week sees the third generation of the tool released, unveiled at the GSG tech expo, and despite its humble beginnings, it rocks! Its slick, useful and really fun to use once you get it set up and working right. I've even found a couple of things I've wanted to buy using it, and had them delivered painlessly without having to leave the comfort of my mountainside home in the Bel Highlands or even open a web browser The interface is slick, and despite obscuring the entire view when maximized, can easily be tucked into the corner of your viewer where it sits quietly awaiting instruction -- Meta Mart is shopping even men can love.

It does admittedly have a way to go in terms of products. Robbie tells me there are over 100 vendors using the tool now, and the active user count is over 2000. The more people use it, the useful it beomes. The Meta Mart HUD, which you can find here [SLUrl], is really made interesting by the fact that it lists items by popularity as well as your own favorited items. You can even search for items from the database using the chat interface -- Search results rely upon the network effect to increase relevancy by letting searchers rate items in the results. The system adds extra relevancy weight to those items in future searches.

There's also a very neat rating and commentary system on individual items. Much like web based shopping apps Second Life Exchange and Second Life Boutique, shoppers can rate and comment on individual products, which helps other users make buying decisions.

Sellers are provided with a "kiosk" within which to place items they wish to see appear in the HUD's search results, and MM take 3% of the total sale value as their cut of the transaction, forwarding the remaining 97% when an item is purchased and delivered -- Listing items is free, sellers just pay on transactions.

If you're like me, and you prefer to do your shopping sitting down, Meta Mart is a cool, fun way to shop. If also like me, you need the comfort of user comments, ratings and other crowd sourced relevancy to help you make shopping decisions, then you're going to love playing with the MM HUD -- Happy shopping!

I managed to catch up with Savannah Glimmer of BuddyGift.com at the GSG Tech Expo that opened yesterday and get the lowdown on a new service that helps virtual friends send real gifts. Residents of Second Life who feel the sudden urge to rush off and get a gift for a virtual friend, can now touch a BuddyGift kiosk that opens a browser, select a gift, enter the recipients emai address and send something from the collection on the website (gift baskets, flowers etc). BuddyGift founder Bill Sherman says "The Buddy Gift Service's primary function is to protect the identifying information of the recipient from that of the purchaser and vice versa," and Savannah tells me they'll also be launchng a concierge service later this month where residents will be able to use any gift they find in any online store as well as the BuddyGIft gifts. Neat, so next time somebody stiffs me on a product launch I can get BG to send them a big bag of poo? Cool! :)

Savannah also told me that they would be active in other virtual worlds and social nets shortly.