Virtual Worlds – What’s Next?

For the past 4 years, the fall session of the Virtual World SIG has examined the future of the sector.  This year saw the closure of several high-profile projects, development of others going dormant or remaining in stasis, and acquisitions taking some out of the mix.  Meanwhile, several smaller-scale projects were started, browser-based meeting platforms thrived, and multiplayer game-based “worlds” accessed through Facebook came to define the experience for a mass market.

In this special open forum we invite developers and users of all varieties of virtual platforms to take a look forward – unconference style.
Is your project in a “Trough of Disillusionment” or climbing a steep “Slope of Enlightenment”?  Are virtual worlds defining online collaboration or do they themselves need to be redefined?  What could further alter the space in the coming years?

Propose to lead a session via email to virtualworldsig [at] hotmail.com. Demos encouraged! Sessions will be concurrent and followed by report-outs. While a few notable contributors will be invited, this is a great opportunity to bring topics to the table that may not have been allotted time or space before.

Logistics:

Location:
Pillsbury Winthrop Office Silicon Valley
2475 Hanover Street
Palo Alto, CA 94304-1114

(directions)

Agenda:
6:30 PM Registration and Networking
7:00 PM -8:40 PM Presentations

Price:
$15 at the door for non-SDForum members
No charge for SDForum members
No registration required

This is a discount for SDForum members – Use discount code  “SDFVIP” which is good for $200 of the registration rate

See you there!

- Bob Ketner

Learning Design for Virtual Environments
Trends in eLearning
Virtual Training for Innovation

Press release:

Unisfair Hosts “The Virtual Classroom: Effective Training on a Virtual Platform” Showcase Event on Sept. 9

Experts from ASTD and The eLearning Guild Outline How to Effectively Train Key Audiences While Significantly Reducing Cost per Attendee

Menlo Park, CA — Unisfair, the leading provider of virtual events and business environments, will host a free 2.5 hour live virtual event Thurs., Sept. 9. “The Virtual Classroom: Effective Training” will offer best practices from top practitioners on how to leverage a virtual platform to train, engage and collaborate.

Keynoted by Jennifer Homer, Vice President of Communications & Member Relations at the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), the event will discuss how training employees, partners and customers in a virtual environment can increase the level of engagement, broaden the reach and significantly lower the cost per attendee.

Expert panelists––including Stephanie Morris, Intuit; Phil Antonelli, ACS, a Xerox company; Brent Schlenker, The eLearning Guild; Beau Ballin and Anthony Warren, MotivAction––will reveal insights to the strategy and practice of virtual training. From industry experts, to real-life customers, to e-learning specialists, attendees will learn best practices via use cases. They will also receive a copy of Engaging the Learner in a Virtual Environment, a white paper courtesy of MotivAction.

Title: “The Virtual Classroom: Effective Training on a Virtual Platform”

Date/Time: Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010 from 12:30 – 3:00 pm EDT

Registration: http://events.unisfair.com/ index.jsp?eid=140&seid=1652& code=pr

Key points of discussion will include:

• Learning Design for Virtual Environments
• Trends in eLearning
• Virtual Training for Innovation

For more information, visit www.unisfair.com.

About Unisfair

Unisfair provides virtual events and environments that deliver highly measurable results for the world’s most innovative enterprises. The company’s industry-leading platform enables companies like Ariba, CA, IBM, Intuit, KPMG, Quest Software, and Novartis to implement a virtual engagement strategy across the customer lifecycle.

Unisfair’s virtual events are easy-to-use and offer a highly interactive experience through speaking sessions, exhibition floors and networking areas. By delivering comprehensive attendee data, Unisfair’s virtual events result in highly qualified leads and enhance demand generation, community building and customer advocacy.

Backed by Sequoia Capital and Norwest Venture Partners, Unisfair is headquartered in Silicon Valley and has led the virtual events space since 2000. For more information visit www.unisfair.com.

Description:
The advance of “digital natives” into virtual worlds has been unstoppable over the last 5 years.  One company that saw this coming a full decade before the rush was Circle 1 Network.   Their motto of “Play Smart, Stay Safe, Have Fun!” has enabled online worlds for kids and parents with users from more than 200 countries to engage via unique online communities.  Users have fun while they learn, and they learn while they play. These users also generate a lot of content, actually becoming part of the site.  With a diverse partner and sponsorship base ranging from the government and higher education to corporate and non-profits such as the USDA, Michigan State University, the SunPower Foundation and The Tech Museum, Circle 1 Network connects communication messages from these partners to kids and families using experience garnered over many years.

On August 23 CEO Jorian (Jori) Clarke will take us on a tour of the unique virtual world of Kidscom.com which engages users with a timely message of sustainability and a struggle against negavive influences inside the “Idea Seeker Universe”.

Along the way find out how partners are using this inviting and safe environment to connect with the first generation to grow up as members of virtual worlds – today’s kids – who in turn are motivating and engaging the adults in the real world with these messages. Jori will also be demoing a brand new augmented reality game and a QR Code cell phone interactivity.

Jorian Clarke, Founder & CEO, Circle 1 Network bio:
Jori and her company launched the first Web site for kids in 1995 and worked with the FTC in 1996 to formulate the first Internet safety law – The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Jori has spoken by invitation to the FTC on two occasions and also to the Department of Commerce regarding the development of laws for responsible marketing practices to children.  Her work has evolved from Web sites and cyberzine communities to virtual worlds, cell phone applications using QR codes and real world/digital world integrations.

Jori has been featured on numerous media, including ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Fox News Channel, CNN, Canada’s Prime Network, National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered” and “Horizons,” Advertising Age, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes.com, Chicago Tribune, Investors Business Daily and Web Week. She is also a frequent conference speaker, including AdTech, EngageExpo!, Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Women in Technology International (WITI), Stanford’s Media X Workshop, eMetrics Summit, Internet World, KidScreen Summit, KidPower, Family Online Safety Institute, Toy Fair, Advertising Research Foundation, IIR and DCI events.

Jori has been published in several books, including The International Journal of Marketing & Advertising to Children; Web Usability: A User-Centered Design Approach and Usability; Systems, Social and Internationalization Design Aspects of Human-Computer Interaction; and, Internationalization of Information Technology.  She also was the first female recipient of the Wisconsin SBA’s Small Businessperson of the Year Award.

Location:
Pillsbury Winthrop Office Silicon Valley
2475 Hanover Street
Palo Alto, CA 94304-1114

Agenda:
6:30 PM Registration and Networking
7:00 PM -8:40 PM Presentations

Price:
$15 at the door for non-SDForum members
No charge for SDForum members
No registration required

News broke today that Philip Rosedale will be returning to the role of (interim) CEO of Linden Lab.
The announcement follows Wednesday’s last minute cancellation of a scheduled speech  by Mark Kingdon at the Second Life Birthday celebration (http://sl7b.wordpress.com).
Audio of Philip’s speeches from 06/21 and 06/23  can be found at http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/SL7B/Philip-speech

Coverage:

SecondLife blog:
http://blogs.secondlife.com/community/features/blog/2010/06/24/returning-to-the-lab

TechCrunch:
http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/24/amidst-turmoil-linden-labs-ceo-steps-down

New World Notes:
http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2010/06/more-linden-lab-changes-coming.html

Linden Lab:
http://blogs.secondlife.com/community/features/blog/2010/06/09/a-restructuring-for-linden-lab

TechCrunch
http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/09/linden-labs-lays-off-30-percent-of-staff/

PR Newswire
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/linden-lab-restructures-to-generate-efficiencies-and-support-investment-in-new-platforms-95982564.html

Virtual Worlds News:

http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2010/06/linden-lab-lays-off-30-perfect-of-staff.htm

Mitch Wagner:
http://blogs.computerworld.com/16303/second_life_layoffs

Wall Street Journal:
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/06/10/second-life-creator-linden-lab-downsizes-morphs/