5:00 PM EST September 18, 2009
Virtual Goods Take Center Stage for Metanomics Season Launch
Virtual world television program launches third year exploring immersive and social media
Toronto, September 18, 2008 – Metanomics (1), a "virtual talk show" that examines the serious use of immersive and social media announced today
that it will launch its third year with a “mixed reality” event linking participants at a conference in San Jose, California with avatars in the virtual world
of Second Life. The event will take place September 23rd, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST) (2).
Guests on the show will include Linden Lab senior executives Philip Rosedale (founder and Chair) and Tom Hale (Chief Product Officer). Last year,
Residents of the immersive 3D world of Second Life spent more than $360 million on countless items of virtual goods - from land to designer shoes to
lavish homes. The virtual economy almost doubled in size in the past year, and at nearly $50 million per month in user-to-user transactions, the Second
Life economy is now on an annual run rate of more than half a billion US dollars, making Second Life the largest virtual economy in the industry.
Rosedale and Hale will discuss how Linden Lab has managed to develop such a robust economy for virtual goods, the challenges and opportunities of an
economy based on user-generated content, and the success stories of Second Life entrepreneurs making real profits from their virtual goods. They will
be joined by content creators from Second Life who will appear as avatars at the Metanomics event location.
The mixed reality event is a fitting start to a third year for Metanomics, which is hosted by Cornell University Professor Robert Bloomfield. Metanomics
explores the serious uses of virtual world and immersive technology. Through a weekly talk show format, Metanomics has helped to demonstrate that
there are “real world” impacts from the use of virtual world technology.
"We want Metanomics to be the most trustworthy portal to access the latest best practices and insights on virtual worlds," said Bloomfield of
Cornell. “Metanomics has charted, analyzed and assessed the growing commercial and consumer importance of virtual worlds and this special opening
episode is just another way to bridge the real world with the virtual.”
Metanomics helps to address a growing need for enterprise and organizations to understand these emerging markets, technologies, and opportunities.
Many businesses, small to multi-national, are looking for solutions to remain competitive in a global market with limited resources. "In an economic
period where cost-savings are critical for large corporations, virtual worlds offer advantages that are not fully realized by alternative bleeding-edge
internet solutions," said Sandy Adam of Sigma-Aldrich Chemical. "For example, Sigma-Aldrich uses virtual worlds for cost-effective 3D collaboration, as
well as for product demonstrations that would not be possible at customer sites. Enterprises that benefit from 3D visualization, global intra-
communications, or effective social networking rely on the weekly Metanomics show to keep up-to-date with timely and in-depth coverage of virtual
worlds opportunities."
On recent Metanomics programs, attorney Benjamin Duranske considered how the creation of virtual worlds might alter intellectual property law,
architect Jon Brouchoud explained how virtual worlds could provide cost-saving collaborative and integrated practice in the building industry, and Dahlia
Khalifa of the World Bank emphasized the value of reaching a large world audience through virtual worlds as part of their "Doing Business 2009" report.
Metanomics is owned and operated by Remedy Communications (3) and is broadcast in partnership with Treet.tv. Remedy is a marketing and
communication agency that works with Fortune 500 companies to create branded social media and virtual world experiences for their stakeholder
communities and customers.
“Enterprise clients are looking for new and effective ways to build community and deliver content,” said Doug Thompson, CEO at Remedy. “Metanomics
is an example of how you can extend the reach of events and content. In this case, we have a live event in San Jose combined with a virtual event in
Second Life and a broadcast accessible through a Web site. Metanomics demonstrates how immersive and social media are combining in new and
exciting ways that are of benefit to organizations.”
(1) Metanomics: Metanomics is a weekly event featuring guests who discuss topics related to business and policy in immersive and social media. 70
plus hour-long programs have been produced over two years and can be viewed at the Metanomics Web site: http://metanomics.net. At each
Metanomics event, the thought-provoking interaction between host Robert Bloomfield and invited guests provides a framework for a lively audience
discussion. The Metanomics community includes thousands of interested individuals from the fields of business, education, government, technology and
the military.
(2) About the Event: If you want to participate in or attend the event you can do so live at the San Jose Convention Center. Visit the Engage Expo Web
site for more information: http://www.engageexpo.com/ To participate in Second Life, details are provided at the Metanomics Web site:
http://www.metanomics.net/about/join_in/ The event will be broadcast live on the Web and later archived at:
http://www.metanomics.net/show/virtual_goods_and_linden_lab/
(3) About Remedy Communications:
Remedy Communications is a full service marketing and communications company based in Toronto, Canada with affiliates in the U.S. and U.K.
Remedy’s client includes Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies, cause marketers, divisions of the Armed Services, and other organizations. Remedy
provides innovative approaches to engaging with communities, whether through social or immersive media, or traditional vehicles such as print.
Remedy owns and operates Metanomics and is a value adder reseller of Immersive Workspaces™, an enterprise-ready virtual world application. Remedy
CEO Doug Thompson blogs about virtual worlds at http://dusanwriter.com You can visit the Remedy Web site at http://remedylimited.com
For further information, contact:
Doug Thompson, CEO
Remedy Communications Limited
Cell: 416/561-9067
doug@remedylimited.com
Skype: dusan.writer
www.remedylimited.com
or, in Second Life:
Dusan Writer
Dusan.writer@gmail.com