Everything You Need To Know About Second Life

Slide 1: Everything You Need to Know About Second Life Jenny Bullough / Chloe Barbosa Eden Spodek / Paradise Wunderland

Slide 2: In the beginning…. Today

Slide 3: In the beginning…. Today

Slide 4: What is it? • Virtual world (one of many) • Created by Linden Labs in 2003 • Claims millions of members, growing

Slide 5: Why should I sign up?

Slide 6: Pros: • It’s free • It’s fun (barbies for grownups) • It’s a community • Contests • Events • Meeting people

Slide 7: Cons? • High barrier to entry – memory, graphics • Tech glitches – limited number of avatars at a given location (sim) – “lag” and “rez” • Downtime – every Wednesday • Time to learn – jargon, culture, basic functions • Time and cost to customize your avatar

Slide 8: What can you use it for? • Overcome personal barriers – from shyness to disability • Education – classes, seminars, conferences • Virtual meetings – informal to formal • Personal and professional use

Slide 9: Personal Use • Connecting with RL friends • Meeting new people through their avatars • Groups of shared interest • Special events • Shopping!!

Slide 10: Case Study: After a Fashion • Co-founded by Kate Trgovac and Eden Spodek, Feb. ’07 • Canadian women working in digital media to teach each other and learn more about Second Life and other virtual worlds

Slide 11: Case Study: After a Fashion • Safe environment – with friends – each member either knows Eden and/or Kate in real life • Collaboration: shared experiences and activities • Limited membership: not to be exclusive but to facilitate learning, sharing and community • Real life networking, events • Considering extending invitations to other women for special events

Slide 12: Case Study: After a Fashion • Evolving Avatars: The first After a Fashion…

Slide 13: Case Study: After a Fashion • Evolving Avatars: • Fundraising and Paradise dressed for cause awareness Virtual Thirst event Hair Fair ’07

Slide 14: Case Study: After a Fashion • Hanging out at Sparrow’s Hideaway

Slide 18: Professional Use • Connecting with a target market • Focus groups • Consumer engagements • Surveys • Immersion in and connection with your brand / product …IF you have a strategy, executed well!

Slide 19: Case Study: Author Events • Harlequin strategy vs. competition – Bantam Dell – Random House • MJ Rose, The Reincarnationist • Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Sanctuary – Reading and Q&A – Victorian Ball – Writing Workshop

Slide 27: Questions so far?

Slide 28: How do I sign up?

Slide 31: Final Steps: • A confirmation email with a link is sent to the address you provided • Download the Second Life software • Enter Second Life!

Slide 32: What do I do when I get there? • Spend time on Orientation Island • Join groups – find areas of interest to you • Find friends, old and new – go to events • Get someone who is already in-world to give you a tour  Search “Chloe Barbosa” and add me as a friend!

Slide 33: There are general rules for conduct… …but it is “buyer beware”.

Slide 34: Orientation is easy to navigate…

Slide 35: This is why you want to customize your avatar.

Slide 36: A search in groups for “book readers” gets 100s of results. Most of them legit!

Slide 37: A quick search in Events for today’s date gets tons of results… including a virtual state fair!

Slide 38: Coffee with Crayon every Thursday morning, 6 a.m. SLT

Slide 39: Or you can search for individuals – like me! – and click “add friend”

Slide 40: Or you can search for individuals – like me! – and click “add friend”

Slide 41: Jenny Bullough Eden Spodek aka Chloe Barbosa aka Paradise Wunderland Jenny_Bullough@harlequin.ca espodek@gmail.com