Presentation on CPAs in Second Life covering generational trends and trends in edcucation and learning. Includes real examples of programs and activities hosted on CPA Island - first CPA Association to build a presence on Second Life

1. CPAs & the virtual world
of Second Life
Virtual Worlds d
Vi t l W ld and CPE - A you
Are
Ready for the Future of Training?
Tom Hood, CPA.CITP
Maryland Association of CPAs
y

3. Key Questions to Think About
1) What if our we could connect to this new generation of
CPAs and young professionals early on in their careers?
2) What if we could t
Wh t ld teach our older CPA h
h ld CPAs how t use thi
to this
technology to reach this new generation of CPAs and
enable them to share and engage better?
3) What if we (State CPA Societies) could add these tools to
our arsenal and use th
ld these t l in new ways t engage our
tools i to
members in new ways and help with collaboration,
connection and community?y

4. As it relates to science and technology, the rate of
change in the next decade is likely to be 4 to7
decade,
times faster than in the last decade. If it is 4x
faster it would be like planning for 2006 in 1890, if it
is 7x faster it would be like planning for 2006 in
1670.
- Expert on Education Panel
The Aspen Institute 2007

5. “If you think about the media
environment an average American
teenager lives in, to walk into a classroom
(or one of our Associations) that doesn’t
have any of that media must be like
walking into a desert.”
– Steve Maher, High School teacher PBS
Special “Growing Up On line”
Growing On-line

6. Teens & Web 2 0
2.0
Some 93% of teens use the internet, and more
of them than ever are treating it as a venue for
social interaction – a place where they can
p y
share creations, tell stories, and interact with
others.
64% of online teens have created content on
the web – photo sharing videos, blogs web
sharing, videos blogs,
pages, mash-ups, and remixes
Source: Pew Internet & American Life project report

7. Meet the Gaming Generation
1. competition with
other kids (48%)
2. finding ways to be
successful at the
game for middle and
high school students
(46%)
3.
3 the high level of
interactivity (44%)
Source: Project Tomorrow – Speak Up 2007 report

8. Meet the Gaming Generation
•GGames make it easier t understand difficult
k i to d t d diffi lt
concepts – 51%
• I would be more e gaged in the subjec – 50%
ou d o e engaged e subject
• I would learn more about the subject – 46% (56%
of students in K-2 chose this as their #1 reason)
• It would be more interesting to practice problems –
44%
Source: Project Tomorrow – Speak Up 2007 report

9. Meet our future members?
“over 64% of students in
grades K-12 play online
and/or electronics based
games regularly”
“Downloading music is #1
activity by middle and high
school students”
students
“40% of middle school students
and 67% of high school
students have a personal
website (Facebook, MySpace,
Xanga)”
Source: Project Tomorrow – Speak Up 2007 report

10. WoW!
15,000,000 users
One of the top MMORPGs

11. How has Continuing Professional
Education changed?

12. Five Learning Trends for 2009
1.Mobile Learning
2.DIY - Do-it-Yourself
Learning
3.Flexible Learning
Environments
4.Virtual Worlds
5.Games & Simulation
Chief Learning Officer Magazine – January 2009

14. So what?

15. But wait there’s more…
“When associations and
other organizations try
new meeting formats, it's it s
not just for novelty-it's a
step toward better content
delivery.
delivery What's more the
more,
association brave enough
to try a new take on
classic offerings gives its
members more than
information; it gives them
an experience and
exposure to a new way of
doing things ”
things.
-Jeff Waddle ASAE
Meetings Remix – Time to Rethink the Usual Format – Association Now Magazine, Oct 2008

16. When should you start to
pay attention?
Moving beyond Second
Life marketing, many
companies are infiltrating
virtual worlds for employee
meetings, mixers
meetings mixers, and
recruiting – Business Week
Second Life produces
real training results –
CLO magazine ASTD
Virtual Worlds make
Harvard Business
Review’s breakthrough
ideas for 2008

17. When should you start to
pay attention?
This is not a game: Virtual
Worlds coming to your
business Forrester predicts
– CIO Magazine
Virtual worlds will be widely
adopted venues for reaching
p g
customers and experimenting with
new product ideas and business
models
– Intuit’s Future of Small Business Report

18. Second Life / Virtual worlds
We were first CPA group to have a presence in Second Life

19. Who’s there?
 Adidas
 Dell
 Toyota
 Sun Microsystems
 American Apparel
 The city of St. Louis
 IBM
 Starwood
 Reuters
 CNET Networks
 Yankee Stadium
 Harvard (and 200+ other schools)
H d ( d 200 h h l)
 H&R Block
 MACPA
 CPA Australia
 FASB

20. Accounting for Second Life
Journal of Accountancy
J
June, 2008
University of Florida Report - Winter 2008
y p
The study found that 93% of college
instructors using Second Life in
classes were satisfied enough to do
it again and felt it enhanced the
learning experience.
quot;Post-secondary school instructors
who conduct classes fully in Second
Life are significantly more satisfied
than those who use Second Life as
only a small supplement to a real-
world classes.”
Professors Richard Johnson & Joyce
Middleton of Frostburg University,
Maryland

21. Accounting Educators in Second Life
Dr. Mike Kraten, CPA
Suffolk University
Dr. Robert Bloomfield
Cornell University
Dr. Steve Hornik
University of Central Florida

23. CPA Australia is there

25. FASB is there!

26. Even your members are there!
IBM Financial Analyst UCF Accounting Assistant
Member of NJSCPA

27. quot;I look at it as just another office, another extension of
our firm. It’s another touch point where we can
potentially meet with clients and expand our geographic
of where we can deliver services.”
- Byron Patrick CPA CITP KAWG&F First CPA Firm in Second Life
Patrick, CPA.CITP

28. CFO Rising in Second Life
quot;Second Life is more
compelling than a
p g
conference call, less
intimidating than a
video conference, and
conference
a hell of a lot better
than business travel.“
-- John Zdanowski,
CFO, Linden Lab
,

29. Real Business in Second Life
• Building communities
• Product development
• Customer service
• Education & training
• Employee on-boarding
• Marketing & public relations
• Selling goods & services
(B2B, B2C,
(B2B B2C C2C)
If there is real money
here – shouldn’t
shouldn t
CPAs be here?

30. How we are using Second Life
• Accounting
education
d ti
• New/Young
Professionals
Pf i l
• Community
• M ti
Meetings
• CPE
• E hibit
Exhibits

31. Accounting Education Pavilion
Our pavilion features a place for Colleges & Universities to
showcase their accounting education and a place for accounting
educators to connect, share, and learn from each other. It is also a
connect share other
place for prospective students to see the many options available
in an exciting career as a Certified Public Accountant.

32. New Young Professionals Network
Club NYPN on CPA Island
Life s
Life’s a beach at the Club NYPN on CPA island. This
special area devoted to New & Young Professionals
has all of the features for networking, casual
meetups,
meetups and fun. Complete with a dance floor, tiki
fun floor
bars, beach, and a real treehouse – it is the place for
students and young professionals to chill.

33. BLI Conference Center
A center facilitating the development and sharing of competencies and
strategic knowledge required for leadership in the rapidly changing
business environment. BLI will deliver competency-based curriculum,
courses, content, and community to enhance learning and grow
intellectual capital for organizational and executive leadership
leadership.

34. CFO of the Future Center
Chief Financial Officers are one of the exciting career options many CPAs
choose. This building and exhibit is a place to network, collaborate, and co-
create resources to help today’s CFO deal with the challenges of today’s
today s today s
rapidly changing business landscape. Join the group SLACPA and look for
upcoming events. Visit us at CPA Island
http://www.cpaisland.com
http://www cpaisland com

35. CPA Firm of the Future Center
CPA Firms are dealing with increased business complexity, the
proliferation of standards and responsibilities, globalization, and a
historic workforce shortage.
This center is a place to collaborate and co-create the resources
and best practices needed to prosper and thrive in today’s rapidly
changing b siness Come join the comm nit
business. community…

36. BLI Center for Strategic Planning
Strategy & leadership are the prerequisites for success in the Next
Economy — The Network Economy, the Internet Economy, the Next
Economy; all are terms that speak to the new body of knowledge new
knowledge,
strategies, and fundamentally new dynamics which shape not only our
economy but our society. This center is a place to share best practices
and form a community dedicated to strategic leadership
leadership.

37. MACPA Headquarters
Our office features a video room, our Board
room, offices and additional meeting rooms.
http://www.macpa.org
http://www macpa org

38. Upcoming Events
Digital Now Conference
Demonstrations to Association Community
Friday, April 25,
F id A il 25 2008
9:50 a.m. – 10:10 a.m. EST
6:50 a.m. –7:10 a.m. PST/SLT
&
2:20 p.m. – 2:40 p.m. EST
11:20 a m –11:40 p m PST/SLT
a.m. 11:40 p.m.
Towson University
Creating REAL Business presences in Second Life
Friday, M 2 2008
F id May 2,
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. EST
9:00 a.m. –10:00 a.m. PST/SLT

39. Upcoming Events
MDBIZEXPO
The first Business & Accounting EXPO in Second Life!
June 17th & 18th, 2008
Baltimore Convention Center
MDBIZEXPO
The Future of Small Business – Intuit Corporation &
The Institute for the Future
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
8:10
8 10 p.m. – 9 00 p.m. EST
9:00
5:10 a.m. –6:00 a.m. PST/SLT

40. CPA Island -Upcoming Events
AACSB – The Association to Advance Collegiate
Schools of Business
Using Virtual Reality Technologies to Explore Worlds
Beyond the Blackboard – Dr. Mike Kraten
Monday, June 30, 2008
1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. EST
10:30 a.m. –12:00 p.m. PST/SLT

41. Upcoming Events
MDBIZEXPO
The Future of Small Business – What CPAs Need to
Know – Intuit Corporation & The Institute for the Future
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
9:10 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. EST
6:10 a.m. –7:00 a.m. PST/SLT
MDBIZEXPO
The Real Business of Second Life – John Zdanowski
Zdanowski,
CFO Linden Labs
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
2:15 p.m. – 3:05 p.m. EST
11:15 a.m. –12:05 p.m. PST/SLT

43. Enhanced Business Reporting

44. SEC XBRL Mandate

45. Fair Value (with FENG & FEI)

46. Benefits of Virtual Worlds for
Education
 The sense of self
 The death of distance
 The power of presence,
sense of space &
capacity to co-create
 Th pervasiveness of
The i f
practice
 Th enrichment of
The ih tf
experience
Another Life: Virtual Worlds as Tools for
Learning, Jay Cross – eLearningVW Sensibilities - eLearn Magazine
Magazine

47. The experience of virtual worlds
“In the future, as the
technology continues to
thl ti t
improve, I expect to see
virtual worlds become
immersive experiences
that are difficult to
differentiate from the
real world.”
-- J h Zd
John Zdanowski, CFO
ki CFO,
Linden Lab

48. quot;Second Life is more compelling
than a conference call, less
,
intimidating than a video
conference, and a hell of a lot
,
better than business travel.“
-- John Zdanowski, CFO, Linden Lab
“It (SL) saves time & money”

49. “If the web is reshaping the
world as we know it, and will be
ld k it d ill b
the water in which the new
generation of digital natives will
swim, then it behooves all of us
to understanding it’s
g
implications.”
– David Sibbet – The Grove
Consultants Int’l

50. Concentrate on the
Remember – It’s not about the technology
relationships, not the
technologies

51. You can…Ignore it
Fight it or
Harness it’s power

53. Maryland Association of CPAs – founded 1901 to
promote and protect CPAs and help them thrive in
the rapidly changing environment – 10 000
10,000
members
Business Learning Institute – founded in 2000 with
a mission to help organizations deliver competency-
based curriculum, courses, content and community to
enhance learning and grow intellectual capital for
organizational and executive leadership
Second Life Association of CPAs – founded in
2006 With 238 members and two islands (CPA
Island & CPA Island 2) with a mission of building a
community of people interested in exploring the
possibilities of CPAs in Second Life

54. For more information
www.cpaisland.com
www.slacpa.org