When I received this email, I immediately thought of Second Life and it's users.
From my email inbox:
Internet Evolution is about to embark on a truly groundbreaking new video project, and I wanted to see if you would like to get involved.
We're looking to create a video case study about a company embarking on
an important new IT project in the second half of this year.
However, unlike most case studies (which take place after the fact) our
case study will follow the project from planning, through
implementation, to trouble shooting and completion.
Projects that we are highly interested in covering include: cloud
computing; analytics; social media in a business environment; security;
or an upgrade to a company's computing and middleware systems.
The core of the case study will be three short (five minute)
documentaries covering the before, during, and after of your project.
These documentaries will be filmed by our professional film crew on
location at your company premises at a time that is convenient to you.
Each one takes about a morning to film.
We'll also outfit you with a video camera and the training required to upload occasional project updates.
The purpose of the case study is to highlight the great work that IT
professionals such as yourself do every day. Our goal is to highlight
your success for others to learn from. And, of course, as well as making
you a star (and a corporate hero!) we'll also compensate you for your
time.
Interested? Please drop me a line at ferraro@internetevolution.com if you would like to know more about this exciting new Internet Evolution project!
Sincerely,
Nicole Ferraro
Executive Editor, Internet Evolution
Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Be a Fat Cat in the Social Media World - Buy, Sell, and Invest in Online Influence with Empire Avenue
{EAV_BLOG_VER:b6378fa012a67086}
Every day, you're on Twitter, talking to friends on Facebook, uploading videos or photos, and writing blog posts. Just for doing that stuff, you'll earn Eaves – our virtual currency – and we'll dish out some more virtual cash to your shareholders. Along the way you'll have a bit of fun, make new connections, learn about different people, and learn about social networking and the value of your network! Use your Eaves wisely and you might just become a virtual millionaire... or billionaire (insert evil, world-dominating laugh)?
Check out Empire Avenue
The Social Media Exchange
Empire Avenue is the Social Media Exchange, where you can invest in any social media profile by buying their shares, meet new people, unlock Achievement badges, and earn boatloads of virtual cash by being active and social online! Buy shares in your friends, your followers, people with similar interests, brands you love, celebrities – anyone! All using a virtual currency and all for free!Be Social, Reap the Rewards
When you join Empire Avenue, you can connect your Social Networking accounts, and we’ll score activity and engagement in each account and give you a virtual share price. The connections you make on Empire Avenue create "value-based" relationships, a deeper relationship than simply "following" someone, in a completely less intrusive context than becoming "friends."Every day, you're on Twitter, talking to friends on Facebook, uploading videos or photos, and writing blog posts. Just for doing that stuff, you'll earn Eaves – our virtual currency – and we'll dish out some more virtual cash to your shareholders. Along the way you'll have a bit of fun, make new connections, learn about different people, and learn about social networking and the value of your network! Use your Eaves wisely and you might just become a virtual millionaire... or billionaire (insert evil, world-dominating laugh)?
Check out Empire Avenue
Friday, May 7, 2010
Social Media Revolution 2 (video)
Social Media Revolution 2 is a refresh of the original video with new and updated social media and mobile statistics that are hard to ignore. Based on the book Socialnomics 
by Erik Qualman.
by Erik Qualman.Sunday, March 14, 2010
Brad Reason (Doubledown Tandino) - Second Life/Virtual Worlds DJ, Music, Events, & Marketing Bio, Press, & Awards - 3.2010 Update
In the real world, Brad has over a decade of experience creating, producing, and performing at corporate, promotional, and music events. He has been bringing these facets of skills onto the web and into virtual worlds for real life and second life companies such as IBM, AMD, Intel, CBS, Orange, Electrolux, Playboy, Remedy Communications, Princeton University, Electric Sheep Company, Muse Isle Connection, Menorca and many more.
Brad has several aspects he brings to the project which make him a expert in his field. The first feature to Brad's full package includes marketing and advertising, utilizing the inworld environments, new media, social media, web 2.0, new technologies, and graphic design. The second feature is the follow through and bringing the project to realization through real-time events, music performance, live DJ, promotional emceeing, and branding. Many corporations, companies, and clients have ideas, and Brad knows how to turn those ideas into realities, surpass goals, and exceed expectation. He has a catalog of references and recommendations which can be viewed at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/
Brad has a unique skill-set, a variety of talents, and experience which most others do not have. He is a creative go-getter, and is constantly bringing new imaginative ideas to the table.
-----
Press and Awards:
CNN interviews Brad Reason: "Best Jobs: Second Life DJ" (2010):
http://money.cnn.com/video/
BlazingMinds: "Who the Band: Brad Reason" (2010):
http://blazingminds.co.uk/
FreePlayVL: "Music in 3D - Virtually Live Music is Social Media" (2010) - http://freeplayvl.wordpress.
Cybergrrl Oh interviews Doubledown Tandino on Rezzed.TV (2009)
http://rezzed.tv/2009/11/cybergrrl-oh-living-a-2nd-life-episode-21-doubledown-tandino/
Doubledown Tandino wins Live Music Entertainment Award for "Best Live DJ" (2009):
http://lema-awards.com/home/
Japan Inc Magazine: "The Music Industry: Real Music for a Virtual World" (2009):
http://www.japaninc.com/mgz86/
Reason.TV: Drew Carey interviews Doubledown Tandino (2008):
http://reason.tv/video/show/
Reuters features Doubledown Tandino's music event "Delicious Dish" (2008): http://secondlife.reuters.com/
"Tonight Live With Paisley Beebe" (2008):
http://www.slcn.tv/tonight-live-paisley-beebe-16mar08
The Avastar - "Raving for Charity" (2008):
http://djdoubledown.blogspot.
Doubledown Tandino wins Electrolux Grant Program (2007):
http://millionsofus.com/blog/
Electrolux & Millions of Us Honor Doubledown Tandino as DJ Innovator (2007): http://millionsofus.com/blog/
The Avastar: Intel's "Second Fest" - Doubledown Tandino featured with Pet Shop Boys (2007): http://djdoubledown.blogspot.
The Avastar: DJ Festival produced by Doubledown Tandino (2007):
http://djdoubledown.blogspot.
Metaverse Messenger: "Doubledown Tandino: Resident of the Week" (2007): http://djdoubledown.blogspot.
Feature in URB Magazine (2007):
http://djdoubledown.blogspot.
Baltimore Sun - "Making A Living in the Virtual World" (2007):
http://djdoubledown.blogspot.
Baltimore Sun - "Finding your New Self" (2007):
http://djdoubledown.blogspot.
"Groundbreaking SL into RL Mixed Reality Jazz Show" (2007):
http://djdoubledown.blogspot.
-----
Links
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DJBradReason
Blog: http://DJDoubledown.blogspot.
Portfolio: http://Bit.ly/
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/
Twitter: http://Twitter.com/Ravelong
Original Music: http://ReverbNation.com/BradReason
Graphic Design and Virtual World Photography: http://www.flickr.com/photos/
Second Life Office/Company: Ravelong Productions: SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/
Second Life Office/Company: Ravelong Productions: SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/
Monday, March 8, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
FreePlayVL - *Virtually Live Music IS Social Media!* - Music In 3D Feature Article February 2010
FreePlayVL – Music In 3D
* Virtually Live Music IS Social Media!*
By Teddi Davis of FreePlayVL
"All forms of social media work. It just depends on how you use them." Brad Reason aka Doubledown TandinoBrad Reason’s music career continues to flourish entwined with computer and Internet technology. He keenly demonstrates social media is about leveraging technology to connect, network, share, perform, promote, and learn. Most importantly, he shows discipline with these social media platforms is worth the effort! By Teddi Davis
Brad Reason, also known as Doubledown Tandino in Second Life® and other virtual communities, recently shared how the Internet helped him get his start, and how social media has advanced his career. Besides being an accomplished musician and DJ, Brad Reason is uniquely positioned to comment on social media’s usefulness and efficacy. Not only does he create, perform and DJ virtually live music, Brad’s also a new media marketing professional. In fact, he’s a full time social media, new media, and trending technology specialist. Since he spends 40 to 70 hours a week working with social media platforms, his experience and insights are sure to help other musicians make use of today’s most compelling promotional tools.
Brad began his music career over a decade ago. “At first, it was more about using my computer and sampling, than about creating music,” he said. “It was for my own personal enjoyment, and the intrigue.” Creating music with a personal computer was in its infancy. Brad started with a program called Impulse Tracker, which was a basic spreadsheet form of laying out sounds and samples. “As I was creating my first music,” Brad recalled, “the Internet was starting to blossom as well.” He started connecting with other PC musicians via forums and message boards. “Thanks to the Internet, we could share each other’s tunes, and swap samples–it was experimental, and avant-garde,” he recollected.
He was learning and growing by listening to other people’s music, and picking up tips and techniques from his virtual peers. Heavily into electronica at the time, Brad was influenced by Aphex Twin, Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, and Air among others. He began to appreciate he was on the cusp of something big because not only were the people around him beginning to listen to his tunes, there was a growing online community of other artists also experimenting.
When Brad decided to incorporate some of his compositions into a play he had written, he was stunned when he got his first request to purchase a CD. “I didn’t even have a burner,” he said. “I was in total shock that someone actually wanted to listen to the music I was creating.”
And then came the MP3.com Web site. Brad could now upload his music, and create CDs. “Once that site became popular, people around the world were listening, downloading, and buying my music,” he recalled. MP3.com was the first online location for sharing, and downloading music. “It was a social media community for music before the term ‘social media’ was even coined,” Brad noted. “You could technically consider that experience as the start of my use of social media.”
Even though MP3.com got into a legal tangle and is no more, we all know the concept stuck. Brad said he now uses sites like ReverbNation.com/BradReason and TheSixtyOne.com/Doubledown to share and sell his music. “New technology, new equipment, and new software followed–such as, ACID, Reason, Cubase, Protools, Ableton Live, Serato Scratch, and Native Instruments–and now,” he said “the possibilities for music making are limitless.” And so are the ways to connect with an audience.
Brad doesn’t use social media to communicate just with his fans, however. He also uses these tools to connect with venues and other music business contacts. As a new media marketing pro, Brad notes most venues are behind the times when it comes to social media. “Venues don’t realize the potential for using these tools for promotion and booking quality music acts,” he said. Not surprisingly, Brad finds venues are ‘very enthused’ that he expertly uses the Internet to both perform and promote. “I use social media to share my music, announce when I have created a new piece of music, announce my live shows, and connect with industry professionals.” He also uses social media platforms to house his portfolio, bio and resume, but Brad especially enjoys connecting with his fans. “I am happy to respond to comments, and keep the lines of communication two-way.”
Brad finds social media so successful, he now limits his use of other promotional tools. In the past, he used fliers, print media, and press releases, as well as posting event info at non-social media based Web sites. “Now, because I am very skilled at using social media to market, advertise, and promote, I use social media fully, and have no need to focus on print anymore.” Social media in tandem with CDs and business cards, with the occasional flier is all he needs now.
“I use FaceBook (for everything), Twitter (for real-time info spreading), LinkedIn (for professional networking), my blog, DJDoubledown.blogspot.com, to keep a portfolio of my work as well as share other people’s interesting concepts, Flickr (for photos and graphic designs), Reverb Nation (for my original music), Soundcloud (for my DJ mixes), Second Life, Club Cooee, Skype, Digsby, Google Wave, PHP bulletin boards, FourSquare, Mashable, and a multitude of other social media and new media platforms.” Brad said, “I am everywhere on the Internet, either as Brad Reason or as Doubledown Tandino.”
When I asked what advice he would give digital musicians relative to social media, Brad suggests keeping all lines of communication open. “Don’t be too quick to dismiss a new form of social media,” he advised. “All forms of social media work. It just depends on how you use them.”
Brad’s music career began and continues to flourish entwined with computer and Internet technology. He keenly demonstrates social media is really about leveraging technology to connect, network, share, perform, promote, and learn. But most importantly, Brad Reason shows discipline with these social media platforms is worth the effort!
---
Thank you also to Sitearm:
"Nice article about music and social media: Virtually Live Music IS Social Media! Teddi Davis, editor of Free Play Virtually Live, interviews Brad Reason, a new media marketing professional who is also a musician and DJ. The article shares experience and insights on how to use the newly available online promotional tools."
http://sitearm.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/music-and-social-media/
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Aleks Krotoski - The Virtual Revolution
Join Aleks on the BBC’s The Virtual Revolution
Programme 1, The Great Levelling?, broadcasts Saturday, BBC2, 8:30pm
In episode 1 of The Virtual Revolution, Dr. Aleks Krotoski meets some of the biggest names of the web, including Jimmy Wales, Arianna Huffington, YouTube CEO Chad Hurley, and the inventor of the web himself, Tim Berners Lee. Watch original uncut interviews with them and others.
More about the series
You can watch live here and though region specific with a little tweaking of your PC can be watched from anywhere :-)
---
Aleks Krotoski is an academic and journalist who writes about and studies technology and interactivity. Her PhD thesis in Social Psychology (University of Surrey, 2009) examined how information spreads around the social networks of the World Wide Web. Read up on her academic and research interests here. She is currently working on the 4-part, prime time BBC 2 series Virtual Revolution, about the social history of the World Wide Web, broadcasting at 8:30pm from Saturday 30 January 2010 (repeated Monday nights at 11pm). She blogs for the project here.
Aleks writes for The Guardian newspaper, and hosts Tech Weekly, their technology podcast. Her writing also appears in The Observer, on BBC Technology, New Statesman, MIT Technology Review and The Telegraph. Check out her words here.
Finally, she’s the New Media Sector Champion for UKTI, the government department that promotes British businesses around the world. Find out more here.
You can find Aleks all over the Web
---
[Academic] Dissertation - "Social Influence in Second Life: Social Network and Social Psychological Processes in the Diffusion of Belief and Behaviour on the Web"
Krotoski, Aleksandra K. (2009). Social influence in Second Life: Social Network and Social Psychological Processes in the Diffusion of Belief and Behaviour on the Web. PhD Dissertation. University of Surrey, Department of Psychology, School of Human Sciences. [pdf]
---
[BBC] The rise of the digital elite
The web is an extraordinary innovation, with the greatest potential to usher in social change since the invention of the printing press or the steam engine. Built upon a technology that is apolitical, unregulated and decentralised, it empowers everyone – men, women, children – to be creators of information, rather than passive consumers. It is also an enormous library of global consciousness, a digital collection of human knowledge from the past and the present and presented in an easy-to-access format. As a result, we now have the unprecedented power to create our own truth, and share it with everyone in the world. It has ushered in an equality of access that we have never seen before.
But has its potential as a great leveller for the whole world already passed? [FULL ARTICLE HERE]
Programme 1, The Great Levelling?, broadcasts Saturday, BBC2, 8:30pm
In episode 1 of The Virtual Revolution, Dr. Aleks Krotoski meets some of the biggest names of the web, including Jimmy Wales, Arianna Huffington, YouTube CEO Chad Hurley, and the inventor of the web himself, Tim Berners Lee. Watch original uncut interviews with them and others.
More about the series
You can watch live here and though region specific with a little tweaking of your PC can be watched from anywhere :-)
---
Aleks Krotoski is an academic and journalist who writes about and studies technology and interactivity. Her PhD thesis in Social Psychology (University of Surrey, 2009) examined how information spreads around the social networks of the World Wide Web. Read up on her academic and research interests here. She is currently working on the 4-part, prime time BBC 2 series Virtual Revolution, about the social history of the World Wide Web, broadcasting at 8:30pm from Saturday 30 January 2010 (repeated Monday nights at 11pm). She blogs for the project here.
Aleks writes for The Guardian newspaper, and hosts Tech Weekly, their technology podcast. Her writing also appears in The Observer, on BBC Technology, New Statesman, MIT Technology Review and The Telegraph. Check out her words here.
Finally, she’s the New Media Sector Champion for UKTI, the government department that promotes British businesses around the world. Find out more here.
You can find Aleks all over the Web
---
[Academic] Dissertation - "Social Influence in Second Life: Social Network and Social Psychological Processes in the Diffusion of Belief and Behaviour on the Web"
Krotoski, Aleksandra K. (2009). Social influence in Second Life: Social Network and Social Psychological Processes in the Diffusion of Belief and Behaviour on the Web. PhD Dissertation. University of Surrey, Department of Psychology, School of Human Sciences. [pdf]
---
[BBC] The rise of the digital elite
The web is an extraordinary innovation, with the greatest potential to usher in social change since the invention of the printing press or the steam engine. Built upon a technology that is apolitical, unregulated and decentralised, it empowers everyone – men, women, children – to be creators of information, rather than passive consumers. It is also an enormous library of global consciousness, a digital collection of human knowledge from the past and the present and presented in an easy-to-access format. As a result, we now have the unprecedented power to create our own truth, and share it with everyone in the world. It has ushered in an equality of access that we have never seen before.
But has its potential as a great leveller for the whole world already passed? [FULL ARTICLE HERE]
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Google Xistence - Because Life is Too Short for Social Interaction
An introduction to Xistence, a new social media app from Google Labs.
... because life is too short for social interaction.
... because life is too short for social interaction.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Study: 94% of Enterprises Will Invest in Social Media Despite Recession
Study: 94% of Enterprises Will Invest in Social Media Despite Recession
By: Clint Boulton via Eweek.com
A survey of 400 companies found that 94 percent of enterprises plan to maintain or increase their investment in enterprise social media tools such as blogs, wikis and microblogging tools from providers such as IBM, MindTouch, Socialcast, Mzinga and Jive Software. The results seem counterintuitive in light of the recession, but it shows the importance of these tools for social networking and collaboration, and proves that they are not just a fad in the enterprise. Social analytics tools are also part of the trend.
Despite the nagging recession, a new study found that 94 percent of enterprises plan to maintain or increase their investment in enterprise social media tools such as blogs, wikis and microblogging tools.
Deloitte, Beeline Labs and the Society for New Communications Research surveyed 400 companies that have cultivated internal social networks or online communities, finding that only 6 percent plan to decrease their investment in the recession. The communities surveyed ranged from fewer than 100 members to more than one million members.
Ed Moran, director of product innovation for consultancy Deloitte Services LP and one of the report authors, called the results counterintuitive in light of the recession, noting that while IT, marketing and public relations departments are being cut, companies continue to spend on social software for networking and collaboration.
Companies that go against the grain of belt-tightening by spending on social software underscore the importance of these tools, proving that they are not just a hip trend or fad in the enterprise.
"We call it the anti-fad because people have always been social, talking about companies, products and services," Moran said. "They just never had the mechanism for doing it at any kind of scale. This is not going away and it's not just for kids."
Most of the companies Moran surveyed said they are using social media tools to engage with customers, partners and employees for marketing purposes, with word-of-mouth, customer loyalty, brand awareness, idea generation and customer support quality comprising other community objectives. The need to meet these goals presents great opportunities for enterprise social software makers.
Tools such as Twitter and Facebook are so popular that software makers such as IBM, MindTouch, Jive Software, Socialtext and Socialcast have all created comparable tools for businesses.
Instead of going on Twitter or Facebook to talk trash about competitors, or to endorse products and services they like (although people still do that, to the chagrin of employers), employees are using blogs, wikis and Twitter-like status update services their companies purchased for them from the aforementioned providers.
Moreover, Moran said he is seeing an uptick in the adoption of analytics software that tracks both active and inactive members to derive insights, something that was barely mentioned even a year ago. Socialcast, Jive and Mzinga, among others, offer this software.
"The enterprise is waking up to the fact that it needs to listen and that it needs business intelligence" for the communities, Moran said. However, this is happening in pockets and is not yet widescale, presenting opportunity for analytics tools providers.
Those survey respondents that are using these tools are paying attention to non-active users or "lurkers," people who observe the community, but don't participate in the discussion. Thirty-two percent of respondents are capturing data on how these individuals derive value from the community. This points to a maturation of the enterprise's use of communities and social media.
Moreover, 20 percent of companies Moran surveyed said they have set up "ambassador" programs, which give outsiders preferential treatment in return for being more active in the community.
Despite this maturation in enterprise social media, companies still report having a hard time getting people to join, remain and/or return to the online communities. Few companies are tackling these challenges, paving the way for dedicated online community manager roles.
"New management strategies and practices will be critical, including redefining the scope and role of alliances as well as the overall boundary of corporations," Moran said.
By: Clint Boulton via Eweek.com
A survey of 400 companies found that 94 percent of enterprises plan to maintain or increase their investment in enterprise social media tools such as blogs, wikis and microblogging tools from providers such as IBM, MindTouch, Socialcast, Mzinga and Jive Software. The results seem counterintuitive in light of the recession, but it shows the importance of these tools for social networking and collaboration, and proves that they are not just a fad in the enterprise. Social analytics tools are also part of the trend.
Despite the nagging recession, a new study found that 94 percent of enterprises plan to maintain or increase their investment in enterprise social media tools such as blogs, wikis and microblogging tools.
Deloitte, Beeline Labs and the Society for New Communications Research surveyed 400 companies that have cultivated internal social networks or online communities, finding that only 6 percent plan to decrease their investment in the recession. The communities surveyed ranged from fewer than 100 members to more than one million members.
Ed Moran, director of product innovation for consultancy Deloitte Services LP and one of the report authors, called the results counterintuitive in light of the recession, noting that while IT, marketing and public relations departments are being cut, companies continue to spend on social software for networking and collaboration.
Companies that go against the grain of belt-tightening by spending on social software underscore the importance of these tools, proving that they are not just a hip trend or fad in the enterprise.
"We call it the anti-fad because people have always been social, talking about companies, products and services," Moran said. "They just never had the mechanism for doing it at any kind of scale. This is not going away and it's not just for kids."
Most of the companies Moran surveyed said they are using social media tools to engage with customers, partners and employees for marketing purposes, with word-of-mouth, customer loyalty, brand awareness, idea generation and customer support quality comprising other community objectives. The need to meet these goals presents great opportunities for enterprise social software makers.
Tools such as Twitter and Facebook are so popular that software makers such as IBM, MindTouch, Jive Software, Socialtext and Socialcast have all created comparable tools for businesses.
Instead of going on Twitter or Facebook to talk trash about competitors, or to endorse products and services they like (although people still do that, to the chagrin of employers), employees are using blogs, wikis and Twitter-like status update services their companies purchased for them from the aforementioned providers.
Moreover, Moran said he is seeing an uptick in the adoption of analytics software that tracks both active and inactive members to derive insights, something that was barely mentioned even a year ago. Socialcast, Jive and Mzinga, among others, offer this software.
"The enterprise is waking up to the fact that it needs to listen and that it needs business intelligence" for the communities, Moran said. However, this is happening in pockets and is not yet widescale, presenting opportunity for analytics tools providers.
Those survey respondents that are using these tools are paying attention to non-active users or "lurkers," people who observe the community, but don't participate in the discussion. Thirty-two percent of respondents are capturing data on how these individuals derive value from the community. This points to a maturation of the enterprise's use of communities and social media.
Moreover, 20 percent of companies Moran surveyed said they have set up "ambassador" programs, which give outsiders preferential treatment in return for being more active in the community.
Despite this maturation in enterprise social media, companies still report having a hard time getting people to join, remain and/or return to the online communities. Few companies are tackling these challenges, paving the way for dedicated online community manager roles.
"New management strategies and practices will be critical, including redefining the scope and role of alliances as well as the overall boundary of corporations," Moran said.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Making Sense Of The Ever-Changing Social Media Landscape
Making Sense Of The Ever-Changing Social Media Landscape
by: Dennis Shiao of InXpo
In the early days (e.g. 2003 through 2007), social media was Missouri — in a “show me state”. As Director of Marketing or CMO, your biggest challenge was not how to leverage social media – but rather, how to justify it to the CFO and CEO. Return On Investment (ROI) metrics had not yet been established, so you had to “make it up” on the go – and then convince stakeholders that the metrics were valid. In fact, you probably had to first educate stakeholders on what social media was and how it could benefit your company.
Here we are in 2009 and the world has shifted. Social media and social networking sites are as much a household name as the “Big 3″ television networks were back in the 1960’s. Today’s networks include YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The C-suite has read numerous accounts of social media driving real business value (ROI) – and they’re seeing the competition active in social networks. So now the tables have turned – the CEO is now in pursuit of the CMO to ask questions like, “what is our social media strategy” and “why aren’t we doing more of it”?
Social media is an ever-changing landscape – and that’s a good thing, as it reflects the fluid and dynamic nature of the associated technologies and communities. As a marketer, though, it means that you need to stay on your toes to best judge how to adapt to the changing landscape. How quickly do things change? Well, let’s consider the developments of the past few months:
[READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE]
by: Dennis Shiao of InXpo
Social Media Landscape by Ivan Walsh via flickr
Here we are in 2009 and the world has shifted. Social media and social networking sites are as much a household name as the “Big 3″ television networks were back in the 1960’s. Today’s networks include YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The C-suite has read numerous accounts of social media driving real business value (ROI) – and they’re seeing the competition active in social networks. So now the tables have turned – the CEO is now in pursuit of the CMO to ask questions like, “what is our social media strategy” and “why aren’t we doing more of it”?
Social media is an ever-changing landscape – and that’s a good thing, as it reflects the fluid and dynamic nature of the associated technologies and communities. As a marketer, though, it means that you need to stay on your toes to best judge how to adapt to the changing landscape. How quickly do things change? Well, let’s consider the developments of the past few months:
[READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE]
Friday, November 6, 2009
Ravelong Productions Updated in the Second Life Solution Provider Directory
http://solutionproviders.secondlife.com/provider/show/id/276
Services:
Audio
Events
Marketing
Incorporate Gaming In Virtual Events
Incorporate Gaming In Virtual Events
by Dennis Shiao of It’s All Virtual
We’ve reached a point in the virtual events industry where users who have attended 1-5 events (or more) are starting to ask, “What’s next”? If the industry doesn’t effectively answer that question, then users will eventually stop coming back and attendance will suffer. One concept that makes a lot of sense is to introduce gaming into virtual events. By doing so, you’ll achieve real results. Why gaming? It’s all about REEL:
Retention
Retention is a key objective of any virtual event – whether it’s a lead generation event (virtual tradeshow), partner education event or a virtual sales meeting, you want attendees to leave the event with a level of retention over the content you’ve provided (e.g. exhibitor product information, your own product and technology specifications or the the coming year’s sales priorities and initiatives). Even in a virtual career fair, “retention” is about job candidates retaining information about your company and why they might want to work there.
With gaming, retention isn’t going to be achieved magically...
[READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE]
See also:
Virtual Trade Shows No Longer Novel at BtoBonline
Gaming and Virtual Reality at Cisco’s Annual Sales Meeting at Cisco
by Dennis Shiao of It’s All Virtual
Virtual Worlds, Virtual Tradeshows, Virtual Meetings and more…
We’ve reached a point in the virtual events industry where users who have attended 1-5 events (or more) are starting to ask, “What’s next”? If the industry doesn’t effectively answer that question, then users will eventually stop coming back and attendance will suffer. One concept that makes a lot of sense is to introduce gaming into virtual events. By doing so, you’ll achieve real results. Why gaming? It’s all about REEL:
Retention
Retention is a key objective of any virtual event – whether it’s a lead generation event (virtual tradeshow), partner education event or a virtual sales meeting, you want attendees to leave the event with a level of retention over the content you’ve provided (e.g. exhibitor product information, your own product and technology specifications or the the coming year’s sales priorities and initiatives). Even in a virtual career fair, “retention” is about job candidates retaining information about your company and why they might want to work there.
With gaming, retention isn’t going to be achieved magically...
[READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE]
See also:
Virtual Trade Shows No Longer Novel at BtoBonline
Gaming and Virtual Reality at Cisco’s Annual Sales Meeting at Cisco
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
How To Make Second Life Truly Mass Market, Part 1: Deep Integration With Facebook
How To Make Second Life Truly Mass Market, Part 1: Deep Integration With Facebook
by Hamlet Au of New World Notes
The latest official economic stats for Second Life are now available, and they tell a mixed picture: while user-to-user transactions continue to grow, the absolute number of unique users does not. After a steady growth period at the start of the year, monthly unique repeat SL users have plateaued to around 750K. In his report, Linden Chief Product Officer T. Linden suggests this flat growth is the result of the new policy (imposed last May) banning Traffic-gaming bots.
That may well be the case, but what's undeniable is that Secnd Life is still struggling to become a virtual world with mass market status. By way of comparison, consider today's largest virtual world: YoVille, from Zynga, a web-based MMO played in Facebook and MySpace. Only launched in May 2008, it now counts nearly 20 Million unique monthly active users on Facebook alone. (Making it much larger than not just World of Warcraft, but web-based MMOs like Habbo.)
There are a number of reasons for YoVille's rapid and sustained growth, but one in particular stands out: Deep integration with leading social networks, especially Facebook with its 300 million active users. This explains how YoVille managed to grow so speedily, for its appeal is not just the virtual world itself (cartoonish and simple as it is), but the desire to play it with Facebook friends. "At their most fundamental level," Mark Pincus, CEO of Zynga, recently told me, social network-based games like YoVille "are games that you can play with real people with real identities."
I recently wrote about how mass adoption is so crucial to Second Life, and at the time, I promised to offer suggestions for making that possible. Taking YoVille's success as a reference point, my first recommendation is this: Second Life needs deep integration with Facebook.
I don't mean a mere SL-related Facebook Application (those exist already), but integration across all channels, starting with the very first SL signup page, which should accept Facebook account credentials.
Doing this would associate new Residents with their Facebook page, which generally contain many of their real life details. In that way, the subsequent SL avatar would have a subordinate status, after the owners' real name and autobiographical details. (As with my YoVille avatar friends, at left, who are automatically linked to their Facebook profiles.)
Philip Linden often says that someday, Internet users will feel obligated to use an online avatar that's somehow distinct from the actual owner. However, with the largest virtual world (and other leading social games) the exact opposite is the case: the most popular avatar types are explicit extensions of an already existing real world identity.
Or to put it another way: to gain mass growth, Second Life may have to abandon the expectation that new users adopt a whole separate personality. As YoVille and other top social games (which now count 100 million+ users) suggest, most people prefer avatars that are firmly linked to their first lives.
by Hamlet Au of New World Notes
That may well be the case, but what's undeniable is that Secnd Life is still struggling to become a virtual world with mass market status. By way of comparison, consider today's largest virtual world: YoVille, from Zynga, a web-based MMO played in Facebook and MySpace. Only launched in May 2008, it now counts nearly 20 Million unique monthly active users on Facebook alone. (Making it much larger than not just World of Warcraft, but web-based MMOs like Habbo.)
There are a number of reasons for YoVille's rapid and sustained growth, but one in particular stands out: Deep integration with leading social networks, especially Facebook with its 300 million active users. This explains how YoVille managed to grow so speedily, for its appeal is not just the virtual world itself (cartoonish and simple as it is), but the desire to play it with Facebook friends. "At their most fundamental level," Mark Pincus, CEO of Zynga, recently told me, social network-based games like YoVille "are games that you can play with real people with real identities."
I recently wrote about how mass adoption is so crucial to Second Life, and at the time, I promised to offer suggestions for making that possible. Taking YoVille's success as a reference point, my first recommendation is this: Second Life needs deep integration with Facebook.
Doing this would associate new Residents with their Facebook page, which generally contain many of their real life details. In that way, the subsequent SL avatar would have a subordinate status, after the owners' real name and autobiographical details. (As with my YoVille avatar friends, at left, who are automatically linked to their Facebook profiles.)
Philip Linden often says that someday, Internet users will feel obligated to use an online avatar that's somehow distinct from the actual owner. However, with the largest virtual world (and other leading social games) the exact opposite is the case: the most popular avatar types are explicit extensions of an already existing real world identity.
Or to put it another way: to gain mass growth, Second Life may have to abandon the expectation that new users adopt a whole separate personality. As YoVille and other top social games (which now count 100 million+ users) suggest, most people prefer avatars that are firmly linked to their first lives.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Doubledown's Terminology : Social Networlds
It was brought up last week at Metanomics Community Forum - The terms that floated around were "Virtual Environments" , or "Immersive Media" ... which led to "Virtual Synthetic Immerse Environments..."
It was brought up last Sunday at Metaverse Week in Review where Mal Burns has decided to change calling "Virtual Worlds" into calling them "V-Worlds"
Facebook even has a category under 'interests' called "Virtual Social Media" (which I'm quite impressed with so kudos to Facebook).
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When I think of labeling a technology, I tend to think about how music genres became labeled. My example in it's simplest form "Rock-n-Roll".... what the hell does that even mean? Literally, it means stones and the outer breaded layer of a sandwich. As future moved onward, rock-n-roll dropped the buns, and became "rock" soon after that sub-genres emerged (alternative, metal, punk, etc). Lets say there's a band that categorizes themselves as "rap metal emocore electrofunk", the music stores will sell their CDs in the "rock/pop" section. Why? because people get what that means without having to use wikipedia... even if the term doesn't even fit.
Electronic music genres are the same. For example, there's a genre called "IDM" (Aphex Twin falls into this genre). What is IDM you ask? Well it stands for Intelligent Dance Music. If you've ever listened to Intelligent Dance Music, the first thing you think is 'there's no way in hell anyone can dance to this'. So Aphex Twin coined the term "Brain music". Sounds more fitting in my opinion... however, Aphex Twin to this day is the only one that uses the term... to everyone else, it's still IDM.
Basically every term in history came to fruition through a chain of small conversations and events which led to the terminology just STICKING. ... And that becomes the label... whether it fits or not. There's never been a strong enough campaign to change a label society decides to stick with out of convenience.
Well here's what I've decided, take it or leave it: I.... I am going with this one:
"Social Networlds" ... (Virtual Worlds + Social Networks is a nice simple play on words, and that is all we really need.)
Either way (and point being), the terms Virtual World and Metaverse are here to stay (with "immersive environment" as a runner up). Those terms already stuck, and there's not going to be a way to change it. But hey, call an inworld social universe whatever you wish... no one will understand what you're talking about until you describe what you mean anyway. The description and definition that comes along with the label is what matters most.
-Doubledown Tandino
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Full Disclosure : I wrote this blog post in my underwear and my underwear is made by Hanes.
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