The meeting of PR professionals in Second Life yesterday was very interesting indeed. I learned a few things, for instance, it is very difficult to follow along if 15-plus avatars are “chatting” all at once, a lot like real life if you think of it. I also learned a little about a few companies that are experimenting in Second Life, such as IBM (who now have their own island), Coke, Fox, Waner Music, to name a very few.
Jeremy Pepper of Weber Shandwick, who has personally been in Second Life since 2005, answered most of the questions. By my count, there were about 17 people that stopped in at one point or another during the one-hour meet-up. This included a reporter, Miller Copeland, who covered the event for his blog, “In The Grid.” He also publishes a monthly pdf magazine about Second Life, that appears to be funded by advertising. He says he will be following us, so we now have our own beat reporter.
My avatar, as the reporter so aptly described, is “unfortunately homeless,” which means I am not a landowner in SL and not even a paid suibscriber. So, Lee Hopkins served as our host, dressed in his tux to greet his guests. Lee has built a lighthouse in Second Life that serves as his and Alan Jenkins new in-world “Comms Café” for their podcast.
For those that want to see what was said, I have posted a 12-page PDF transcript of the event. I will not reveal which avatars are which real people, because anonymity is respected in SL. However, I noticed that many of the PR pros attending did use their real first name. Here are the real names of those I know who came:
David Parmet, Aaron Uhmacher of Text 100, Neville Hobson of the For Immediate Release podcast, John Mims from the Altryan Podcast, Mike Sansone of the ConverStations blog, in-world and out blogger moo Money, Chris Thilk of the popular Ad Jab blog, Eric Rice (see more below), blogger and podcaster, Steve Lubetkin, Justin Hayward, from MS&L; UK and about five others from whom I didn’t get their real names. If you were there, drop me a line and I will add you here.
Mike Driehorst tried to make it, but got lost. Maybe next time. In the meanwhile, Happy Birthday. We had party hats in case you showed up.
Speaking of next time, Text 100 has offered up their island for the next PR Meetup in Second Life, scheduled for 1 p.m. SL time, which is Pacific Time (U.S.), October 12, 2006 (October 5th in Australia). They also have a new video describing some of the uses businesses might have in Second Life, to counter some of the other less savory aspects that Owen pointed out yesterday.
In November, Eric Rice, who has a well-known podacast, the Eric Rice Show, will host us in his Hippcast Conference and Expo Center in Second Life on November 9, 2006.
