Second Life reminds me of the old MUD (multi-user dimension/dungeon) online games I played ten years ago, just far more sophisticated. For a while I've thought of SL as a fun way for gamers-who've-grown-up to interact while doing business. Based on my experience watching the first
CaseCamp on Second Life hosted by
Crayon last night, I still think that. But I found out some real benefits including how a Second Life conference can be a pretty close recreation of an in-person experience - more so than any other technologies I've seen used to save travel, event hard costs, and time.
CaseCamp - usually held in real life - is a place for presenters to discuss case studies and get feedback. Second Life's CaseCamp registration was limited to 40 delegates so I withdrew my name from the waiting list when my husband was selected as a presenter. That let me watch over his shoulder so someone else could take my spot.
I genuinely
felt like I was at a real-world conference; reading delegates' nametags (in SL they pop up as text boxes), seeing live Q&A, checking out outfits (great dress on
Kate Trgovac) and watching people network. It was easy to forget we were in virtual reality. There were the same technical glitches and speaker delays you'd see at any conference: in fact this was better run than many. I was at a conference recently where most presentations had a technical glitch. The speakers, who included
Michael Seaton from ScotiaBank, Eli Singer on World Wildlife Federation and
John Wall from Accurev, were engaging and clear. Presenters were limited to five slides so we didn't get the dull glaze that comes from over-use of PowerPoint. As a presenter,
Doug got the same back-slapping "Great job Doug" comments he'd get from leaving any real stage.
Doug obviously felt the same pressure of presenting there as anywhere else. In fact he seemed more nervous speaking to 40 avatars than he was when he spoke to 500 business executives two days earlier at the
WOMMA conference in Washington. Probably had something to do with the lack of ability to read faces - most avatars just sat there. At one point we thought we heard a yawn which threw him off a bit.
Great experience, even over-the-shoulder. If CaseCamp continues in SL, I'm signing up again and hopefully Starbuck Serdyuk will get to participate next time.